If you have ever found yourself typing the same prompt into an AI tool for the fifth time that week, copying and pasting it from a saved document, or uploading the same files again before you can get started, you will know how quickly that friction adds up. It is not a big problem on its own, but over a term it becomes one of those small inefficiencies that quietly eats into your time.
Google Gemini has a feature designed to fix this. It is called Gems, and it is worth knowing about.
For example, here’s a gem that generates science activities you could use in the classroom. Just tell it what topic you’re teaching.
What is a Gem?
A Gem is essentially a saved AI assistant. You write the instructions once, attach any files you want it to reference, give it a name and a brief description, and save it. From that point on, you can start a fresh conversation with that assistant whenever you need it, without having to set anything up again.
Think of it as a version of Gemini that has already been briefed. It knows what you want it to do, it has the context it needs, and it is ready to go.
Gems are available on Google Gemini’s main page at gemini.google.com. Google also provides a small selection of pre-made Gems to get you started, but the real value comes from building your own.
This video explains more:
Why This is Useful for Teachers
The most obvious use case is saving time on repetitive tasks, but the bigger opportunity is building something that genuinely fits your curriculum and your school context.
In the video above, the example used is a Science Activity Generator. The Gem was given a system prompt explaining that it should behave as a skilled science teacher and suggest creative activity ideas appropriate for a given year group and topic. It was also given two text files: one listing different presentation methods (poem, role play, game, song and so on) and one mapping content to the primary National Curriculum. A PDF of the full curriculum was included too.
The result is an assistant that, when you type “Year 4, digestion”, returns five structured lesson activity ideas tailored to that year group. You can then ask it to expand on any of those ideas in more detail. All of that happens without you having to paste in your instructions or upload your files again. They are already there.
This kind of Gem could be useful for:
- Generating lesson activity ideas across topics and year groups
- Creating differentiated task descriptions from a unit overview
- Summarising research or reading for a specific key stage
- Producing parent-facing explanations of curriculum content
- Supporting planning for supply cover or SEND adaptations
How to Create a Gem: Step by Step
Step 1: Go to Gems
From the Gemini home page, look for the Gems option in the left-hand menu and click on it. You will see any existing Gems, including the pre-made ones from Google. To create a new one, click “New Gem.”
Step 2: Give it a name and description
Choose a clear, practical name: “Science Activity Generator,” “Year 6 Writing Prompt Builder,” “Assessment Question Creator.” Add a short description explaining what it does. This becomes useful when you share it with colleagues, as it tells them what to expect and how to use it.
Step 3: Write your instructions
This is the system prompt: the instructions that tell Gemini how to behave. Be specific about what you want it to do, what format you want responses in, and any constraints it should follow. It helps to prepare this in a document first so you can paste it in cleanly.
If you are not sure whether your prompt is well-written, Gemini has a built-in option to suggest improvements to your instructions. It is worth using if you are new to prompt writing.
Step 4: Add your files
Click “Add Files” to upload any documents you want the Gem to reference. These could be curriculum documents, unit plans, reading lists, example texts, or your own resource collections. Supported formats include text files and PDFs.
Step 5: Test it
Before saving, run a test conversation to check the Gem is behaving as expected. Ask it something representative of how you plan to use it. If the output is not quite right, adjust your instructions and try again.
Step 6: Save and use it
Once you are happy, click Save. The Gem will appear in your Gems list. Each time you open it, you start a fresh conversation with the same configured assistant.
Sharing Gems With Colleagues
This is where Gems become particularly useful at a department or school level. Once you have built a well-configured Gem, you can share it with colleagues so they do not have to build their own version from scratch.
To share a Gem, click the sharing icon and either type in the email addresses of specific colleagues, or change the access setting so that anyone with the link can use it. Copy the link and share it however works best in your school, whether that is via email, a shared drive, or a staff intranet.
This makes Gems a practical way to build a shared set of AI tools that are consistent, contextualised to your school, and ready for anyone on the team to use.
Classroom Application
Here are three practical starting points you could try this week:
- Build a subject-specific activity generator. Pick one subject you teach regularly. Write a prompt that tells Gemini to suggest activity formats for a given topic and year group. Add your curriculum overview or unit plan as a reference file. Test it with two or three topics and refine the instructions until the output is useful.
- Create a shared planning aid for your team. If you are a subject lead or part of a planning team, build a Gem that reflects your school’s curriculum context and share the link with colleagues. This gives everyone access to the same starting point without duplicating effort.
- Use Gems to reduce repetitive admin tasks. Think about the prompts you find yourself typing repeatedly: writing parent updates from notes, generating quiz questions from a topic list, summarising pupil feedback. Turn one of those into a Gem and save yourself the setup each time.
A Note on Getting Started
If you are new to writing system prompts, the simplest approach is to start with what you already do manually and describe it clearly. “You are a KS2 science teacher. When I give you a topic and year group, suggest five creative ways to teach it” is a reasonable starting point. You can always refine it once you see how it responds.
Gems are available to users with a Google account and access to Gemini. Some features may depend on your subscription level or whether your school uses Google Workspace.
The video above walks through the full process with a worked example if you want to see it in action before building your own.
Create and Share Google Gems: Make a Library of AI Assistants
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