The Current Landscape: Writing and Thinking with AI

AI changes how students write.

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.

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Mission

This is a conversation we all must have.

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.

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Educational Philosophy

A central purpose of teaching writing is not only to produce work, but to develop thinkers.

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.

Critical Thinking

The ability to evaluate, question, and reason independently so as to generate original ideas.

Authentic Voice

Writing should reflect the student's ideas, experience, and judgment. The work must be recognizably the student's own.

Ethical Judgment

Understanding where the lines are, why they matter, and what it means to own one's work is critical.

Agency

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.

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Founder

Ivy Leibowitz

Ivy Leibowitz, founder of Word Spring

For decades, Ivy Leibowitz has taught English and writing to students in public middle and high schools, a NYC independent school, and as a legal writing instructor at Hofstra 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. She is also fortunate to be a parent and grandparent. Her unique, extensive experience enables her to tackle this complex situation from multiple perspectives.

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.

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The Conversation Ahead

Learning to Live with the AI Reality

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.

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Programs

Word Spring offers a growing series of workshops, webinars, seminars, lectures, and roundtable discussions for students, families, school leaders and policymakers.

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.

S1 The Authentic Application Essay High School Students and Families

Student Workshop 1 focuses on the college application essays that juniors and seniors are writing.

S2 Target Your Goal: Using AI for Real Feedback Students in Grades 7-12

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.

S3 Hold the Line: Why the Writing Process Still Matters Students in Grades 7-12

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.

S4 Notice the Line: Academic Integrity in Murky Waters Students in Grades 7-12

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.

S5 Keep What's Yours: Owning Your Writing When Machines Can Write Students in Grades 7-12

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.

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Parents

P1 How to Support But Not Get in the Way Parents and Families

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.

P2 Landscape Awareness: AI Targeting Young Children Parents of Young Children

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.

P3 AI and Younger Writers: What Families of Elementary School Children Need to Know Parents and Families

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.

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Schools

Consulting Services · For Administrators, Teachers, School Boards & Guidance Counselors

Bringing the Conversation Into Your School

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.

Date & LocationBy engagement
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Teachers

T1 Assessing Writing in the AI Era Teachers and Department Chairs

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.

T2 A Workable AI Integration Framework for Writing Educators

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.

T3 Using AI to Provide Effective, Timely Feedback English Teachers

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.

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Administrators

A1 The AI Quagmire: How Leaders Move When the Ground Continues to Shift 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.

A2 Coherence Across the Community Administrators

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.

A3 Building the Path With the Constituencies Administrators

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.

A4 When the Path Encounters Resistance Administrators

Every leader handling the integration of AI meets resistance.

A5 The Standing Conversation: Scenarios and Best Practices Administrators

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.

A6 Reclaiming Time for Human Interaction Administrators

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.

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Guidance Counselors

GC1 Helping Students Navigate the College Essay Minefield 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.

Inquire or Book

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.

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Contact

Join the Conversation.

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.

© Word Spring. All Rights Reserved.
In the News

Letter to the Editor, Los Angeles Times

“AI is already here. Educators need a nuanced, practical approach”

July 22, 2026 · in response to Mark Shpall’s July 16, 2026 op-ed, “AI, like a hovering parent, protects students from the failures they need”

As submitted

Dear Editor,

Shpall’s conclusion that it’s a disservice to students for parents to run interference for their children to such an extent that it deprives them of the opportunity to build grit and resilience in the face of the failure that helps them learn has merit. But, Shpall goes on to incorrectly conclude that using AI will inhibit the growth of the very qualities he believes students must develop such as “adaptability, creativity, and emotional fortitude.” In fact, though AI is a readily available “fall guy,” I suggest that we would be better served to consider the response, (or lack thereof), of our existing educational systems. That needs changing. Students are using AI and the educators must teach them how to do so in an ethical, responsible, and effective manner. A more nuanced, immediate, and practical approach to the “industrial revolution” of our time is essential, or we will continue to shortchange our children.

Ivy Leibowitz, Founder of Word Spring, an educational consulting firm dedicated to teaching students to harness AI in their thinking and writing. She is a lifelong educator; former English teacher at a NYC independent school, public schools, and law school; former school board member; and attorney.

See it at the Los Angeles Times

Letter to the Editor, Newsday

“Banning kids from AI isn’t the answer”

September 10, 2026 · in response to Abby McCloskey’s August 30, 2026 op-ed, “Only one way to make LI safe for kids”

As published

Abby McCloskey asserts that “The only way to address those worries [about the dangers of AI] is not to toggle with the app, but to limit kids’ exposure to it entirely” [“Only one way to make LI safe for kids,” Opinion, Aug. 30].

As the founder of an educational consulting company, I believe this all-or-nothing, head-in-the-sand approach is, at best, a well-intentioned but misguided short-term solution to a long-term situation that has no clear, foreseeable resolution. There are certainly well-documented dangers to inappropriately using AI as a substitute friend, confidant, or therapist. Research on the effect of AI use on a growing mind is still unfolding.

Considering the impact of AI on children requires a nuanced approach that takes into account numerous factors such as the child’s age, whether there is adult involvement and supervision, the purpose of the interaction, the degree of AI literacy education the child has received, and what guardrails can help guide responsible, ethical, and effective use.

It’s time for the adults in children’s lives — in particular, parents and teachers — to own this responsibility. This shut-it-down approach will not help the children already using AI nor will it prepare them for the world of ubiquitous technology that exists today.

Ivy Leibowitz — Founder of Word Spring, an educational consulting firm dedicated to teaching students to harness AI in their thinking and writing. She is a lifelong educator; former English teacher at a NYC independent school, public schools, and law school; former school board member; and attorney.

Newsday, Thursday, September 10, 2026, Letters, pp. 30–31 (print edition).