What to keep out of Claude

Use Claude for curriculum, ideas, and public information. Do not enter student, family, or employee information. The three colors below make the decision quick.

Practice with examples Go to the checklist

The privacy traffic light

Before you paste or upload anything, decide which color it is.

Green: appropriate to use

Information that is public, generic, instructional, or properly de-identified.

Examples

Curriculum standards
General lesson plans
Teacher-created instructional materials
Publicly available resources
Generic student scenarios
Sample data
General classroom activities
Content that cannot reasonably be connected to an individual

Yellow: stop and think

Information that may appear anonymous but could identify a student, family, or employee when combined with other details.

Examples

Student work
Classroom incident descriptions
Unpublished assessments
Internal district documents
Detailed descriptions of learning difficulties
Unusual combinations of personal characteristics
Information copied from a private message or communication

Red: do not enter

Personally identifiable, confidential, or sensitive information, including:

Examples

Student names
Student identification numbers
Student email addresses
Grades
Attendance records
Disciplinary information
Behavioral records
IEP or 504 information
Disability information
Medical or health information
Counseling information
Private family circumstances
Passwords or credentials
Confidential personnel information
Information protected by district policy or law

Removing a name may not be enough

A combination of grade level, classroom, disability, incident, family circumstances, or other details could still identify the student.

Practice: which color is it?

Eight examples. Pick a color and read the reason.

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What to put in a Project

Use a Project for ongoing work, such as unit plans and standards, so Claude has the same background each time. Do not use a Project to store student information.

Good to put in

Curriculum standards
Curriculum guides
Unit plans
Teacher-created lesson materials
Approved instructional resources
Teacher-created exemplars
Preferred lesson structures
Approved terminology
General grade-level expectations

Keep out unless the district approved it

Class rosters
Student names or identification numbers
Grades
Attendance information
Identifiable student work
IEPs or 504 Plans
Evaluation records
Health information
Counseling information
Behavior or disciplinary records
Private family information
Parent correspondence
Confidential employee information

Applies unless the district has explicitly reviewed and approved that workflow.

Before you use something Claude made

Check each box when the answer is yes.

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Is the content factually accurate?
Does it match my learning objective?
Is it appropriate for the grade level?
Does it reflect my students and classroom context?
Are the directions clear?
Are examples inclusive and free from unintended stereotypes?
Have I confirmed that no student, family, or employee is identifiable?
Have I checked the resource before sharing it?
Would I be comfortable explaining how I used Claude to create it?

The essential rule

Use Claude to work with

Curriculum
Ideas
Instructional content
Public information
Generic scenarios
Teacher-created resources
General professional tasks

Do not use it to

Store, process, or analyze sensitive student, family, or employee information unless the district has explicitly reviewed and approved the account, workflow, and intended use.

Verify the output. Protect private information.

You remain the teacher and the professional decision-maker.

Build a prompt See the six ways

Not sure whether a workflow is approved? Ask before you start: [email protected]