Sometimes, I hate AI. I know a lot of people feel similarly about it. Probably most especially those who teach others all about language and words and the power they can have when wielded in specific ways.
Words can soften the most painful of blows and ignite a fire of passion and action.
Words can empower those who feel powerless and encourage those who feel alone.
Words can build bridges between disparate groups and make our souls feel like they are awake for the first time in a long time.
Words, like that first sip of coffee or tea, can make you feel alive.
But how does someone who loves words like I do instill that same love in young people when it is so much simpler to type a prompt into AI and have AI spit back a relatively perfect paragraph or essay?
The first way I do it is by sharing this love of words. I read them sentences that make my heart do weird flips and sentences that make me feel a spark of life. I take the words they write in their poetry and stories and I make posters out of them and hang them on my walls. I celebrate the words they write so they can feel the joy that only comes when you know you have nailed a feeling and captured it in lines and squiggles on a page. Those moments are a powerful magic.
That’s in my creative writing class though. What do we do in our AP Block of AP World History and Pre-AP English II? First semester we struggled in a battle against AI generated responses. It was simple at first. I could tell you what was generated by a learner and what was generated by a machine. But the machines kept getting smarter, and I would know something was off but I wasn’t sure what it was. AI checkers are inconsistent at best. What’s a facilitator to do?
My co-teacher and I started the second semester with a plan to have all learners write their first drafts by hand in a notebook they kept in the classroom. It’s “old-school” and there was whining and gnashing of teeth, but it accomplished what we needed it to accomplish. We now had a way to see what learners were capable of when they didn’t have AI to help them.
After that initial draft, they type their second draft and color code it. The color coding is a way for them to identify what they are writing. Is it a claim? Evidence? Analysis? We spend time doing this because they then have a really clear visual of what they have written. We can then also easily identify any misconceptions they have about structure.
Their first draft receives feedback from peers, they revise it, and then submit the final draft for a score. We can see all the changes from initial draft to final draft. Do we always look at every stage? No. Does it help us when we need to check it out?Yes.
An inadvertent success of this process is learners then see their progress. They see how much they’ve grown. They can see how their writing has strengthened and improved. They can feel the success and be proud of themselves.
Writing instruction is changing. Sometimes it feels like we’re going backwards. Other times it feels like we are Sisyphus, pushing an unbearable load up a steep incline.
But man, when they get it right? When you can see the sense of accomplishment on their faces? It’s a different kind of magic altogether.
**Note: In the images above, the feedback is from both other learners and from facilitators. As learners grow their own writing skills, they are better able to support their peers through feedback. **
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