‘Too bad’: AI fails to make handwriting better at improving thinking in one classroom

Recent data suggests that educators may be more embracing AI than Bond-like shying away from it. According to a July 2025 poll from the EdWeek Research Center, about 60% of teachers surveyed said they were using at least a little AI in their classrooms.

Bond said she initially tried to incorporate artificial intelligence into her teaching. She asked students to read and annotate the poem i still rise Written by Maya Angelou, she then allowed them to write a thesis statement using artificial intelligence for literary analysis.

“It’s terrible,” she said, adding that it was clear that students using the AI ​​weren’t really engaging with the text.

“They don’t understand the material because they’ve outsourced this level of thinking and they don’t have to draw conclusions or arguments about the texts they’re studying.”

She realizes that her students can’t always tell whether something generated by AI is valuable, and they still need to develop foundational skills, such as how to write papers and construct arguments.

“Where will these skills be developed if not here?” Bond asked.

What does teaching without artificial intelligence look like?

Bond said handwriting journals at the beginning of each class allows her students to practice writing and build their confidence in writing longer pieces. It also allows Bond to learn their writing voice.

“I know I have a lot of students who don’t believe they sound academic enough,” Bond said. “I like to give them low-stakes opportunities to start developing what they want to say and how they want to say it.”

Rather than just grading the final paper or presentation, Bond grades different parts of the entire process, including the essay, outline, bibliography, and handwritten drafts.

“These steps are important to the cumulative overall grade because that’s how I know the idea is happening,” Bond said. “I think if students have to show me the beginning, middle and end of something written by AI, and different parts of it, then they’re less likely to hand over something written by AI.”

When students reach the final stage of the process, Bond has them type up their papers. Unless they provide accommodations for students with disabilities, this is the only time students use computers in class, Bond said.

student response

Junior Meyah Alvarez was initially confused by Bond’s approach. She said that at the beginning of the school year, she submitted a typed outline for a poetry analysis podcast, and Bond told her to redo it by hand because it would help her think and write better.

“It’s different, but I do enjoy it now,” Alvarez said. “I feel like it really got my brain thinking.”

Literature classes weren’t always Alvarez’s favorite, but she said she enjoyed Bond’s classes. She likes the interactive nature of the assignments, where Bond gives students the opportunity to write about their opinions and experiences.

“Ms. Bond’s approach is really good. Like, she does things that artificial intelligence can’t really help you with right now,” Alvarez said.

Several of Bond’s students told NPR that they applaud Bond’s ban on AI because they oppose the technology on environmental and ethical grounds. But nearly all said the use of AI in school assignments was common among their peers.

“Maybe some of us don’t want to admit that we use it because it’s a cultural taboo,” sophomore Eli Ellison said.

Ellison said he has used artificial intelligence in the past to help him with school and brainstorm names for characters in stories he writes. But he supports Bond’s AI ban. He said her class was an opportunity to learn something he Thinking—not AI thinking.

“I think AI does have its time and place, but especially since it’s still evolving and a lot of us don’t have solid opinions yet, our position is not solid.”

Even students who have used AI in Bond’s classes say they have learned from the experience.

T, a junior, said that he had until the last moment completed a bibliography on his chosen research topic: the adultification of children, before turning to artificial intelligence. His family has asked that we use only his initials so he can speak freely without compromising his college applications.

“It might not be smart, but I have other work to do. So I put it through artificial intelligence. I let it write it for me.”

Bond said she immediately realized T was using artificial intelligence. She was disappointed, but she tried not to take it personally.

“He was really overwhelmed and he was really afraid of not handing something over, so he handed something over,” Bond said.

With Bond’s help, I redid the assignment from scratch.

He said he now has this advice for students who might want to use artificial intelligence to complete assignments: “Take a moment and think about it. Would you rather get real growth from the experience of actually doing some work and thinking critically about what you’re writing or talking about, or take nothing away and just use a robot?”

How others are embracing this technology

Not all teachers agreed with Bond’s approach, including her friend Brett Vogelsinger, who teaches English at Central Bucks High School South just outside Philadelphia.

He said he tries to model responsible use of artificial intelligence to students, showing them the difference between using the technology to cheat and using it to enhance learning.

Vogelsinger said he hopes his students will be able to “identify that this particular use is shortening and shortening my thinking, and this use is pushing me and actually making me think more.”

He also allows the use of artificial intelligence in certain assignments – as long as students are transparent about it how They used it.

But even Vogelsinger, who wrote a book about using artificial intelligence in teaching writing, says he’s still figuring out how and when to incorporate AI into teaching: “We’re still in the experimental phase of all this.”

While Bond and many of her students see the value in AI-free classrooms, the federal government, some states and some school districts are embracing the technology.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in the country, offers high school students the opportunity to use Google’s Gemini chatbot.

“The future is now,” Miami-Dade County Schools Superintendent Jose Dotres said in a video posted on the Google for Education YouTube account. “We have to accept the fact that artificial intelligence is becoming an important tool not only for learning but also for teaching.”

New Jersey awarded more than $1 million in grants last year to promote the use of artificial intelligence in classrooms. Then-Governor Phil Murphy said it was an effort to invest in “the next generation of technology leaders.”

Last spring, the Trump administration issued an executive order to expand AI education in K-12 schools through public-private partnerships and funding for AI teacher training. Guidance from the U.S. Department of Education also supports the “responsible adoption of artificial intelligence” in schools.

Bond said she’s willing to change her mind, but currently she doesn’t see much value in AI for her students.

“Making sure they can do their jobs without AI is a much smaller task for me than trying to push AI into my classroom because I know that, at least for some of them, that means they’re not getting the skills they need,” Bond said.