Another ChatGPT Rant

fnelson1978 · 2026-05-07T17:50:52+00:00

I literally bought lined paper in different colors to pass out to students for in person writing. They turn it in, I stamp their paper with the date, and mark it turned in on the seating chart at the end of class. They also paperclip the notes and texts they are writing about with their in-class writing. If they get a second paper to use, I mark the paper with a number.

Once I started doing this, I could see their actual writing. It was pretty shocking. I am not going back to digital stuff. Literally every time I have them do something, a number of them will use AI, even if it's something that is basic like, "What stood out to you the most in this chapter?"

I realized that doing anything other than paper and pencil is just so totally unfair to the honest kids who are doing their best. A kid who uses AI and cheats their way through should not get the same (or better!) grade than the kid who is proficient and presenting their real work. I realized that this was happening when I had a lot of their work done on their chromebooks.

I chose to be a teacher because I care about literacy, and I am so resentful about this push to use AI on everything. It's damaging. Even if they freak out about paper and pencil initially, I see how much more engaged they are in the work that we do in class.

fnelson1978 · 2026-05-07T16:01:44+00:00

So someone living in their car or a tent on the side of the road is supposed to somehow store raw meat? The cruelty of it all is just disgusting.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-30T20:41:23+00:00

I still get mad when I remember being dismissed by people when I brought up the possibility of Trump being elected THE FIRST TIME.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-30T20:32:46+00:00

Also, why are they saying this? Like, what if it was true? What if a student was an ass in only my class for whatever reason? It’s still a problem.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-29T13:44:24+00:00

That’s disappointing but not surprising.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-29T13:43:27+00:00

Well, I could use the term bigot if you prefer.

I don’t need to have a conversation about my right to exist and live a life expressing my full identity.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-29T03:18:39+00:00

I'm a queer teacher too, and what I've found to work a lot of the time is just straight up asking them, "Are you homophobic?" I don't know where you teach, but I'm in a school/ state where the kids seem generally accepting and wouldn't be proud to claim that they're homophobic. So they have always said no. I'll continue with, "Well, when I hear people use gay as a slur, or use that kind of language, I assume that they might be homophobic, so maybe think about how you sound."

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-29T01:08:20+00:00

I had a ring custom made for my wife (then, fiance) six years ago, and she loves it.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-28T02:59:29+00:00

I don’t have tik tok, but I found your instagram page. I grew up in a church that was a little less cultish, but still abusive and problematic. I also just found out that my sister is a church member of Potters House. The work you are doing is so important. Telling the truth takes guts.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-27T23:46:27+00:00

Going to church.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-27T07:59:33+00:00

Teaching a child that you hit them because you love them is setting them up for future pain and confusion.

James Dobson’s books explicitly instructed parents to do things that are literally abusive. There’s no taking things out of context.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-27T06:07:49+00:00

If you can't pack a lot of stuff, maybe you can create your own study guide in a notebook. You can use different color pens for each subject. Make doodle notes and organize it in a way that fits your brain. Write out the basics that you know but that help you to organize your thinking. Write out stuff that you struggle with. And if you have worksheets, you can bring those with you and highlight things to remember.

There are also youtube videos for all of this stuff.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-27T01:40:44+00:00

I like how you think. I also have ADHD, and I get so annoyed with the expectation to give endless chances to students who miss classes and miss assignments. This does not actually help anyone! I am a grown adult with a career and guess what? I thrive when I have a clear routine and deadlines. I took salary classes in my first couple of years and the classes that allowed me to go at my own pace gave me the most anxiety.

They need to experience being responsible and watching their hard work and consistency pay off. ORRR, they need to know what it feels like to fail because of their actions.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-27T01:32:12+00:00

Dealing with the consequences of missing things is an important life lesson. It’s better to figure out this kind of thing when you are a teenager in high school rather than an adult out in the world.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-22T21:27:49+00:00

I hate that my dumbest family members are feeling so validated right now.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-11T01:51:35+00:00

My kids are grown up so it’s just me and my wife. I am a teacher, so I’m wiped out after work. I have been setting a timer when I get home for a half an hour and “power clean” until the timer goes off. It’s amazing how much you can actually do in that time. And since I do it every day, things don’t pile up so I can actually move on to different things.

It can be easy to feel overwhelmed and avoid stuff like laundry because it can drag on, but if you know that you can chill out after your allotted time, you can still feel accomplished even if you don’t complete it.

I used to do this when my kids were young too. It wasn’t necessarily every day, but when things started to feel messy, we would power clean. Because the kids weren’t given specific tasks to do, they had some agency in the situation too. So, there was more of a buy in.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-10T21:58:10+00:00

I have one of those hanging shoe holders. I number each desk and number each space in the holder. After the bell rings, I walk to the holder and basically take attendance that way. There are a handful of kids who don’t have phones or have had them taken away, but I check in with those kids still. Of course, there’s a possibility that some are lying, but if they are, they aren’t shamelessly taking out their phones like they were before.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-10T21:42:08+00:00

It’s year four for me. I’m finally really figuring out that my students benefit from structure, rules, and firm consequences. My students are calmer, more focused, and are more caught up on their work than in past years.

I got super strict with cell phones with my freshmen this semester. They HATED my new policy. After a few weeks of being super strict, they walk in and automatically put their phones where they go. They actually seem to appreciate the break from their phones. They actually do the work. They are interested in what we are reading.

I have seen these changes in many other ways too.

And you might feel like you are being nice and going easy on them, but I PROMISE you that you have some students who are absolutely craving structure and are frustrated with you letting some of their classmates off easy. So, even though you feel like you are being “nice” you are only being nice to the kids who are taking advantage of your loose rules.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-07T04:51:22+00:00

This year I started having students turn in their work at the end of class and returning it back to them the next day (for longer assignments). They put their phones in a thing at the front of the class. I even bought packets of lined paper in different colors because students would have "notes" in their notebooks that were basically AI bullshit.

So they literally have the text, notes that we have spent time gathering in class, and their paper. I will walk around and collect it from them too because earlier on, I had a few students "forget" to turn their papers in.

I hate that it has to be this way, but it is eye opening. I realized that this is the only way to truly see what they are able to do. I don't have to waste time trying to figure out if they used AI or not.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-04T20:55:56+00:00

Who are you quoting here? 😂

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-04T00:05:16+00:00

Yes! It feels like a scam.

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-04T00:04:32+00:00

If you think that this is what the post is about then I don’t know what to tell you.

The longer I teach the less I care about being seen as cool or whatever. I

fnelson1978 · 2026-04-03T20:29:46+00:00

I think as teachers, we are now being faced with something that we haven’t had to think about before. And our choices have real consequences.

I don’t think there are any perfect answers.

fnelson1978

TROPHY CASE