Article
Melynda Brown
7 min
Jul 17, 2025
Intoduction
As a 6th-grade ELA and Social Studies teacher, my passion has always been to give my students the best education possible. However, for years, I felt trapped between the unending demands of my classroom and my responsibilities at home. Grading writing assignments – one of the most time-consuming parts of teaching – was an overwhelming task that drained me emotionally and mentally.
With 25-28 students per class, providing detailed and thoughtful feedback felt like an insurmountable challenge. By the time I’d graded the last essay in the stack, I was too exhausted to maintain the same level of care and attention I’d given the first. Procrastination became a coping mechanism, further delaying the feedback that my students desperately needed. Meanwhile, my evenings and weekends became dominated by work, causing me to miss out on irreplaceable family moments.
Eventually, I knew something had to give. One day, a co-teacher introduced me to EnlightenAI, an AI tool she used for grading. She explained how the tool synced seamlessly with Google Classroom and helped her leave work on time without sacrificing the quality of her feedback. While I was skeptical at first – could an AI truly match the nuance of my personalized grading? – I decided to give it a shot after months of hesitation.
From skeptic to advocate
Implementing EnlightenAI was surprisingly simple. I built my grading rubrics into the system and trained the AI to reflect my feedback style. To my amazement, this setup process was intuitive and took far less time than grading a single class set of essays. Within weeks, EnlightenAI began to feel like an extension of my teaching style.
Grading, once my most dreaded task, became faster and far more efficient. The AI not only mirrored my voice and expectations but also delivered personalized feedback to students in a fraction of the time it used to take me. With EnlightenAI handling the bulk of the grading, I was free to focus on what mattered most: meaningful instruction with my students and time with my family.
Immediate and long-term benefits
The changes in my classroom were immediate. Students started receiving timely, actionable feedback through EnlightenAI, which helped them refine their work. Their engagement increased, as evidenced by their frequent revisions and active participation in discussions about writing techniques. To monitor growth, I collected writing samples each quarter and compared them to track progress. This approach not only highlighted individual improvement but also demonstrated how students applied the feedback they received. Short surveys also revealed a noticeable boost in their confidence and motivation as they embraced the process of refining their writing.
After just six weeks, I observed significant improvements in the quality of their assignments. For example, one student who had consistently struggled with run-on sentences made remarkable progress, crafting clear and concise sentences by the end of the grading period. This improvement was evident in their pre-and post-writing samples. Initially, they averaged a 2/5 in the "sentence structure and fluency" rubric criterion, but by the end of the term, their score had risen to 4/5, reflecting a consistent application of feedback and a better understanding of sentence construction.
Beyond the classroom, EnlightenAI was a lifesaver for my work-life balance. The hours I had spent buried in grading were replaced with moments of connection and relaxation with my family. For the first time in years, I felt like I was giving my best to both my students and my personal life. Seeing my students' hard work translate into better writing skills and greater confidence while reclaiming time to focus on what mattered most to me was incredibly rewarding.
EnlightenAI’s integration with Google Classroom has made tracking assignments and measuring student progress seamless. I use EnlightenAI’s insights to identify who has completed their work and who might need additional support. EnlightenAI helps me create targeted reteaching opportunities, addressing specific areas of confusion for my students.
If you’re considering using EnlightenAI or any AI tool in your classroom, my advice is simple: don’t hesitate. These tools are designed to support you, not replace your expertise. They help streamline your workload, making it possible to focus on what truly matters: connecting with your students and creating impactful learning experiences.
Be transparent with your students about the role of AI in the classroom. Introduce it as a tool for growth, not as a shortcut or crutch. This not only fosters a healthy understanding of technology but also teaches them the value of using AI responsibly and ethically.
Ultimately, AI tools like EnlightenAI are here to empower educators and students alike. They’ve transformed my teaching experience, and I’m confident they can do the same for you. Embrace the opportunity to work smarter – not harder – and rediscover the joy of teaching.
