The Battle Of The Writing Process and AI

As an English Teacher of 28 years, my favorite thing to do in the classroom is guide students through the writing process. Whether it is a creative piece, an argument essay, some analysis, research, or, my favorite, a narrative, I love the entire process. I love the process of seeing a kid take an idea, flush it out, learn some new techniques and produce a piece of writing that they didn't know they were capable of doing.

Over the years, I have had the honor of saying to kids, "You are a writer." By allowing them to draft, conference with me and their peers during each step, young writers have been allowed to take chances, experiment with structure, wording, and any other technique they want to try. Many have found their voice and that is such a powerful thing for a student to discover at a young age. The writing process is messy, seemingly never ending, but it is beautiful.

I always tell my students to believe in the process, that it is fearless. Ok, I borrowed that phrase from Joe Maddon, the former manager for the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs. But, that is no longer the complete truth. The process does have fear of one thing and one thing only.

AI.

Don't worry, this isn't an anti-AI piece. AI is amazing and can help education in so many ways. There is a place for it in education for both students and educators. It can help tutor. It can help plan. It can help to elicit feedback. There are an infinite number of ways to use this tool.

But, the writing process?

The writing process is different. AI can help with generating ideas or gathering some research, but once we cross it over into the act of writing, we are losing something. We are losing how to tell our own story or point of view with our own voice. That ability is what makes us human, keeps our empathy high, and develops our critical thinking. If we use AI as a substitute during the writing part of the process, kids lose those skills and characteristics.

This is not an indictment on today's kids. If we had these tools in the 80's and 90's, we would use them too. We bought study guides, passed notes, copied things from the text books in order to get the school work done quicker and without much effort. We can't call kids any lazier than we were just because they have better tools than we did.

So, what can be done to have kids learn to use AI properly and efficiently and still have them write with their own ideas, words, and voice? That is the struggle that most teachers are going through right now. As an English Teacher, I spent much of the summer thinking of how to do this. The default way would be to go back to just pen and paper. With New York State banning cell phones, this seemed like the right option.

There is one problem with just dialing it back to 1993. We are not properly teaching them and preparing them for the world they are about to enter. The job market will require knowledge and use of AI and other technology. If we ignore those skills in classrooms then we are doing kids a disservice. There is a balance and, although it difficult to see that balance right now, we must continue to seek it out.

This year, I decided to try something different with my ninth and tenth graders. It is sort of a hybrid method, trying to bridge old school with modern tools with one hidden goal of helping students see that their words and voice are better than some bot. Our first unit was literary analysis writing. After reading a poem and going through a few lessons on literary devices, I handed them a writing assignment. I introduced a model response with a basic structure of claim, evidence, and response. Then, kids hand wrote their response while following the workshop model in class. So, we conferenced, they revised, and the got more feedback. All of this was done in class. Once they were done, the draft went into their writing folder, which is housed in the classroom.

The next week, we close read another poem. After, they received the same assignment. This time, we talked about structuring their writing differently. After some modeling, they hand wrote their responses, again following the workshop model. Once done, that draft went into their writing folders. We did this one more time, again modeling a different writing technique and structure.

After the three were done, I had them pick which one they thought was their best work. After a brief discussion of why, they were told to type up a final copy and submit it online. AI is allowed for feedback and even help with some wording. The only rule was the final copy had to have the same voice, tone, and structure of their handwritten draft.

I followed the same process when reading the novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. As we read, I would stop, give an analysis assignment as well as focus on a new writing skill/technique. They'd write, conference, and put the drafts in their folders. After three drafts, they picked their best one and used the tools available to them to produce the final copy.

At the end of 10 weeks, my freshmen produced six drafts, two final copies, and various creative pieces. With this method, I am able to teach them different methods, give them repetition, see what their words, voice, and abilities are at, while still allowing them to use the tools that will be useful in their futures. And, I certainly know better as to whether or not their submissions are original or generated. I've already started this method for our narrative writing unit.

It isn't a perfect method and I am definitely uncomfortable through it all, but, for now, it seems to be the way that is working for my classes. I am sure as AI continues to evolve, we'll have to either tweak or scrap this method.

We shouldn't be afraid of AI. Kids are going to always use tools to get ahead. So, if we embrace their technology and show them how to use it responsibly, they will be better prepared. More importantly, if we create spaces for them to discover their own voice by explicitly teaching them a variety of techniques and providing them genuine feedback during the process, they will be better prepared and infinitely more confident. We can have AI and we can have writers who write with a purpose and passion. The two are not mutually exclusive.