eSchool News

MAY 5, 2023

Granted, ChatGPT might make writing that 11th-grade essay on symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” a whole lot easier (which, to be fair, does make grading a whole lot harder). Aside from that, there are real positives to our new AI pal, and overworked teachers can embrace it as the gift that it is: a free personal teaching aide.

Teachers 300

Teachers Fairness Essay Writing 300

Ask a Tech Teacher

JUNE 28, 2024

Essay writing is a crucial skill for academic and professional success because it teaches clear, logical, and persuasive communication. In this blog post, we’ll unlock the secrets to successful essay writing and share 10 proven tips to help you level up your writing game. What is Effective Essay Writing?

Essay 157

Essay Writing Plagiarism Communication 157

Ask a Tech Teacher

APRIL 15, 2024

The Ask a Tech Teacher team came up with fresh rules we think are less threatening and more geared to enabling students to enjoy this important writing style. Cultivating a Writing Routine Akin to any skill, the development of effective essay writing abilities requires consistent practice and dedication. Start small.

Essay 167

Essay Writing Skills Interdisciplinary 167

Catlin Tucker

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

In our book UDL and Blended Learning , Dr. Katie Novak and I encourage teachers to work toward firm, often standards-aligned, goals. The variety of products they create causes many teachers to question how they should assess this work since it takes many forms. We also stress the importance of providing students with flexible means.

Blended Learning 521

Blended Learning Essay Feedback Writing 521

eSchool News

JULY 22, 2020

Providing substantive comments on stacks of student essays, however, is highly time-consuming for busy teachers. As a result, teachers can be reluctant to assign many essays that require students to produce multiple drafts or provide extensive comments on early drafts of students’ writing.

Evaluation 273

Evaluation Writing Essay Teachers 273

Catlin Tucker

DECEMBER 19, 2014

In the past I’ve had students write a timed five-paragraph argument essay about whether Montag, from Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, is a conformist or nonconformist. My students had already written four essays this year, so I decided to ditch the essay. Here is a short clip of them at work.

Essay 420

Essay Exams English Assignments 420

Catlin Tucker

AUGUST 24, 2015

Although I used a detailed rubric to grade their essays and projects, I only entered the total score into the gradebook. So, an argumentative essay would be entered as a point value out of 100. Now when I am entering the grades for an essay, I enter each individual element that I am assessing from the rubric as a separate score.

Grades 420

Grades Essay Assignments Skills 420

Ask a Tech Teacher

APRIL 29, 2024

From the three-paragraph essay to one that lives up to the purpose of essays is a big leap both scholastically and skills-wise. Here, we delve into practical tips and strategies to transform your writing from good to great, ensuring your essays are clear, compelling, and academically rigorous.

Essay 158

Essay Writing Skills Plagiarism 158

Catlin Tucker

FEBRUARY 10, 2015

Every English teacher has experienced the frustration of introducing a writing skill, like how to write a thesis statement, over and over again without it “sticking.” That said, I can only read so many essays in a year. Here’s how it works: Step 1: Write an essay prompt on the board.

Essay 420

Essay Writing English Languages 420

Ask a Tech Teacher

AUGUST 24, 2023

Teaching Critical Thinking Through Essay Examples: Unlocking Minds We’re exploring a fun classroom adventure where teachers teach us to think carefully and write good essays using examples. We’ll see how these great teachers turn simple essays into smart thinking tools. Why Essays?

Critical Thinking 148

Critical Thinking Essay Teaching Exams 148

Ask a Tech Teacher

APRIL 30, 2024

Explore the benefits and drawbacks of AI in essay writing, including its impact on student learning. Unveil the evolving future of writing education with AI through these suggestions from the Ask a Tech Teacher team. AI and Writing Essays: Pros and Cons, How Will Students Learn to Write if an AI Writes It for Them?

Writing 187

Writing Essay Ethics Plagiarism 187

Ask a Tech Teacher

MAY 18, 2023

Many students dread IB essays. Read how to draft an IB extended essay below Writing Strategies for an Extended Essay in the International Baccalaureate Program IB is a rigorous two-year project for personal and academic development. One of them is the extended essay. Hence, you need all the help you can get.

Essay 148

Essay Writing Plagiarism Evaluation 148

Ask a Tech Teacher

DECEMBER 18, 2023

Writing an essay paper like a pro needs specific critical skills. Keep reading to enhance your ability to curate a unique essay paper. We are talking about essay writing, which you find a daunting task. Writing an essay is mostly difficult for students as they need to rely on their research and writing abilities.

Essay 155

Essay Writing Skills Discussions 155

Edsurge

AUGUST 5, 2024

What if why you choose to become a teacher determines how successful you will be in the role? What if, similarly, we learned about the motivations of aspiring K-12 teachers, and used that to predict how effective they will be and how long they will stay in the classroom? Why, in spite of the headwinds, do they become teachers?

Motivation 205

Motivation Teachers Essay Languages 205

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 25, 2017

I had one teacher ask me what I do when a student arrives at my teacher-led station and has not done the work required. This strategy also takes the responsibility off of the teacher, who is typically the person tasked with reaching out to the parents when there is an issue. This strategy is so simple but so effective!

Essay 420

Essay Students Assignments Feedback 420

eSchool News

MAY 12, 2025

Rather than writing traditional essays or book reports, my students were invited to create short video book reviews of their favorite titles–books they genuinely loved, connected with, and wanted others to discover. The result? A library of student-led recommendations that brought books–and readers–to life.

Culture 217

Culture Reading Students Languages 217

Catlin Tucker

MAY 10, 2016

Then the teacher collects that work, takes it home, and grades it in isolation. Too often the time a teacher spends leaving comments and edits on student work is never used to improve those pieces. As they work, I have conferenced with each individual student to discuss their most recent argumentative essays.

Grades 420

Grades Essay Feedback Writing 420

eSchool News

FEBRUARY 1, 2023

K-12 teachers report the highest burnout rate among all industries nationally, according to a June 2022 Gallup poll. There is an estimated teacher shortage of over 300,000. But what if every single teacher could have an AI assistant? Preparing lessons is one of the more time-consuming parts of a teacher’s job.

Teachers 278

Teachers Textbooks Multiple Choice Questions Essay 278

eSchool News

JUNE 28, 2024

Instead of forbidding generative AI tools, it’s critical that teachers show students how and when it’s appropriate to use AI in student writing. Then, teachers can demonstrate how and when it’s appropriate for students to use AI to their benefit. It’s intimidating. MagicSchool.AI

Writing 328

Writing Essay Plagiarism Assignments 328

Catlin Tucker

DECEMBER 28, 2017

I encouraged teachers to stop taking grading home for two simple reasons: Grading in isolation robs us of the opportunity to have conversations with students as we assess their work and, ultimately, makes feedback one-sided and less effective. They want to know exactly how I have managed that as a high school English teacher.

Grades 420

Grades Blended Learning Essay Feedback 420

Catlin Tucker

JUNE 28, 2021

Time management is a constant struggle for teachers since they spend most of their days working directly with students. That leaves a small window of time for all of the other tasks and responsibilities that teachers have to juggle, including planning and designing lessons. . The robust digital tools inside of my Google Calendar (e.g.,

Essay 545

Essay Assignments Writing Middle School 545

eSchool News

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Many primers on ChatGPT are available, but I want to focus on teachers’ and students’ concerns about using it in the classroom. It is well-documented and often repeated in teachers’ professional development that the right type of co-learning can deepen understanding and long-term knowledge gains.

Essay 337

Essay Plagiarism Assignments Learning 337

Catlin Tucker

AUGUST 12, 2017

Instead of spending hours grading assignments designed to help students develop these skills, I limit my energy to providing feedback in class as they work and grading the actual assessments–exam, essay, performance task. For example, a student may return to a formal essay or lab report to improve it after I’ve formally assessed it.

Grades 419

Grades Essay Exams English 419

Edsurge

JUNE 14, 2023

With the time it takes to score and give feedback on student work deterring many writing teachers from assigning lengthier writing tasks, and with the long turnaround time most students wait to receive grades and feedback, there is significant timesaving and learning potential in an AI helping grade student work. Figure 1: Teacher v.

Grades 175

Grades Essay Teachers Feedback 175

eSchool News

DECEMBER 13, 2024

This seems to be the norm: AI as the mortal enemy of all classroom teachers. So to all the teachers out there: Resistance is futile. On the other extreme is its complete acceptance; basically, you enter the essay prompt into ChatGPT and ask it to write the paper for you. I think of this as absolute cognitive outsourcing.

Teachers 246

Teachers Writing Critical Thinking Feedback 246

Catlin Tucker

NOVEMBER 13, 2017

Right now my students are writing their first argumentative essay in response to a Lord of the Flies prompt. I’m using the Station Rotation Model , so I have time to work directly with small groups of students in my teacher-led station. .” Skills stations are focused on developing specific skills.

Skills 395

Skills Essay English Writing 395

Catlin Tucker

MAY 9, 2019

Sometimes I didn’t even know what the format of the final exam would be…essay, multiple choice, or short answer. In a coaching session last month, I had a teacher ask me how to create a final exam that complements a standards-based approach to assessing students. My suggestion was to create a personalized final exam.

Exams 419

Exams Essay Fairness Coaching 419

eSchool News

DECEMBER 20, 2024

His essay, Money Cant Buy Happiness, included valuable reflections on emotional fulfillment and references to The Great Gatsby, yet his ideas were scattered and the language needed refinement. For example, students can prompt ChatGPT with Help me outline a persuasive essay on solar energy, and it will provide a structured outline.

English 300

English Writing Teaching Essay 300

Edsurge

MAY 27, 2025

True leadership involves not only encouraging teachers to reconnect with their purpose but also ensuring that they are seen, heard and supported, writes Ryan Burns, an instructional coach and adjunct professor in Warwick, Rhode Island, and a 2024-2025 fellow of the EdSurge Voices of Change Writing Fellowship.

Education 117

Education Essay Culture Math 117

eSchool News

AUGUST 28, 2023

Within HMH’s connected literacy solution, Writable ’s new GenAI capabilities increase the impact teachers can have by engaging more students with targeted feedback and motivating better writing in the moment. This approach to AI is teacher-guided, allowing teachers to incorporate AI-suggested feedback and scores into their instruction.

Plagiarism 246

Plagiarism Teachers Feedback Essay 246

eSchool News

AUGUST 9, 2024

While 89 percent of teachers reported in a recent survey that they believe generative AI will have an impact on teaching, recent reporting in the Wall Street Journal and The74 have rightly identified some of AI’s limitations in education, questioning the technology’s ability to serve as, for example, an effective tutor.

Teaching 325

Teaching Essay Teaching Methods Intelligence 325

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 17, 2017

I used my teacher-led station for synchronous editing. Groups of 8 students rotated through my teacher-led station in 20-minute intervals. Groups of 8 students rotated through my teacher-led station in 20-minute intervals. As my students wrote, I jumped into their Google Documents in suggesting mode and made edits.

Grades 420

Grades Feedback Essay Blended Learning 420

eSchool News

OCTOBER 10, 2022

As a former high school teacher and current content author for AP History and Social Sciences, I’ve learned several key strategies to help your students earn the AP scores they need to assist them in their academic careers—and retain the material that they have learned.

Exams 317

Exams Essay Testing History 317

Catlin Tucker

AUGUST 23, 2024

This shift has led to the growing adoption of co-teaching models, where general and special education teachers collaborate to meet the diverse needs of their students. Teacher 1: Provides targeted instruction tailored to each group’s needs, abilities, and skill levels.

Teaching 395

Teaching Writing Essay Discussions 395

Edsurge

JUNE 17, 2024

In a recent book exploring the influence of generative AI on teacher education, two researchers, Punya Mishra and Marie K. When I learned to do citations as a high school student, our teacher required that we physically make the citations using index cards, even while it was possible to have a citation generator churn them out.

Teachers 218

Teachers Essay Writing Culture 218

Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 5, 2021

When I work with teachers shifting to blended learning, I strive to establish the WHY driving our work together. I want teachers to understand the purpose and value of the shift to blended learning. In training sessions, I ask teachers to think about why they use this model. Blended learning is not a reaction to a moment.

Blended Learning 544

Blended Learning Metacognitive Skills Learning Motivation 544

eSchool News

MAY 7, 2019

I especially enjoy using their Curriculum Connectors , online resources for teachers across disciplines to help their students apply computational thinking techniques. When they read a new book or prepare to write an essay, their process must begin with finding data.

Skills 279

Skills Essay Critical Thinking Learning Styles 279