When What You Write Matters Most
From Pandemic to Generative AI
The world of education and business is being turned on its head.
More than ever, what - and how - you choose to express yourself
is what will set you apart and above.
One of the biggest mistakes I hear about, from students and professionals, who are writing about something that 'matters' - whether it's a scholarship essay or a cover letter or an essay for a freshman college class - it's when they confess that they only used AI 'to brainstorm some ideas.'
Don't get me wrong, AI will make what's on paper sound 'smart' by using those flashy five syllable words, or inserting technical jargon, but as far as voice and ideas?
Not so much. ​
I've read thousands of essays, millions - if not billions of words strung together, and when you see human, you know human. AI writing looks like a robot dancing.
AI, indeed has its place, and everyone should develop a digital literacy.
But, I truly believe, in 2, 5, 10 years, what will matter most is how our humanity shows through.
That's what it means to Write to Impress in a digital age.
If you are using AI to write your story, trust me, the people you are trying to impress can tell.
What's human is what matters most.
Reading as an Advanced Literacy Skill
What does it mean to read in the 21st Century? Now more than ever, parents need to take important steps to increase their student's literacy gains even while COVID-19 ensures less in-depth critical literacy instruction. Over 80% of college professors surveyed did not believe students in their classes had the requisite skills to assess college-level texts. Relatively few teachers at the middle school and high school level effectively integrate critical literacy and writing instruction into curriculum content.
Greater rigor in middle school and high school and a focus on deep critical analysis are imperative for student success. Your Write to Impress teacher is a literacy specialist using targeted instruction to developing advanced literacy skills students need to be successful in more rigorous classrooms.
Advanced Argument Composition
Reading and writing go hand-in-hand in middle and high school. The college academic essay is a mainstay of post-secondary education. How prepared is your student when it comes to developing argument and evaluating evidence through the written form? How much instruction do students receive in school?
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Developing an argument is an imperative skill which will carry a student through their entire academic career, and yet the process of academic writing rarely receives its due attention outside the ELA/Literature classroom. And the results show in college. According to The National Assessment of Educational Progress, up to 3/4 of 8th graders and 12th graders are proficient in writing (NAEP, 2017).
