A solid AI backup plan isn’t complicated — for every moment in your session where AI plays a role, know the manual alternative you’d run instead. Write it in your session notes before you go live.
Why You Need a Backup Before You Need It
The worst time to figure out your backup plan is when the AI tool has just crashed and 20 students are looking at you. At that point, your working memory is consumed by the stressful situation, and creative problem-solving goes out the window. The backup needs to be decided in advance — ideally written into your session prep as a one-line note next to each AI moment.
Think of it like a pilot’s checklist. The pilot doesn’t invent emergency procedures mid-flight. They execute a pre-written procedure they’ve already reviewed. Your AI backup plan works the same way: small, specific, pre-decided.
How to Build Your Backup Plan
Go through your session agenda and mark every moment where AI is involved. For each one, write a single sentence answering this question: “If AI is unavailable right now, what do I do instead?” That’s your backup.
For a live AI brainstorm: “If AI is down, I’ll ask students to share three ideas in the chat.” For an AI-generated summary: “If AI is down, I’ll summarize the last segment myself in two sentences.” For an AI Q&A demo: “If AI is down, I’ll answer the question directly and explain how I’d prompt AI for it later.” Each backup is a real activity, not a placeholder. If you can run it smoothly without AI, you’ve done your job.
What This Means for Educators
Having a backup plan doesn’t mean you expect AI to fail — it means you respect your students’ time enough not to let a tool failure derail the session. Coaches and consultants who run smooth, professional live sessions aren’t those who never hit problems; they’re the ones who’ve thought through the problems in advance and don’t panic when they arrive.
The Simple Rule
Every AI moment in your session notes gets one backup sentence. If you can’t write that sentence, you’re not ready to run that moment live yet.