Vibecoding
Working Smarter with AI
Efficiency was the goal: taking routine work and mental load off my plate to make room for other projects
J.R. Goff · 2026 CAL-ED Conference: Signs of the Future, AI in Deaf Education · Ohlone College, Fremont
Tasks I needed to streamline
5 staff members making van reservations
Managing 2 separate budgets in one
One task that runs on email and memory
Think of one at your school, and hold onto it. We'll come back to it at the end.
The hidden cost was mental load
What I had to remember
- Check the inbox for approval replies
- Update the Sheet with each answer
- Add every trip to the calendar
- Notice when something stalled
What automation is streamlining for us
- A Google Apps Script checks every 5 minutes
- The Sheet updates itself
- The calendar updates itself
- An email tells me when it needs me
What was eating my time: monitoring emails for van schedule updates, repeating manual steps, and double-checking for overlapping requests.
The goal was efficiency
Automate the routine
Scripts handle the repeat steps: reading replies, updating Sheets, adding calendar events.
Lift the mental load
Nothing to track, remember or keep checking in my head.
Make room for more
The time goes to the work that needs a person, and to the next project.
Claude wrote the code. My job was to describe what was eating my time.
Case study: three manual steps for every van
Staff requested vans through a Google Form. Approvals came back as reply emails to an inbox nobody watched. Then a person had to:
What was eating my time: the same three hand steps for every van request, plus chasing approvals that stalled.
When nobody did it, approvals stalled and drivers weren't told. No error, no warning, sometimes for days.
Watch it work, then the result
Captioned clip · about 60 seconds · demo copy with made-up data
- Submit the van form
- Reply “Approved” from a test account, run the script
- Sheet status changes; calendar event turns green
- Reply that matches no request: alert email arrives
Off my plate
- Reading every approval reply
- Updating the Sheet and calendar
- Watching for stalls
[__] hours a week back
Your estimate
One flow, three tools
Matches each reply to its request, updates the Sheet and calendar, and can add the driver to the event.
Staff edit one master Sheet. It feeds a separate view-only display Sheet.
Keeps the calendar in step with the schedule. It changes only events it created.
All of it is owned by a shared program account, so it keeps working when staff change.
I don't watch the inbox. It emails me
The script doesn't guess. When it can't act safely, it tells me, so I don't have to keep checking.
Urgent alert
A reply can't be matched to exactly one request. The script leaves the email unread for me.
Set-aside notice
A reply matched no request, or was a duplicate.
Receipt
Two requests tied, so the script picked the newest. I can check its choice.
Dry-run preview
Before a new feature goes live, I see what it would have done.
What is vibecoding?
Describe what you want in plain language. AI writes the code.
“Programming by vibes, not variables.” —Collins
Term coined by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy, Feb 2025
Collins Dictionary Word of the Year, 2025
Pure vibecoding
Prompt, try it, prompt again, and never look at the code.
My version
I describe the problem and Claude writes the code. Then I dry-run it and check the live system before it goes live.
How I work with Claude: describe, build, test, refine
Describe
Explain in plain language what's eating your time
Build
Claude writes the Apps Script and explains how to install it
Dry run
Test with no real changes; it only reports what it would do
Refine
Fix what the test shows, then run it again
Every lesson goes into a written playbook Claude reads before each change.
What I asked Claude, and what it built
In plain words
“When the approver replies ‘Approved’ or ‘Denied,’ update that request in the Sheet and on the calendar.”
The Apps Script it wrote
- Checks the program inbox every 5 minutes
- Matches each reply to exactly one request
- Writes Approved or Denied in the Sheet
- Turns the calendar event green when approved
- Emails me when it can't act safely
Automated Budget Estimator
What was eating my time
[Not yet in the brief]
Solution
[Not yet in the brief]
Tools used
[Not yet in the brief]
Time or load saved
[Not yet in the brief]
CPI Master: the Sheet does the counting
A typed training schedule; each instructor needs 4 sessions in a rolling 2-year window.
What was eating my time: counting each instructor's sessions by hand and cross-checking who was out.
Read-only views Print-ready admin summary, an auto-updating list, one view per school year
Staff roster Counts each instructor's sessions against the 4-session rule
Availability Flags any session whose instructor is out: “⚠ reassign”
Now: the Sheet counts sessions and flags conflicts. Formulas only, no Apps Script.
Trunk or Treat AFTC: no data entry, no chasing
An all-volunteer committee, and many members wouldn't create accounts or learn new apps.
What was eating my time: adding each volunteer to a crew by hand and chasing people for task updates.
Family registration
Bilingual, English and Spanish
Pick-a-team sign-up
Crew rosters update live
Committee task board
Edit rights come from the sign-up Sheet: no setup for new volunteers
Task board, Sept 23 – Oct 16
Now: volunteers add themselves, and every update comes to me by email.
What came off my plate
| Project | Mental load removed | Time back |
|---|---|---|
| Van approvals and schedule | Reading replies, updating the Sheet and calendar, watching for stalls | [estimate] |
| Automated Budget Estimator | [not yet in the brief] | [estimate] |
| CPI Master | Counting recert sessions, checking who's out | [estimate] |
| Trunk or Treat AFTC | Entering volunteers, granting edit access, chasing updates | [estimate] |
Time back is room for the next project.
Lessons: efficiency that lasts
Check the live system
AI sounds confident even when it's wrong.
Ask how it could fail silently
A calendar ID hidden in code could stop working with no error.
Use a shared program account
Automations keep running when staff change.
Dry run first
Preview what it would do before anything goes live.
Keep a written map
Write down how the pieces fit together.
Keep student data out
Leave it out of AI tools, and check district policy first.
Try it yourself
Demo copy of the Form, Sheet and script, with made-up data
Starter prompt
Every week, [task] takes me about [time], and I have to remember to [step].
I want a Google [Form / Sheet] that does it for me.
Write the Apps Script, tell me step by step how to install it, and add a dry-run mode that only reports what it would do.
Then tell me how it could fail without anyone noticing.
Questions
Take your time. We'll leave room for interpretation.