The collaborative essay. In today’s era of the increasingly more prominent AI-generated student essay, teaching students how to write is more challenging than ever! And while AI will most certainly be an integral part of Gen-Z and Generation Alpha’s educational and professional careers, middle school and high school teachers across the globe are finding new ways to teach writing to ensure that students have the necessary skills for effective communication and critical thinking.

One way that I’ve adjusted my instruction because of AI is by focusing on more in-class writing either with paper and pencil or a lockdown browser. However, simply assigning writing is not enough to make sure our students are learning how to improve their writing skills –they also need a variety of practice activities to help them practice their writing. That is where the in-class collaborative essay comes in!

Recently, I assigned my students an in-class collaborative essay on paper. While I’ve facilitated collaborative paragraphs and essays before, I needed to adapt my instructional strategies this time to do my best to AI-proof the activity. In retrospect, this was a highly effective activity, and I feel my students did well and improved in their writing abilities.