AI is here to stay. Students are using it regardless of what stance parents, teachers, or schools take. The question is no longer whether AI belongs in students' lives. The question is how we guide them through AI with intention, ethics, and skill.
The Word Spring goal is to teach students to interact with AI productively, ethically, and effectively while preserving and cultivating the thinking, voice, and judgment that strong writing requires.
Word Spring is building a growing series of programs for students, families, and schools. It is evident that the landscape will keep shifting. We will keep discussing the issues that matter to you.
The focus in the initial phase is on how a student writes. But no student writes alone. Parents, teachers, and school leaders shape that experience too. The offerings guide them as well: parents in supporting their child through this change, teachers in adapting curriculum and assessment, and school leaders in building a school ready for this shift, without disruption.
Every constituency, students, parents, educators, school leaders, counselors, policymakers, has a role to play. Word Spring is here to help each one do it well. You are encouraged to share your inquiries, comments, and feedback.
Writing is more than a means of communication; it is a process of discovery. Through brainstorming, reflection, drafting, revision, and dialogue, writers clarify their ideas, test assumptions, develop judgment, and find their voice. Word Spring's response to AI is neither resistance nor unquestioning adoption. Students should learn to engage with AI thoughtfully, critically, and ethically, preserving what must not be lost and cultivating what has not yet been developed.
The ability to evaluate, question, and reason independently so as to generate original ideas.
Writing should reflect the student's ideas, experience, and judgment. The work must be recognizably the student's own.
Understanding where the lines are, why they matter, and what it means to own one's work is critical.
The ability to direct one's own thinking, make meaningful choices, and take ownership of one's work rather than outsourcing it is of primary importance.
In an age of artificial intelligence, these capacities are not becoming less important. They are becoming indispensable.
For decades, Ivy Leibowitz has taught English and writing to students in public middle and high schools, independent schools, and law school. She is a NYS certified educator and administrator, and an attorney who has served as a publicly elected former school board president and trustee, administrative hearing officer, Special Professor of Law with a focus on legal issues in public education, Dean, and English department chair.
Most recently, she served on the AI Task Force at The Dalton School in New York City. She has been a teacher, a lawyer, an administrator, and a policymaker. That range makes her uniquely qualified to shepherd students, families, and schools through these timely conversations.
The questions AI raises about writing, authorship, and integrity are not just pedagogical. They are ethical and practical; students, families, and schools are dealing with them in real time. Word Spring is here to help.
The Word Spring offerings exist to bridge the gap between the rapid pace of technological development and the writing we ask students to do. We cannot afford to be reactive or to apply broad-brush pronouncements that cannot be monitored or enforced. Appreciating the nuance is essential.
Students
"Students should not come to the AI empty-handed."
AI modifies the writing process. It must not change student ownership of their thinking and writing. Before turning to artificial intelligence, learners should first engage in the foundational practices of inquiry, brainstorming, audience awareness, purpose, and drafting. Only then can AI serve as a productive tool rather than a substitute for thinking.
Student Workshop 1 focuses on the college application essays that juniors and seniors are writing.
Learning to name a specific goal before prompting AI; distinguishing vague requests from targeted ones; practicing turning "help me with this" into a focused ask.
Understanding why brainstorming, drafting, and revision build thinking skills AI can't replace; identifying which parts of the process to protect versus where AI can assist.
Understanding how school and college policies on AI use vary; applying the "can only I judge this?" test to gray-area situations; knowing how to ask a teacher or school for clarity.
Maintaining one's agency and voice when interacting with AI; reflecting on what "ownership" of writing means personally; building a personal habit of post-AI reflection going forward.
Parents
Parents want to help. But in the age of AI, the line between support and interference has never been blurrier. This workshop gives parents a practical, honest framework for staying involved without taking over.
A researched overview of the AI-driven educational programs and companies already marketed to families of young children: what these tools actually do, and how to build informed awareness before deciding whether and how to use them.
Understanding what AI use looks like (and should look like) at the elementary level; distinguishing age-appropriate exploration from premature reliance; setting healthy household norms early, before habits form.
Schools
Word Spring works directly with school district personnel to help every adult in a student's life navigate AI thoughtfully. Engagements are built around the school's specific needs and speak directly to each audience's role.
Teachers and department chairs: redesigning assessment and instruction to take AI into account — enhancing curriculum delivery, sharpening feedback on student writing, supporting the writing process itself, and freeing up time for the human interactions that matter most.
Administrators and school boards: setting policy, governance, and institutional direction with confidence, and planning professional development that prepares faculty for real classroom questions about AI.
Parents and PTA leadership: supporting students at home with the same guidance offered through a school engagement, available as part of that partnership or booked directly.
Teachers
A single-draft essay is the easiest assignment for AI to fully replace. This session helps teachers redesign assessment to value process and voice by grading how students think, not just the product they submit.
For educators who want to think seriously about how AI belongs, and doesn’t belong, when writing is assigned. Practical, grounded, and designed for the teachers who are contemplating why we ask students to write.
English teachers face an impossible paper load. AI can help, but only if used thoughtfully. This workshop explores how teachers can use AI to give students better, faster feedback without losing the human judgment and interaction that makes feedback meaningful.
Administrators
School leaders have plenty of information about AI: new tools, more aspects to consider, and more to share and discuss. This session offers a method for leading when the situation continues to become more complex.
The effect of AI differs by discipline. The English teacher knows what it did to the essay; the math teacher knows what it did to the problem set. Neither may see that art, world languages, and history are each having different manifestations. A strategy for one may not be workable for another. School and/or district level administrators develop the cross-curricular vision.
All constituents must have a role in creating the path to manage this notable shift. Bringing teachers, families, students, and the board into the process is essential.
Every leader handling the integration of AI meets resistance.
The questions AI raises are ever-changing; some recur in new forms. This session is built to be repeated; it is a working discussion of actual situations, where leaders discuss what happened and leave with the field’s current best practices.
AI can absorb much of the drafting, compiling, and formatting that fills an administrator’s week. The question is what the reclaimed hours are for. This session is about putting that time where it is best used. These are in those interactions that require a person in the room, and that no technology can adequately address.
Guidance Counselors
Counselors sit amidst the student, the family, the colleges, and school policies, giving them a unique vantage point on how AI is reshaping the college essay. Concrete strategies to share with students for handling it ethically, productively, and effectively will be provided.
We are continually adding new offerings, so please check back periodically. In addition, we are eager to customize a workshop for your school community. Please let us know your needs.
Register for an upcoming session, join the Word Spring mailing list for updated information, and/or send us a question, comment, or feedback. Students, families, counselors, and school leaders are all welcome to inquire. Word Spring is here to help. We look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your interest in this valuable work. Your kindness matters to us as we work together in this challenging time.