Cowork for teachers: start with one clear task
When a teaching task involves several files and steps, Cowork can help carry out the work. A useful first experiment is to turn a short set of approved lesson notes into a draft practice sheet.
What Cowork is
Cowork is a task-oriented mode in Claude. It is available on web, desktop, and mobile, with capabilities and availability depending on the surface, plan, and organization settings. Direct access to local folders requires the desktop app. See Anthropic’s current guide to Cowork across devices.
Connectors can give Claude access to supported external services with your authorization. They are also available in Claude chat, so they are not a feature unique to Cowork. The official connectors guide describes availability and permissions.
A small first task
- Choose a few teaching materials you can use for this experiment, without personal student information.
- Open Cowork. Attach the relevant materials, or use the desktop app to select the folder it needs.
- Specify the learner’s level, the task’s purpose, and the output you want.
- Review the draft: check the language, answers, difficulty, and whether the activity serves the goal.
Using these six phrases, draft a short A2 practice activity about making weekend plans. Include clear instructions and an answer key. Keep the situations fictional. Flag any assumptions for my review.
This gives you a concrete result to assess before making the task larger. The teaching judgment remains yours: a completed file is a draft until you have checked it.