For APEX Instructors

Course Builder Kit

Configure which artifact cards appear in your course's portfolio standards — and add cards specific to your professional context.

See the prompt that built this tool

The prompt that built this — one shot, no revisions

I'm receiving feedback that Standards 1, 2, and 5 are not as locked-in-across-all-courses as I thought. I'm envisioning this Playbook Builder Kit turning into more of an all-around Course Builder Kit. - A page where the Standard 1 artifact cards are presented and the instructor can check the ones they want included in *their* Standard 1 along with an opportunity right then and there to create course-specific artifact cards. Same for Standard 2 and Standard 5. - Let's forget building Playbooks at this point. That's much too specific to DCS to throw at the other instructors right now. Can you start with that? Go ahead and edit this APEX_Playbook_Builder_Kit.html file (maybe rename it to course builder kit?)

Context Opened with the reason for the change — "receiving feedback that Standards 1, 2, and 5 are not as locked-in as I thought." That framing told the AI what problem to solve, not just what to build.

Vision Named the destination clearly: "more of an all-around Course Builder Kit." A vague request gets a vague result. A named concept gets a designed one.

Specifics Described the two concrete interactions that matter: checking existing cards in and adding new ones inline. That level of detail prevents the AI from guessing.

Scope limit "Let's forget building Playbooks" with a reason attached ("too DCS-specific") told the AI exactly what to cut — and why. Constraints are instructions too.

Starting point Pointed to the existing file to edit rather than asking for something from scratch. The AI had real code to work from, not a blank page.

Standard 4 — Technical Skills

Standard 4 is fully pathway-specific — the cards here are unique to your course. Choose the pattern that fits how your course works, then use your approved AI tool to build your Standard 4 page.

🗂️ Skill Collection

Used by: BSU, Research, Engineering, Health Sciences

A menu of independent skill cards grouped by category. Student-associates complete whichever skills apply to their current project. Works best when students tackle different challenges depending on what their project needs.

📋 Guided Process

Used by: DCS and courses with a single capstone pathway

A linear sequence of phases every student-associate completes in order. Works best when the technical skill is the process — like building a portfolio, completing a certification, or mastering one discipline from foundations to final deliverable.

Not sure? If your students work on different projects and need different combinations of skills, use Skill Collection. If they all follow the same path toward the same deliverable, use Guided Process. When in doubt, Skill Collection is more flexible.

Before you start

Access to your district's approved AI tool
A list of the specific technical skills or competencies student-associates demonstrate in your course
Your reference file — select a pattern above and a download link will appear here

Describe your skills to your AI tool

Fill in the fields below, then click "Copy My Answers" to grab a formatted block for your AI tool.

Your Skills Inventory

1. Course name and abbreviation

2. List every specific technical skill or competency student-associates demonstrate (be specific — "12-lead ECG interpretation" not just "ECG")

3. How would you naturally group these skills?

4. For each skill — what does the student-associate produce or link as evidence?

5. Any skills that must be completed before others? Any safety prerequisites?

6. What separates a student-associate who truly masters a skill from one who just checks the box?

Now open your approved AI tool in a new tab

Get your skill structure from your AI tool

Start a new conversation — paste this prompt, then add your answers from Step 1 below it.

What your AI tool will do: Organize your skills into logical groups with names, brief descriptions, and suggested evidence types for each. Review the structure before building the HTML.

Prompt 1 — paste into your AI tool, add your answers below it

I'm an instructor at Waukee APEX — a work-based learning program where high school student-associates do real professional work for real clients. I'm building a Standard 4 (Technical Skills) page for my course. Standard 4 is pathway-specific — it shows the technical competencies unique to my course. Student-associates link evidence (photos, documents, links) to demonstrate each skill. Here is my course information: [PASTE YOUR ANSWERS FROM STEP 1 HERE] Based on this, please: 1. Organize my skills into 2–4 logical groups with descriptive names 2. For each skill, write: a short action-oriented title and a 2–3 sentence brief explaining what the student-associate does and what evidence they should link 3. Flag any prerequisite skills 4. Note any safety callouts or professional standards Format this as a structured outline I can review before building anything. Use APEX language throughout: "student-associate" (not "student"), "instructor" (not "teacher"), "course" (not "class").

Build the HTML file

Attach the reference file, then paste this prompt in the same conversation.

Which file to attach: Select a pattern in the card above and the correct file will appear here.

Prompt 2 — attach reference file first, then paste this

I've attached a reference Standard 4 HTML file from the APEX Portfolio system. Using the attached file as your exact structural and CSS template, build a complete Standard 4 page for my course using the skills and groupings we outlined in this conversation. Requirements: 1. Use the EXACT same CSS, layout, filtering, and save functionality as the reference file 2. Replace all reference course skills with my course's skills and groups 3. Update the page title, subtitle, and course name throughout 4. Keep the same artifact-linking behavior (paste link input + save button per skill card) 5. Keep the filter bar (All / Not Started / In Progress / Done) 6. Keep the APEX color scheme — purple #500778 and lime #c4d600 7. For any prerequisite skills, add a visible callout Output the complete, ready-to-use HTML file. Save it as: [COURSE_ABBREVIATION]_Standard4.html

If something looks wrong: Describe the issue to your AI tool in the same conversation. "The filter bar isn't working" or "The second group is missing two skills." It can debug and fix it in place.

Test it, then send it to Russ

Quick checklist before emailing your file.

Never saved an HTML file before? Here's how:

In your AI tool, find the copy icon on its response and click it — this copies all the generated code at once.
On your Mac, open TextEdit (press Cmd+Space, type "TextEdit", press Return).
Before pasting: go to Format → Make Plain Text. Skip this step and the file won't work.
Paste the code (Cmd+V).
Go to File → Save (Cmd+S). Name the file [COURSE]_Standard4.html — replacing [COURSE] with your abbreviation (e.g., EMT_Standard4.html).
If macOS warns you about the .html extension, click "Use .html".
Open the saved file by dragging it into Chrome or Safari.

Save the file as [COURSE]_Standard4.html and open it in Chrome or Safari Confirm all skill groups appear with the correct skills Paste a test link into one skill card, click Save, then refresh — confirm it persists Filter by "Not Started" — confirm it shows the right cards Check that prerequisite skills have a visible callout Email the .html file to rgoerend@waukeeschools.org — subject: "Standard 4: [Your Course Name]"