1 / 4

The Big Idea

What Are Custom Gems?

Gems are personalized AI assistants you build once and use forever — tuned to your exact role, context, and priorities. Think of it like this:

Without a Gem
You re-explain your role, your school, and your priorities every single time you use AI.
"I'm a principal at an elementary school. We use a specific evaluation framework. Our SPSA goals focus on..."
With a Gem
Your AI assistant already knows your SPSA goals, your evaluation framework, and your communication style.
"Draft feedback for Mrs. Lopez's observation today."
Consistent Same aligned AI for every team member
Shareable One Gem per site or department
Updatable Edit anytime as priorities shift

How It Works

Build a Gem in 3 Steps

Define its purpose, knowledge base, and share it with your users.

Define

Set the role, purpose, and context for your AI assistant

"You are an instructional leadership coach who helps principals write observation feedback..."
Train

Upload knowledge bases: policies, plans, frameworks

SPSA.pdf
Site Plan.pdf
SPSA Rubric.xlsx
Deploy

Share with your team — everyone gets the same expert assistant

Foundation

The 5 Elements of an Effective Gem

Think of building a Gem like onboarding a new team member. We've already built most of your SPSA Data Coach — scroll to learn the elements and customize it for your school.

Your SPSA Data Coach
Learn each element, then customize yours below
Scroll to explore each element
Element 1

Role

Who is this Gem? Define its expertise and perspective.

What It Means

The Role is your Gem's job title and expertise — without it, you get generic answers instead of specialist advice.

Example Instruction
"You are an expert SPSA Compliance Officer and Data Analyst for VVUSD who specializes in reviewing School Plans for Student Achievement against district rubric standards and has deep knowledge of California education accountability requirements."
Tips for a Strong Role
  • Be specific about expertise level (e.g., "experienced," "expert in")
  • Include the domain (e.g., "K-12," "secondary ELA," "special education")
  • Name the perspective (e.g., "coach," "analyst," "advisor," "facilitator")
  • Mention relevant frameworks or methodologies the role should know
Element 2

Purpose

What does this Gem do? Be specific about the task.

What It Means

The Purpose is the specific task your Gem performs. One job, one Gem — the more focused, the better the output.

Example Instruction
"...who reviews SPSA content against the VVUSD SPSA Self-Reflection Tool rubric, enforcing strict compliance rules around metrics specificity, effectiveness evidence, and equity analysis."
Tips for a Strong Purpose
  • Start with a verb: analyze, draft, create, design, facilitate
  • Name the output format (e.g., "write feedback emails," "create agendas")
  • Specify who receives the output (e.g., "for teachers," "for the board")
  • One Gem, one purpose — build separate Gems for separate tasks
Element 3

Knowledge Base

What documents should this Gem reference?

What It Means

Uploaded documents become your Gem's reference library — it can cite, quote, and ground every answer in your actual data.

Suggested Documents
School SPSA • VVUSD SPSA Self-Reflection Tool • Dashboard Data • Needs Assessment • Annual Review • Budget Allocations • SPSA Goals • Student Group Data
Tips for a Strong Knowledge Base
  • Your SPSA and the VVUSD Self-Reflection Tool are the two essential uploads
  • Use text-based PDFs over scanned images — text is faster to process
  • The Gem will cross-reference your SPSA against the rubric's "Look Fors"
Element 4

Context

Where does the Gem learn about your school?

What It Means

Context is what separates a generic AI from your school's AI. For this Gem, context comes directly from the files in your knowledge base — no manual entry needed. The two files you uploaded do the heavy lifting:

  • Your school's SPSA — provides your school name, grade levels, demographics, priorities, identified needs, goals, strategies, metrics, and budget allocations
  • VVUSD SPSA Self-Reflection Tool — provides the district rubric with section-by-section "Look Fors," compliance standards, and quality benchmarks the Gem checks your plan against
How It Works Here

Upload two files and the Gem extracts all the context automatically.

Your School's SPSA Who you are — school, students, goals, needs, strategies
VVUSD SPSA Self-Reflection Tool What to look for — rubric criteria, compliance standards
Full context — no manual entry needed
Tell the Gem About Its Files

Uploading files isn't enough — you also need to reference them in the instructions. If you don't, the Gem may not know the files are there or how to use them. Think of it like handing someone a binder without explaining what's inside.

In this Gem's instructions, we tell it exactly what each file is and what to do with them:

Review my SPSA content (in your files) against the "VVUSD SPSA Self-Reflection Tool" (also in your files).

We also name each document and describe its contents:

Source Documents
1. School's SPSA — Single Plan for Student Achievement with goals, needs assessment, strategies, and metrics
2. VVUSD SPSA Self-Reflection Tool — District rubric with "Look Fors" for each SPSA section

This is a best practice for any Gem you build — always tell the Gem what files it has, what they contain, and how to use them.

Element 5

Tone & Voice

How should your Gem communicate? Set the personality and the intensity.

What It Means

Tone sets your Gem's personality. Think of intensity on a 1–10 dial — most professional Gems land between 4 and 7.

Example Instruction
"Be warm and encouraging, like a trusted mentor. On a scale of 1–10, keep the personality at a 7 — clearly present but never over the top. Avoid jargon-heavy language. Write like you're talking to a colleague, not presenting at a conference."
Tips for Setting Tone
  • Use an analogy: "like a trusted mentor," "like a policy analyst"
  • Set an explicit intensity level (1–10 scale) so the AI knows how far to go
  • Specify what to avoid: "never use emojis in formal memos"
  • Match tone to audience: staff vs. parents vs. board vs. students
Element 6

Your Questions (Bonus)

What else should your Gem analyze? Add up to 2 custom questions.

Want to fine-tune the wording before copying?

Phase 2

Build Your First Gem: Step by Step

Follow along as we build your SPSA Data Coach Gem together. Check off each step as you complete it.

Step 1: Open Gemini & Create a New Gem
Go to gemini.google.com and sign in with your @valverde.edu account. Click the menu icon (☰), then "Explore Gems," and click "+ New Gem".
Open Gemini
Watch how
Step 2: Name It & Paste Instructions
Name your Gem SPSA Data Coach. Copy the instructions below — they automatically include any tone and question customizations you made on the previous slide.
Watch how
Step 3: Add Knowledge Base Files & Save
Click the "+" next to Knowledge to upload the two documents your Gem needs: your school's SPSA and the VVUSD SPSA Self-Reflection Tool rubric. Then click "Save" in the top right.
Watch how
Step 4: Choose Your Model & Test
Select a model — we recommend Gemini Thinking for SPSA compliance analysis. Avoid Gemini Pro for now — it uses credits fast. Then test your Gem by asking: "Review my SPSA against the rubric and flag any vague metrics."
Watch how

You just built an SPSA Data Coach. It knows the rubric, enforces the 3 compliance rules, and can review any school's SPSA. Share it with your team or customize it further.

1/4