The Challenge
Candice faces a challenge that nearly every modern educator will instantly recognize: there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. As Head of Innovation and a Life Sciences teacher at Uplands College, she constantly navigates what she calls “the chase for more time.”
Between delivering meaningful lessons, supporting the emotional well-being of learners, staying ahead of the ever-evolving needs of teenagers, and keeping up with the ever-moving world of edtech and classroom innovation, Candice frequently finds herself stretched thin. Today's students arrive with diverse academic backgrounds, widely varying levels of confidence, and increasing levels of anxiety, meaning that lessons often need to extend far beyond the curriculum, but making that a reality is a tough ask.
In addition to academic teaching, Candice describes the teacher’s role shifting toward increased “parenting and guiding,” providing support for students who may not have help at home, particularly boarders or those returning to empty households. This adds an extra emotional layer to the school day - one that’s rewarding, no doubt about it, but undeniably demanding too.
She also sees firsthand how hard it is to meet the individual needs of every learner in a class of 25 - some students need more of a challenge, others need mere foundational reteaching, and many are too shy to ask for help at all. Balancing these expectations with limited time creates a constant tension, making innovation less about luxury and more about necessity.
MindJoy as a Pocket-Sized Partner for Personalized Learning
To address these time and support constraints, Candice was keen to adopt MindJoy as what she’s affectionately come to call a “co-teacher” or a “teacher in their [students’] pocket.”
Her goal was simple but powerful: give every student - especially boarders or those studying without support at home - instant access to academic help that feels personal, reliable, and most of all, safe. At the outset, her goal was to introduce MindJoy from grades eight to twelve and across subjects, encouraging teachers to create general subject tutors and allowing “champions to champion” rather than forcing them to adopt.
In her own classroom, Candice chose to put full transparency at the centre of implementation, allowing students to know and understand exactly what their teacher can and can’t see in their conversations. This quickly helped them feel comfortable using the tool both at school and at home, building trust and transparency from the get-go.
Practically, Candice uses MindJoy to fill the gaps one teacher can’t realistically cover alone. Extension students can dive deeper through socratic questioning, and struggling students can ask foundational questions without fear of embarrassment. During academic consultations, students now begin by asking MindJoy as a step one, allowing them to start learning immediately rather than waiting in line for help.
Candice has also come to lean on features like Pathways to rapidly build structured lessons in situations in which she’s unexpectedly unavailable - if she’s ill, called into a meeting, or simply racing against the clock. Furthermore, automarking supports faster feedback cycles, giving students responses long before she could manually mark.
For Candice, MindJoy isn’t a replacement for classroom teaching - it’s a smart and friendly partner that helps her reclaim bandwidth and personalize learning, catering to every single student in a way more personalized than ever before.
Impact
MindJoy has brought a refreshing sense of energy, creativity, and calm into Candice’s teaching practice. With a “co-teacher” working alongside her as a safe and reliable sidekick of sorts, sh now has more capacity to focus on human teaching moments - those light-bulb conversations, real-time misconceptions, and curious side-quests that make learning delightful and fun.
Lesson time has shifted from repetitive memorization toward investigation, inquiry, and discussion. Instead of spending class minutes simply writing notes and defining terms like “mitosis,” students now come prepared, having used MindJoy as a safe space to check their understanding or explore ideas further.
This shift has meaningfully elevated the classroom culture. Students feel more confident, more supported, and more willing to take intellectual risks. Some students have even encouraged their other subject teachers to create their own Mindjoy AI tutors - a clear sign of genuine engagement!
For Candice, the impact is equally significant. MindJoy has eased the pressure of juggling diverse learning needs, giving students independence while allowing her to step in with higher-quality, targeted guidance. Features like Pathways and automarking have saved valuable time, enabling smoother planning and faster feedback cycles. And most importantly, the safety features and visibility into student conversations bring peace of mind that students are not only learning but learning safely.
MindJoy has helped transform her classroom into a space where learning feels supported, personalized, extended, and, most importantly, fun.
