Article
Theresa McSweeney
7 min
Jul 17, 2025
Introduction
Teaching today requires balancing many responsibilities: setting clear learning targets, differentiating instruction, analyzing data, fostering engagement, and supporting students' social-emotional growth. With so much on my plate, I need tools that help me focus on what matters most – helping every student thrive.
Having worked in various K-6 classrooms, intervention programs, and Title I settings across multiple states, I’ve faced the challenges of adapting to new roles, shifting classrooms, and addressing diverse student needs. These experiences shaped my teaching philosophy: every student deserves opportunities to succeed, and those opportunities must be driven by informed, intentional instruction.
I discovered EnlightenAI while researching ways to integrate AI into my classroom. I was drawn to its intuitive interface and its ability to streamline tasks like creating exemplars, designing exit tickets, and providing immediate feedback. EnlightenAI helps me create lessons tailored to my student’s needs while saving me time for what truly matters – their success.
EnlightenAI as a data-driven teacher’s assistant
To evaluate EnlightenAI’s effectiveness, I designed a 6-week writing project with my 20 6th-graders from a small Pacific Northwest suburban neighborhood school to improve sentence fluency, editing skills, and paragraph writing. My goal was to see a measurable growth in writing proficiency by leveraging EnlightenAI’s data-driven resources.
I began with a baseline writing assessment, choosing a rubric I designed directly in EnlightenAI. Each week, students wrote a paragraph on a Google Form. I used EnlightenAI to analyze their submissions, generate targeted reteaching resources, and plan the next steps by simply uploading their work to EnlightenA.
The results were transformative. First, students scored 52% accuracy on sentence fluency and conventions as based on the rubric I built and the grading of the work by EnlightenAI and myself. By the end of the project, scores had jumped to 83% accuracy when using the same rubric as a control.
This 31% improvement was evident not only in their writing but also in their classroom discourse during academic discussions. Their sentences are more fluent, and rambling stories are a thing of the past.
How I used EnlightenAI
Baseline and midpoint assessments
Students submitted their paragraphs weekly through a Google Form. I uploaded their responses to EnlightenAI, which graded them using a rubric and generated feedback. Using this data, I created lesson materials tailored to specific areas of need. Initially, students practiced isolated sentences, which quickly improved their accuracy. As I progressed, I used EnlightenAI to generate exemplar and non-exemplar paragraphs aligned with my learning targets, such as sentence fluency and error analysis. I practiced asking EnlightenAI to build my students some editing paragraphs incorporating vocabulary and context from other subjects, like science, to deepen their understanding. This cross-curricular approach reinforced their learning and ensured the practice was meaningful. At the end of the project, students submitted a new paragraph. The improvement in their writing reflected the impact of EnlightenAI’s targeted feedback and resources.
Challenges and adjustments
While EnlightenAI streamlined much of the process, there were a few adjustments along the way. Initially, the AI resources provided sentence practice in isolation, so I prompted EnlightenAI to generate full paragraphs for editing. Worksheets required slight modifications to be more age-appropriate and user-friendly. Additionally, direct instruction was necessary to help students analyze and edit their work effectively; I still had to teach the lessons that EnlightenAI built for me, honoring the teacher-student relationship. These minor adjustments are worth the effort, as they resulted in high-quality lessons that supported student growth.
The results speak for themselves
Over six weeks, I achieved a 31% improvement in writing proficiency, enhanced student confidence in editing and sentence fluency and discovered a streamlined, data-driven approach to lesson planning. EnlightenAI has become my go-to tool for creating targeted, efficient, data-driven lessons. Whether working from home or in the classroom, it allows me to provide instruction that is both timely and effective. The best part? I no longer need to spend hours searching for resources or scheduling meetings – I can focus on what matters most: my students' success.
Looking Ahead
Going forward, I plan to use EnlightenAI to develop lessons on advanced punctuation, such as commas and semicolons, and to support discourse and conversation skills. This aligns perfectly with my 6th-grade standards and helps students refine their communication skills.
EnlightenAI has transformed my approach to teaching. It’s not just a tool – it’s a partner in ensuring every student has the support they need to succeed. For teachers looking to save time, increase efficiency, and see measurable growth, EnlightenAI is the answer.
