Exploring, Using, and Preventing ChatGPT in ELA

Like most English educators, I’ve been grappling with the explosion of ChatGPT Open AI and its implications for ELA. If you have been avoiding this new tech tool that could potentially change the English classroom as we know it, I’m with you. As an early adopter, I do not shy away from new tech very often, but let me be frank, ChatGPT scares me. Essentially, Chat GPT Open AI is like a free (for now) personal assistant who can do your writing work for you. Within seconds, using little to no brain power, ChatGPT will generate a piece of writing at the level English teachers have pushed students towards their entire careers. What happens next? While I don’t have all the answers, this post is about looking ChatGPT in its robotic eye and facing the fear of the unknown. It’s about me working through my own feelings about Open AI while addressing English teacher concerns. This is me virtually reaching out to hold your hand as we explore this brave new world of ChatGPT in ELA, together. 

Is ChatGPT cheating? 

Yes – ChatGPT Open AI would not work without internet content. It steals the hard work of those who have gone before. For example, I’ve been blogging for almost 10 years. As of 2023, someone could start an ELA blog like mine tomorrow and have more blog posts than me by the end of the week. And the scary part? Those posts could be as good as mine (or maybe even better) because ChatGPT pulls from established ELA blogs to repurpose the content it provides. So in that sense, yes, I think it’s cheating because it doesn’t list the sources it pulls from, so there’s no way to know who to credit. 

In another example, if a student is supposed to write an essay, but uses ChatGPT to generate it, then yes, that is cheating. Per the definition of cheating, the student is being dishonest (submitting writing that was plagiarized) to gain an advantage (a good essay grade). This is also unfair to the other students who thought for themselves, wrote original ideas, and put in the work. Keep reading for ideas on preventing ChatGPT use when writing essays. 

No – This tweet gave me a different perspective on if ChatGPT is cheating. While I still stand for my answers above, I started grappling with the nuances of this new technology as I explore it more. Is ChatGPT like a calculator for writing? When is it ok to use it? How might teachers use it to help students?

Maybe – In this post I’m going to give you some ideas for how you can use ChatGPT Open AI to save you time as an ELA teacher. Though this tool is controversial for sure, there’s no denying its power. The arrival of ChatGPT in ELA can be intimidating and innovative, bad and brilliant, worrisome and wonderful, deceitful and dynamic, panic-inducing and productive, horrible and handy. It’s all about perspective.

How can ELA teachers use ChatGPT?

In my professional opinion, English teachers have a larger workload than most. Paradoxically, I predict English teachers will be the strongest resistors of writing assistant help via ChatGPT Open AI. In fact, I polled 1,485 English teachers and 56% of them think ChatGPT will actually cause them MORE work rather than lessen their already maxed-out capacity. Only 8% believe it will lessen their workload and 35% believe that it won’t have any change to their workload. 

While I do fear this assessment is somewhat accurate when it comes to combating student use of Chat GPT, I also believe that Open AI could help lessen your ELA workload in some ways too. 

ChatGPT can help you write recommendation letters

If you teach juniors and seniors, then you know students ALWAYS ask their English teacher to write recommendation letters. I wrote so many that I started saving the templates based on attributes so that I could tweak them and reuse them when fitting. Now, English teachers can use ChatGPT to get your bank of templates ready. All you have to do is add a few personal touches to the draft, and that extra task is done!

Chat GPT can help you write a book rationale

Here’s a task that I think many ELA teachers would be happy to let a writing assistant help them with. With the current book banning culture, many English teachers are being asked to write rationales for the books they teach, and most are angry, resentful, and over it (as they should be!). Since teaching Serial usually requires extra rationale, I let GhatGPT give it a go, and was pretty shocked at what it delivered. Try it with a challenged book and see how it can help you do a task you shouldn’t have to do to begin with! 

ChatGPT in ELA can help you write quizzes 

If you need a quick quiz or Kahoot questions to check for understanding, ChatGPT can whip those right up! It can also produce sentences with context clues which is how I’ve always done vocabulary quizzes. My mind was pretty much blown with how much time this could have saved me over the years!

ChatGPT IN ela can help you think of examples 

If you seem to draw a blank every time you need to think of a literary device example, your writing assistant can help with that! 

Think of it like this, elementary teachers and professors often have teaching assistants to help them with their workload. In my 11 years of teaching high school ELA, I never had this luxury. ChatGPT could now be the TA you never had. Here’s what your writing assistant could help you with: 

• Brainstorming essay prompts
• Brainstorming discussion questions
• Brainstorming book recommendations
• Writing IEPS
• Writing emails
• Writing book rationales
• Writing quizzes 
• Rewording emails
• Rewording directions
• Rewording tone
• Thinking of examples
• Checking for bias

What (maybe) not to use Chat GPT in ELA with: 

While there are other things you could add to this list, I would reflect before using with the following: 

Exemplar essays – There’s no doubt ChatGPT could generate an exemplar essay in seconds, but I would be hesitant to use it. If our goal is to have students think for themselves and write authentically, then using a robot-generated essay as an example could send the wrong message. It would essentially be giving them a writing example of what you DON’T want. However, you could use the generated text as a starting point or as an analysis tool. For example, you could ask, “In theory, this is a well-written text, but what is it missing?” (evidence, personality, etc.).

Grading essays – I’ve seen a few posts online that claim ChatGPT Open AI can help them grade essays. While I’m sure there’s some validity to this, I think it sounds like so much more work than this streamlined method: 5 Tips for Grading Essays Faster While Leaving Better Feedback. Plus, is it hypocritical to use this technology to grade essays that students are forbidden to use to write them? 

How can you use ChatGPT to help students?

The goal here is to approach Chat GPT like you would any other technology: How can you harness its power without causing harm? Students using it to avoid thinking and writing for themselves = harm. Using it to help students become better thinkers and writers= harness.

Please note: Per the Terms of Use, students must be 18 years old to use the technology and this technology does require login. It also adds, “If you use the Services on behalf of another person or entity, you must have the authority to accept the Terms on their behalf.” Therefore, use these ideas with caution!

• Use GPT Open AI to talk about bias–  I put one of my own paragraphs into Chat GPT and asked it if the paragraph was biased. Here are the results. Now, I don’t necessarily agree with the results, but it did a fantastic job of picking up on my bias, ha!

• Use ChatGPT to talk about writing style– The most mind-blowing aspect of ChatGPT Open AI for me is how human it sounds. I’ve never been too worried about AI replacing good writers because all the past models sound so robotic and boring. This model is different and so human-like that it’s frightening. But, I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s not, in fact, human. Human connections, quirks, creativity, stories, and voice are the stuff of life and the stuff of good writing. What do your students have to offer that a writing machine doesn’t? How can they add more personality to their pieces? How can they stand out from the crowd of billions of people who are using this same writing assistant? How can students add more style? 

• Help students who are stuck-  In our book Keeping the Wonder: An Educator’s Guide to Magical, Engaging, and Joyful Learning, I tell an embarrassing story about a student who called me out for not having any Black topics for a British Lit research project. She was absolutely right, and if Chat GPT had been a thing back then, I could have got us both unstuck. In another example, one of my Instagram friends, Nuria Serra, wrote that her students are required to write a research essay on a topic of their choice. While they often know what their interests are, they get stuck on which questions to explore. If you want to be amazed, type in “help me brainstorm research topics for…” The writing assistant doesn’t write the research papers, but rather provides a list of research ideas that students are interested in!

• Give students a debate partner- Some students get intimidated when asked to debate other students. For these students, it could be a great learning experience to debate a robot instead. First, input their claims and ask Chat GPT to give counterclaims. Next, the student would write rebuttals for each of the counterclaims it provides. 

• Help balance writing privilege –  Ok, so hear me out. As English educators, we have an advantage when it comes to writing. Most of us fancy ourselves good writers, and if we are being honest, it’s likely a talent that comes pretty naturally to us. But what if it didn’t? I’ve had countless students over the years who are talented in so many different areas, but writing just isn’t one of them. Yes, we should help striving students become better communicators, but if they never reach mastery level, should that stop them from success? If a student opens up their own lawn mowing business and uses ChatGPT to help them write an ad, is that really so bad? If an autistic student has brilliant ideas but can’t articulate the right tone, is getting help from a different kind of assistant inequitable? If a second language learner uses ChatGPT to better communicate with an English speaking audience, is it unethical? Many of our striving students have scaffolds and assistants in school settings. Perhaps Chat GPT could be a way to continue providing one-on-one assistance long after they graduate. 

But with that said, I do believe that this new technology can be a huge detriment to student growth, critical thinking, and work ethic if used the wrong way. Therefore, let’s dig into some ways you can prevent students from using Chat GPT in ELA. 

How can you prevent students from using ChatGPT in ELA?

To me, the worst thing that could come of this new technology is if it stops students from thinking for themselves. So, how can we make sure our assignments require critical thinking? One good rule of thumb is this: If you, as the English teacher, can easily find your writing prompts, novel questions, and understanding checks posted publicly online, then ChatGPT can just easily provide the essay or answers in a matter of seconds. Think of results that pop up when you Google “essay prompts for Animal Farm” or anything that can be found on sites like Sparknotes. Here are some ways you can prevent students from using ChatGPT in ELA: 

• Assign synthesis writing prompts – Though it’s not foolproof, one of the best shots you have at assigning essays that ChatGPT can’t easily write is by using synthesis prompts. Synthesizing information not only requires students to think critically AND creatively, it’s more challenging for ChatGPT to generate. For example, ChatGPT can easily write a response to “How does power corrupt the pigs in Animal Farm?” but has a harder time synthesizing what students get out of a podcast about leadership and how it applies to Animal Farm and their personal life (synthesis example pulled from my Animal Farm unit). I’ve also had several AP teachers tell me that it doesn’t score well on AP style essays (yet). It also doesn’t provide sources to embed evidence so that’s on your side for now too.

• Work with students during the revision process – The best mindset shift I ever made as an ELA teacher was to work with students more during the writing and revision process than during the grading process. In the age of AI writers, it’s going to be more essential now than ever before. Get started here: English teacher mindset shifts for prioritizing revision over grading essays

• Add more creative assignments – In this new AI world, creativity is going to be even more valuable than ever before. ChatGPT is simply a regurgitation of what’s been said before. Think of ways you can foster creativity while combating the use of Open AI at the same time. This post is full of ideas that deter ChatGPT use: Fun ELA Activities the ABCs of ELA Engagement

• Do more discussions – Rather than relying on written answers and reflections, consider doing more classroom discussions. You can read more about this here: How to host a Socratic Seminar in Secondary ELA and find ways to spice it up here: How to Liven Up Your Socratic Seminar and Get Students Talking

• Reach higher on Bloom’s Taxonomy – ChatGPT is really good at answering lower level questions that require recall, explanation, and summarization and less skilled at higher-order thinking such as applying, investigating, and creating. Get ideas here: Building Book Love Resources

How can you catch students using ChatGPT in ELA?

While nothing is 100% accurate, here are some ways you can catch students using Chat GPT inappropriately. 

• Be familiar with their writing style, voice, and level. By being more involved with the writing process in class, you’ll have a better feel for how your students write and will likely notice if you see a huge difference. 
• Use an AI detector like AI Writing Check by Quillbot or read more about Open AI creating its own tester here. 

What do you do if you suspect cheating with ChatGPT IN ela?

I’ll be honest, I don’t have the answers. With plagiarism, it’s easy to prove that a student cheated. AI makes it more complicated. While detectors can tell you their assessment, they are not 100% accurate. Sure, if you confront a student you suspected has cheated, many will cave and admit they got caught. But if they stand their ground, as of right now, I don’t think there is a way to prove this with 100% accuracy. However, here are some strategies you can use:

• Talk through the results of the detector and ask for their thoughts on why it was flagged.  “I don’t know” can’t be an answer. Ask something like, “If you really did write this, why does this detector think a robot did? What about your writing may seem robotic or regurgitated?”  
• Put past writing and suspicious writing side by side and ask them to explain the stark difference. 
• Take away their privilege of having the choice to write at home. The next time you have in class writing time, make sure you pay extra attention to this student and do not allow them to do their writing at home. 
• If you have access, review their Google Doc history. Does it look natural, or does it look like they copied and pasted? 

At almost a 3,000 word count, apparently I had a lot to say about ChatGPT in ELA , ha! Writing this helped me reflect on my own thoughts and feelings about this new technology, and I hope it helps you too. As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. Let’s hope we use our power well.