Using AI Tools to Give Feedback on High School Students’ Writing

As a writing teacher I want to give all of my high school students specific detailed feedback about their drafts, but there is just one of me and more than 140 of them. Even when I focus on specific skills, spend entire class periods holding conferences, give up hours on the weekend to leave comments on student papers, and leverage peer response groups, I still can’t get every student the feedback they need, when they need it, for every writing project. So, in the spring of 2024 I began to test AI-generated feedback options. So far, my students and I like them a lot.

feedback from Brisk

I first tried AI feedback with my 12th graders for their first-semester final essays in January 2024. In about 30 minutes, I was able to generate AI feedback for each of their papers. During writing groups, my students reviewed each paper along with the feedback. They were able to discuss what the paper still needed, along with the accuracy of the AI feedback.

Using Brisk: Brisk Teaching is an extension for the Chrome browser installed from the Chrome Web Store. In a Google Doc, Brisk will add a small icon in the lower right corner with the Brisk logo. Clicking that icon brings up a menu of options. Clicking “Give feedback” gives you four choices. I like to use the rubric criteria option and the glow and grow option. You specify the grade level of your students and, optionally, attach a rubric. Then click the “Brisk it” button. In a few seconds, Brisk generates feedback based on the content of the Google Doc. You have the option to edit the feedback and then insert it into the student’s document.

My students like getting feedback from Brisk. They sometimes find parts of the feedback generic or contrary to the assignment directions, and we have conversations about reading the feedback critically and the students making their own decisions about what it advised. I have found that attaching the rubric definitely improves the feedback that students get. The feedback is usually broken into three sections: strengths, areas of growth, and wonderings.

Some typical feedback from Brisk: On a ninth-grade narrative, Brisk said this: “Try to vary your sentence structure a bit more. Many sentences start with ’He’ or ’His,’ which can make the narrative feel repetitive. Mixing in some different sentence beginnings can make your writing more dynamic.“

On a senior analysis essay, Brisk offered this feedback: “While you’ve done a great job with the Holloway article, I noticed that you didn’t provide a similar analysis for the article by Jenkins. Including a detailed analysis of Jenkins’s article would help balance your discussion and provide a more comprehensive view of the topic.”

feedback from MagicSchool for Students

In the spring of 2024, MagicSchool launched MagicSchool for Students (MagicStudent). It lets me set up a space just for my students, and I get to choose the tools they have access to. I began to use it with my ninth graders on writing projects. I customized a feedback tool in each writing assignment so that the program already had information about the specifics of the assignment and the rubric. When students were ready for feedback, they could paste in their writing and get immediate feedback from the AI based on the rubric.

Using MagicStudent: MagicStudent is a part of MagicSchool.ai. From the left-hand side of the screen, click “Launch to Students” and then click “Launch New Room.” You can specify a room name and grade level. Click “Next” and choose from dozens of tools for your students. Tools like writing feedback, idea generator, and sentence starters are ones I use frequently with my students for writing projects. Select one or more tools for your student room, then click “Next.” Before you launch the room, you’ll be able to customize the writing feedback tool with the assignment directions and even attach your rubric.

When you’re done customizing, launch the room and give the link to your students. Once the room is active, you’ll be able to view student interactions with the AI. To do that, click “Launch to Students” again and select the room you want from the list. Click “View Output” next to the student name you want to view. 

When students enter a MagicStudent room, it asks for their name. I’ve learned to ask my students to enter just their first name and their class period. No other student sign-on information is needed, so MagicStudent is COPPA and FERPA compliant. Reviews from students have been positive.

When a student revises and resubmits their writing within MagicStudent, the AI feedback praises them for the improvements and suggests further revisions. Often students submit their writing four or five times, making edits and revisions each time. Like that of Brisk, MagicSchool feedback is often broken into three sections: strengths, growth, and writing mechanics. And, again, I find that the feedback is better if I include the rubric when I customize the tool.

Some typical feedback from MagicSchool: On a senior argument essay, MagicSchool said: ”Your stance is not entirely clear. Do you ultimately think some value of life calculation is valid and necessary for policy? Or do you reject the idea as unethical? Make your argument more explicit.”

On a ninth-grade analysis paragraph, it said: ”Make sure to connect each point back to the thesis statement to maintain a clear direction throughout your analysis.”

My assessment

There are limitations. I find that AI feedback often misses inconsistencies in plot when students are writing narratives. It also overlooks redundancy and does not always catch contradictions. It will not suggest large organizational moves, like cutting a specific paragraph or moving it to another part of the text. My students often still need their peers or me to make these kinds of observations and suggestions. 

I am finding that giving my students access to immediate AI feedback is making a difference in their writing, as well as their engagement with the writing process. Students who would have declared themselves done after writing a short paragraph now have instant access to the kind of feedback that motivates them to revise and keep going. I’m able to sit longer with individual students who need my help because the AI is able to help others.

We still do peer review, and I still leave additional feedback when needed. I’m also finding that the AI feedback actually improves my relationship with students. Before AI feedback, sometimes students took my constructive criticism about their writing as a personal insult, or they thought I was being mean because I pointed out their errors. No one likes having someone else point out flaws in their work, and many students feel vulnerable in the writing classroom. AI feedback has changed that dynamic in my classroom. Students view AI as more objective, and they don’t take AI feedback personally. Now, I’m not the one hovering over their writing with my metaphorical red pen; instead, I’m the teacher who can help them improve it.