A Helpful Partner in the Classroom
by Eileen Wedegartner
Teaching writing is uniquely rewarding. It offers a front-row seat as students discover their voices, shape ideas, and grow as thoughtful communicators and critical thinkers. Yet providing detailed, actionable feedback on student essays can be overwhelming—especially with large class sizes, varied skill levels, limited time, and pressures to cover extensive content.
At JFY, we understand these challenges deeply. This is why we developed our AI Writing Assessment Tool—not as a replacement for teachers, but as a partner in the formative assessment process. The tool is designed specifically to save teachers time, provide targeted, customized feedback, and give teachers more opportunities for personalized interactions that truly impact student learning.
What I value most is the volume and quality of feedback the tool can generate in minutes. When essays are submitted—whether individually or as a batch—the tool provides detailed assessments based on teacher-customized rubrics. This automated process quickly and accurately identifies specific areas of strength and growth for each student. And here’s the beauty of it: the feedback is extensive but not prescriptive. Teachers and students don’t need to act on every recommendation. They can prioritize, selecting two or three key areas of feedback to address in revisions. This flexible approach makes the revision process manageable for students, helping them avoid feeling overwhelmed by too much information at once.
This selective feedback model empowers students by placing choices in their hands, granting them more agency. Students can review their feedback and choose which aspects resonate most with them or align best with their writing goals. This strategy fosters a sense of ownership over their learning and growth, motivating students by involving them actively in their writing improvement process. Rather than passively accepting edits, students engage critically with feedback, evaluating what matters most for their next draft.
This model reinforces a crucial understanding: writing is an iterative process. No one writes a perfect first draft. Effective communication almost always emerges from thoughtful revision. By highlighting specific actionable feedback, our AI tool helps students internalize the iterative nature of writing. Students begin to see revision as an opportunity rather than a chore—a chance to clarify, refine and strengthen their ideas. The iterative cycle helps students organize their thoughts and clarify their message to communicate effectively with their audience.
Another powerful way to use the AI Writing Assessment Tool is through collaborative peer-editing. Students can share their feedback with classmates, discussing similarities, differences and strategies for improvement. Collaborative revision discussions become richer because AI-generated feedback provides an objective baseline. Students learn not only from their own essays but from those of their peers, building a sense of community and collective learning. Peer collaboration guided by AI-generated feedback helps normalize the revision process. Students see editing and revision not as hostile criticism but as a natural collaborative part of becoming a better writer. This process builds resilience, reduces anxiety, and shifts the classroom culture towards mutual support and growth. Beyond the classroom, this kind of collaboration is a soft skill highly prized in the workforce where many projects and goals are based on group efforts and iterative improvements.
The most significant benefit of incorporating the AI Writing Assessment Tool is that it frees up time for teachers to have individual, meaningful conversations with students. While groups are engaged in collaborative peer-editing sessions informed by AI feedback, teachers can meet one-on-one with individual students who need additional support or enrichment.
These personalized conferences, freed from the pressure of addressing every minor grammatical error, can focus on higher-order skills such as idea development, compelling argumentation, and the student’s unique voice and style. Teachers can dive deeper into meaningful conversations about writing purpose, audience awareness and clarity to build stronger relationships.
At its core, teaching is relational. The best teaching occurs in the moments when a teacher and student connect deeply over learning. Our AI tool helps return these essential human interactions to the heart of teaching and learning by easing the administrative burden of feedback. The tool supports educational equity by ensuring that all students receive detailed, personalized feedback regardless of the teacher’s class size or schedule constraints. It levels the playing field by giving every student the targeted support they need to succeed.
This tool is not only about improving writing scores or saving time. It’s about empowering teachers and students to reclaim the joy, curiosity, and connection at the heart of the writing process. It’s about showing students that writing is a powerful tool for organizing their thoughts, shaping their voices, and effectively communicating their ideas to the world.
AI does not replace the human connection. On the contrary, it enhances connection. Our Writing Assessment Tool demonstrates how technology can enrich teaching and learning by freeing time for what truly matters: strong relationships, deep student engagement, and meaningful educational experiences.
To learn more about JFY's AI Writing Assessment Tool, please click on the button below.
Eileen Wedegartner is a JFYNet blended learning specialist with an obvious literary bent.
Other posts authored by Eileen can be found here.
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