14/06/2026
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆.
Through my work on AI Workgroup, the Steering Committee, and most importantly, my classroom, I spend a lot of time thinking about AI in education.
Many of the conversations focus on tools, policies, privacy, cheating, and responsible use. Believe me, those conversations matter and I’m fortunate to be part of them.
But this year, my students had me thinking about something else…This year, my students used tools like , , and as part of our writing and feedback process. They still received feedback from me. They still talked through ideas with peers, revised their work, and reflected on their learning. What these tools provided was the ability for students to receive feedback in the moment rather than always waiting for me to get to their desk.
Then state testing arrived and the tools were gone. I noticed students reaching for scratch paper before they started writing. I watched them cross things out, reorganize their thinking, and start over when something wasn’t working. They were doing the same things we had practiced all year.
They weren’t relying on the tools anymore. They had internalized the habits. This year, I watched students move from a 1 or 2 to a 3 or 4 on the SBAC ELA assessment.
The scores are exciting. But they honestly aren’t what I’ve been thinking about. I’ve been thinking about promotion speeches. Every student in my class wrote one this year…Every student stood up and read one.
And as I listened, I found myself thinking about how many of those same students have spent years hearing what they couldn’t do. Now they were sharing ideas they were proud of.
For me, that is the goal of AI in education.
Not dependence. Empowerment.
The real success is not that students learn how to use AI. The real success is when students develop the confidence, reflection, and ownership to think for themselves without it.
*Picture is from an earlier writing assignment in the year. NOT State Testing 😉
