September 22, 2025
By Aleta Margolis, Founder and President
Listen to this week’s Hooray For Monday podcast for the audio version of this week’s newsletter.
Inspired Teacher Sabrina Burroughs with her kindergarten students at John Lewis Elementary School in Washington, DC. What will the world look like when these children graduate as the class of 2038—and how do we prepare them for it?
So often in school we are expected to do what we’re told. This is as true for teachers and school leaders as it is for students. Many schools are using AI because… it’s here to be used, it saves time, it’s the thing our school is doing this year.
But it’s our responsibility—to our students and ourselves—to be the drivers, not the passengers, of educational innovation.
With this in mind, last week I offered 4 questions to guide school leaders and teachers in deciding if, when, and how to implement AI tools in the classroom. This week, I’m delving deeper into those questions with a concrete example.
Consider an AI tool that handles the task of grading student work.
Does this tool make things easier for students? For teachers? Is that a good thing?
Yes. Assuming the tool is user-friendly, it would surely save teachers time and ensure student work gets returned promptly. It may even provide more feedback than would be possible if a teacher reviewed papers without an AI assist. Is this a good thing? See #2.
What will be gained? What will be lost?
Tools like these offer more time for teachers to devote to other aspects of teaching (and to rest!), and they may increase teachers’ capacity to create and assess assignments.
On the other hand, thinking back to my time as a middle school teacher…When I reviewed and graded my students’ essays, I felt I was “spending time” with each student as I read and reflected on each assignment. That (time-consuming!) activity helped me build stronger and more informed relationships with each student. Might we risk losing this aspect of the teacher-student relationship, and this useful source of data for teachers if we rely on AI to grade assignments?
How do we ensure this tool instigates thought, and doesn’t create the illusion that there is one simple answer to complex problems?
When we ask students to complete an assignment, our goal isn’t simply to assign a grade. A well-constructed assignment (in-school and/or for homework) offers teachers a window into how our students think and learn. With this in mind…
School leaders: Ask your teachers, with or without an AI assist, how can we ensure that our assignments are thoughtful and useful for students, and that these assignments provide a window into how our students think and learn?
Teachers: If you’re considering using (or already using) AI to help grade student assignments, consider engaging your students in a conversation around the purpose of assignments.
What processes do we have in place (or can we put into place) to include student voice in determining when and how to use AI in our school? How can we ensure students, and teachers, have ownership in decisions about AI so that we are implementing these tools with intention? How do educators ensure that we are the drivers—not the passengers—of innovation?
Imagine the impact of students and teachers engaging in a discussion about the purpose of homework! Consider asking students: Why do (or don’t) you do your schoolwork? See what answers arise beyond, “Because I have to.” Consider having this discussion both as a conversation and a series of writing assignments.
School leaders: Have a frank conversation with your teachers about how AI might (or already does) improve their efficiency in providing feedback to students. Encourage teachers to have the conversation below with their students and share takeaways with you and with one another.
Teachers: Find out how your students feel about having AI assist in the review and grading of their work. Tell them how you feel too. Work together to devise some guidelines for how you will and won’t use it. Revisit those guidelines on a regular basis as the year unfolds (and the technology evolves).
High school students in Washington, DC face a lot of uncertainty in this moment—AI and technology included—as illustrated by this poster they created during a recent session of Inspired Teaching’s Speak Truth program.
We have never been able to predict the future, and in this era of rapidly evolving technology, it is even more difficult to do so. But just as we equip our students with skills that will enable them to navigate an unknown world, we can give ourselves tools to do the same. These questions are a useful start. You can also refer to our interview with educator and scientist Sandra Vilevac on the Hooray For Monday podcast, whose design thinking process offers helpful framing when considering AI use.
At Inspired Teaching, our mission is to shift the school experience away from compliance, and toward engagement and curiosity. And in that spirit, I challenge each of you to engage your own curiosity as you contemplate if and how to utilize AI as part of the teaching and learning experience in your school.
For additional insights, resources, and information on Inspired Teaching teacher and youth programming, subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter!
Hooray For Monday is an award-winning weekly publication of Center for Inspired Teaching, a social change nonprofit organization that champions the power of curiosity and is dedicated to transforming the school experience from compliance-based to engagement-based. Inspired Teaching provides transformative, improvisation-based professional learning for teachers that is 100% engaging – intellectually, emotionally, and physically.
