Listen to the interview with Cindy Lopez (transcript):
Sponsored by Ellis
Even the most well-prepared, experienced teacher can run into situations with students that leave them stumped. Students are coming to school with more needs than ever, and a lot of those needs aren’t strictly academic: anxiety, withdrawal, behavior issues, and learning differences that don’t always have quick or obvious solutions. These are problems that often send us to the internet in search of answers, but the nuances of each individual situation can make it hard to find exactly what we need.
Ideally, we’d have a colleague with a lot of knowledge and experience who would listen carefully to our problem, ask us questions to make sure they understood it, and offer solutions. But even if we did, that person couldn’t be right by our side all the time to troubleshoot when we have follow-up questions.
Now there’s a new platform that is trying to fill that gap, to come as close as it can to being that trusted colleague who has deep knowledge about learning differences and student mental health and is ready at any time to help us figure out the best way to approach every individual situation. That platform is called Ellis.
Ellis is a free, chat-based tool created by the Children’s Health Council, and it’s designed to give educators practical guidance in those moments when something isn’t working and you’re not sure what to try next. This video provides an overview of how it works:
On the podcast, I talked with Cindy Lopez, Director of Community Engagement at the CHC, about the technology behind the platform, what different use cases look like, and how Ellis addresses things like student privacy and mandatory reporting. Below you’ll find some highlights from our conversation. You can also listen to the interview in the player above or read the transcript here.
What Ellis Actually Does
The simplest way to think about Ellis is this: It’s a place you can go when you have a specific student situation and need help figuring out your next move. You describe what’s happening, using your own words, and Ellis responds with a small set of strategies you can try right away. It’s like a thinking partner that helps you work through a problem.
When you log in, you’ll see a simple chat interface, where you type in a description of a situation with a student. You might include things like what the student is struggling with, what you’ve already tried, or anything else that feels relevant. After that first description, Ellis may ask a few follow-up questions to clarify the problem and get a more complete picture of the student. Lopez pointed out that it intentionally asks about the student’s strengths and the relationship between teacher and student.
“Often that strengths piece kind of gets lost in the frustration of trying to meet the challenge of the moment,” she said. “And so we try to build those things in as well.”
Next, Ellis generates a response with a few suggested strategies. Each one is explained briefly, and you can click to learn more or build out a longer-term plan. When you exit the platform, everything stays saved, so you can come back to the same situation later and keep working on it.
And that kind of troubleshooting is key: Ellis doesn’t assume the first strategy will solve the problem. You can come back and say, “I tried this, and it didn’t work,” and Ellis will ask follow-up questions about what happened. From there, it can suggest adjustments or alternative approaches. That kind of back-and-forth is closer to what actually happens in classrooms, where most decisions are iterative and context-dependent.
How Ellis Uses AI (and What’s Different About Their Approach)
Any time a tool uses AI, it raises some legitimate questions, like where the information is coming from and whether it’s trustworthy. Ellis was built to use AI in a way that makes it different from ChatGPT or Claude, providing solid answers to these questions. Instead of pulling from the open internet, it uses a technology known as retrieval-augmented generation, which means that it’s built on a curated knowledge base made up of resources from organizations like CAST, CASEL, Understood, and other partners with a track record of reliable, research-based information on inclusion, social-emotional learning, and mental health.
“So the results are not only trustworthy because of the content we’ve created,” Lopez explains, “they’re also meaningful, actionable, and valuable.”
Two Sample Scenarios
Lopez shared a few examples from educators who are already using Ellis.
One was a middle school learning specialist working with a student with ADHD who was consistently falling behind. Her usual strategies weren’t working anymore, and she needed something more specific. Ellis helped her think through how to break assignments into clearer steps and gave her language she could share directly with classroom teachers.
Although she had plenty of knowledge about helping students like this, Lopez explained that the extra support from Ellis helped her get unstuck. “It was a way for her to kind of amplify her own expertise and use her time well, use the teacher’s time well, and bring strategies that were meaningful.
A second example came from a newer high school teacher working with a student on an IEP who was disengaging quickly during reading and writing tasks. She had already tried several approaches, but nothing seemed to be making a difference. After using Ellis, she found a mix of new strategies and confirmation that some of her instincts were already heading in the right direction.
Lopez pointed out that this combination of new strategies plus the affirmation that she was on the right track gave the specialist a needed boost. “She felt more confident in her decision making and more calm even during challenging situations, because it’s like, okay, I responded to this previously, I could do it again. I’m more sure that I’m actually doing the things that are going to move the needle.”
Try it Yourself!
At the time of this writing, Ellis has been in beta for less than a year, and it’s continuing to evolve based on user feedback. But even in its current form, it’s trying to address a very real need: giving teachers access to practical, timely support without adding another layer of training or complexity.
The CHC wants to see lots of educators trying the platform, and they are very open to feedback that can help them make improvements. Lopez put it pretty simply: “You don’t need any kind of training to use it. Just start.”
Head over to askellis.org now and give it a try.
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