I have been following these conversations about AI and writing with a great deal of interest, as a writer and a former teacher of writing in public schools. It's true that best practice in teaching writing would prevent students from leaning on this tool as a crutch, but that it is very labor-intensive. If I were still in the classroom, I would require first drafts to be handwritten, probably in front of me--not just to prevent cheating but in order to be available to coach struggling writers. Then, because my students' handwriting was often illegible and I couldn't complain since mine is no better, I wouldn't read the work till they had written a second draft on a computer. Both would be turned in together, so I could assess revision as well as everything else. Nor would that second draft be the last. I was mostly following this process for big projects, but quick responses and essay exams were first draft only and on the computer so I could read them and file them without keeping huge stacks of paper. I'm not sure what I would do about that if I were still in the classroom, but any solution is likely to require the kind of personal attention to each writer that you rightly say is difficult to impossible in today's school environment.
I have been following these conversations about AI and writing with a great deal of interest, as a writer and a former teacher of writing in public schools. It's true that best practice in teaching writing would prevent students from leaning on this tool as a crutch, but that it is very labor-intensive. If I were still in the classroom, I would require first drafts to be handwritten, probably in front of me--not just to prevent cheating but in order to be available to coach struggling writers. Then, because my students' handwriting was often illegible and I couldn't complain since mine is no better, I wouldn't read the work till they had written a second draft on a computer. Both would be turned in together, so I could assess revision as well as everything else. Nor would that second draft be the last. I was mostly following this process for big projects, but quick responses and essay exams were first draft only and on the computer so I could read them and file them without keeping huge stacks of paper. I'm not sure what I would do about that if I were still in the classroom, but any solution is likely to require the kind of personal attention to each writer that you rightly say is difficult to impossible in today's school environment.