The following was originally meant to be a much shorter parent update.
STEAM Families,
Today is a big writing moment for your learner! We have all but finished the novel Fahrenheit 451, and alongside this experience we have been grappling with the question of the state of the world. Is it a dystopia? Is it not? I’ve seen students build convincing arguments in both directions. It has been fascinating to see their perspectives on life, but even more compelling is watching them learn to take their viewpoint and craft it into a solid argument – backed with sound reasoning and credible evidence.
The ability to formulate a well grounded argument is critical to a productive and meaningful life. I joke with the students about how I’ve argued myself into an amazing life – one that I often wonder if I even deserve. I convinced my Wife to spend her life with me. I convinced our Principal that I would be an effective teacher at STEAM. I convinced the bank I could afford our beautiful home. The list goes on. That popular textbook title by Andrea Lunsford, et al, is true: Everything’s an Argument.
Today, students will craft their final argument in a single hour. Sounds a little unorthodox, but if you’ll allow me a moment I’d like to explain. I have come to see two types of writing in high school. One is raw and rough around the edges; clearly the voice of a teenager. The other is polished, PhD-level prose that is entirely free of both syntax errors and personality. Another way to categorize these would be ‘Without AI support’ and ‘With AI support’ – or many cases simply ‘AI generated’.
A while back I started a new writing exercise where students had to write a small piece in class without any support. To ensure this, I had our GoGuardian software running, which allows me to see their screens in real time. Further, I assured students that if they did their best on these small, one-off writing moments, they would get all of their points. They would get feedback, but their mistakes wouldn’t lower their grade.
The whole experience was very telling. To see their ideas stripped back to the raw material – no polish or veneer, was eye opening. I had wondered if, slowly over time, English teachers may have continued to nudge the bar of ‘Proficient’ to something more akin to ‘Perfect’. Had this gradual and subtle shift by teachers occurred as AI became more ubiquitous? Only exacerbating what feels like an authenticity crisis?
Building off of this idea, we began the hard work of attempting to write an argument paper in one hour. Not a free write or journal entry, but a full-scale MLA paper with all the ingredients one would find on a University campus. The trick to this was having an argument organizer that clearly structured their plan of attack, and even included roughly drafted sections of writing, and visual support of all the moving parts.
Today I’ve watched on their screens as they took those components – evidence from academic databases and quotes from our novel – and pieced together an argument that is convincing, credible, and maybe best of all, original.
I’m reminded by this experience to take extra care in creating classroom experiences that allow students the freedom and space to tinker with their current skillsets. Without that, we risk encouraging a generation of thinkers and writers who aren’t even familiar with their own voice. At all costs, we can not allow that to happen.
