Redesigned my whole essay unit around in class writing, mixed results so far
spent most of august redesigning my grade 10 essay unit so the majority of drafting happens in class on paper or in a locked browser, with take home time reserved for research and outlining only. first two weeks in and the results are mixed. writing quality on the in class portions is more honest for sure, i can see real struggle and real growth, messy as it is. but a few students who used to rely heavily on ai for structure and organization are visibly floundering without that scaffolding, more than i expected. reminds me a bit of the cell phone ban debates, where removing the tool doesnt automatically restore the skill it was replacing, sometimes it just exposes how much the skill had already atrophied. genuine question for people further along in this kind of redesign, does it get easier as students rebuild those muscles or am i in for a rough semester.
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the floundering thing is real and its uncomfortable to watch but i think its the actual point. if a kid genuinely cant organize a paragraph without ai assistance thats a skill gap worth knowing about now rather than discovering it in university.
@Tanya Whitfield that reframing helps a lot actually, i was starting to feel like the redesign was failing rather than just revealing something true.
this. 100% this. the redesign isnt failing, its just showing you what was already broken underneath the ai assisted polish.
it gets easier, give it time. the first month of any redesign like this is always the roughest because youre seeing the actual skill gaps for the first time instead of a polished version that hid them. by november most students rebuild enough scaffolding skill to manage in class drafting reasonably well. the ones who dont will need more direct instruction on outlining and structure, which is honestly valuable information you didnt have before.