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

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

Catlin Tucker

MARCH 25, 2024

I’ve trained many teachers who use choice boards and ask, “What’s the difference between a choice board and a playlist?” Despite this reality, most learning is teacher-paced, not student-paced. The focus is on the teacher covering content and moving students through lessons on a strict timeline.

Teachers 479

Teachers Art Feedback Writing 479

eSchool News

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Ninth-grade English was a paradox for me—both the best and worst year for helping me learn to write. Every month, my Advanced English teacher, Mr. Johnson, assigned our class one of the classics of English literature and expected us to demonstrate what we had learned with an accompanying essay.

Writing 300

Writing Failure Essay English 300

eSchool News

JANUARY 30, 2023

Learning a new language is challenging, requiring a student to master four basic skills–listening, reading, speaking, and writing–from scratch. Speaking and writing are about producing the language, requiring a different mental muscle from learners. Writing is essential for professional and long-distance communication.

Writing 286

Writing Skills Essay Language 286

Catlin Tucker

JANUARY 25, 2019

In my work as a blended learning coach, I observe a lot of teachers facilitating blended lessons. The Station Rotation Model is particularly popular because teachers do not need a device for every student to make it work. One concern I have about this model is the way teachers design and facilitate their teacher-led station.

Teachers 420

Teachers Essay Feedback Quizzes 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. Abbie Kay from State of Writing emphasizes that solid writing is about expressing ideas and effectively engaging and persuading your audience.

Essay 159

Essay Writing Skills Plagiarism 159

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 520

Blended Learning Essay Feedback Writing 520

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. In multilingual classrooms, these skills are often overlooked in favor of silent writing tasks.

Culture 233

Culture Reading Students Languages 233

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.” I love this approach to teaching writing! Plus, I get to support them as they write in class. See my post on synchronous editing ).

Essay 420

Essay Writing English Languages 420

Ask a Tech Teacher

MAY 2, 2024

Is using AI in your essay writing unethical and a potential reason your teacher may debate your work’s authenticity? This is the same concern that has been posed about essay writing services and the people who use them. However, boundaries become murkier when it comes to AI and its role in writing essays.

Essay 183

Essay Ethics Plagiarism Writing 183

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

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. So, right off the bat, avoid this pitfall.

Essay 148

Essay Writing Plagiarism Evaluation 148

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

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

I explain that certain activities are designed to help them practice and hone skills which will be assessed at a later date by a writing assignment, quiz/test, or project. Although I used a detailed rubric to grade their essays and projects, I only entered the total score into the gradebook. That’s totally up to the teacher.

Grades 420

Grades Essay Assignments Skills 420

eSchool News

JULY 27, 2023

Today’s digital-savvy students welcomed ChatGPT with open arms and began using it for writing assignments. According to a new study from Academic Help , 67 percent of students use AI for creating texts – the basis for their essays and other papers. The issue here is not only about the academic integrity violation.

Writing 246

Writing Skills Plagiarism Teaching 246

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. . For years, I used a daily planner. That was problematic.

Essay 545

Essay Assignments Writing Middle School 545

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

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

eSchool News

MARCH 8, 2017

Certain teacher professional development could have a positive impact on academic writing by English learners in grades 7-12, according to a study from the University of California, Irvine. The high school exit exam – since suspended – gauges California students’ competency in reading, writing and mathematics.

Writing 210

Writing Exams Essay Students 210

eSchool News

OCTOBER 3, 2017

How do you know when a student has turned in a good essay? For Patti West-Smith, the answer is simple: Does the piece of writing do its job? There’s no magic prescription for that,” said West-Smith, a former teacher, principal, and instructional supervisor who now heads the curriculum team at Turnitin. Purpose and Audience.

Writing 198

Writing Essay Feedback Evaluation 198

eSchool News

MAY 8, 2017

As with any skill, the key to better writing is more practice. But that creates a dilemma for the teachers tasked with helping students improve their writing skills: How can they build more opportunities into the curriculum for students to practice writing, while still giving students both timely and meaningful feedback?

Writing 191

Writing Technology Essay Feedback 191

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 394

Skills Essay English Writing 394

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 394

Teaching Writing Essay Discussions 394

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

Edsurge

JULY 24, 2023

AI-driven tools may signal the integration of technology into learning in profound ways; however, the long trajectory of edtech has not yet changed the fundamental organizing structure between teacher and student. Each prompt offered aligned information sources, and instructional materials and other teacher supports accompanied the tool.

Writing 148

Writing Essay Teachers Feedback 148

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

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 17, 2017

It’s not that my students aren’t writing. This paper took them about 3 weeks to write from the time they started their research to when they finished their final draft and works cited page. I used my teacher-led station for synchronous editing. It’s been amazing!

Grades 420

Grades Feedback Essay Blended Learning 420

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

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

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. I’ve structured the grade interviews so they mirror our argumentative writing process.

Grades 419

Grades Essay Exams English 419

Catlin Tucker

JUNE 16, 2024

It provides teachers with invaluable formative assessment data, allowing them to informally assess student understanding and identify misconceptions, gaps, and areas that need additional instruction and support. Can you suggest engaging activities for my grade class focusing on ?

History 380

History Art Essay Physical Education 380

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

eSchool News

AUGUST 28, 2023

BOSTON – As part of its human-centered approach to AI in K-12 education, learning technology company HMH today announced new OpenAI-powered integrations within Writable , its award-winning writing practice and assessment solution for grades 3-12. This saves valuable time teachers can use to invest in student connections. “At

Plagiarism 246

Plagiarism Teachers Feedback Essay 246

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.

Grades 175

Grades Essay Teachers Feedback 175

eSchool News

MAY 7, 2019

Anyone who says you can’t apply computational thinking and digital learning strategies to strengthen students’ writing skills is wrong. I especially enjoy using their Curriculum Connectors , online resources for teachers across disciplines to help their students apply computational thinking techniques. Collecting data.

Skills 279

Skills Essay Critical Thinking Learning Styles 279