The 11-Minute Essay: An AI-Compatible Practice
Since November 2022, when ChatGPT exploded onto the scene, plenty of teachers (including myself) have been using the term “AI-Resistant Practices” in looking for activities, tasks, assignments, assessments, and project-based learning experiences that would not be easily answered by Artificial Intelligence.
But, something just didn’t feel right about that term.
First, there are plenty of times we’ll want students to be using AI at some part of the assignment or task. See my previous post about The Traffic Light Strategy for some examples.
Second, the better term (that I’m using for now) would be compatible. Practices that are compatible with an AI world, and make sense now that students, and adults, have access to these AI tools.
For example, giving students 20 math questions to do for homework, and having them do it at home with all AI tools available (that can show their work and steps) is not really AI-compatible.
As a sidenote, many students who had parents, or tutors, helping them with their homework had an advantage in doing this work for years.
However, having students screencast 2-3 math problems, share how they are solving them on the screencast, and explain each step till they get an answer (right or wrong) is much more AI-compatible.
What Does This Look Like For Writing?
Good thing you asked!
As an English Language Arts teacher, I always wanted to get my students writing in class. However, it may be more important right now.
We want kids to write because we want them to think.
I still believe (even in an AI world) that learning to use language effectively is one of the most important skills we can teach.
Now with AI tools on their phone, on their computers, and built inside of Google Docs, it is incredibly easy to skip the writing (and thinking) phase and go straight to generating written pieces of content.
This is why we need to use strategies like the 11-Minute Essay as much as possible.
What is the 11-Minute Essay?
Chances are if you teach writing (and most subjects and grade levels do) you’ve used some version of this before. I love the versions of the 11-Minute Essay shared by Erika San Miguel and Gretchen Bernabei on their websites.
Here’s how they break it down:
This is the basic structure for every 11-Minute Essay:
Essentially, the minutes are broken down like this:
✅ Students react to the truism = 1 minute
✅ Students connect their belief about this truism to something they've read = 3 minutes
✅ Students connect their belief about this truism to something they've seen in a movie or show = 3 minutes
✅ Students connect their belief about this truism to something they've personally experienced = 3 minutes
✅ Students elaborate on the significance of this truism = 1 minute
My favorite thing about the 11-Minute Essay is that it really only requires two things:
Students must write in short, timed bursts.
Students must be given a structure in which to write.
Here is a great list of visual prompts and truism’s that Gretchen Bernabei created.
However, you can take “truism” and replace that with many other prompts. React to the “quote”, “problem”, “situation”, “experiment”, “solution”, “scene”, “character”, and the list can go on.
This definitely works well with Grade 6-12, but it can also work with Elementary/Primary-age students as shown in this clip of kids reading their 11-Minute Essays:
You can assess this in a variety of ways (Gretchen has some rubrics listed here), but the key is assessing the writing process (and constructing of an argument, position, or connection) during the class instead of a final product that was written at home.
AI-Compatible Assignments
As we continue to dive deep into what it looks like to teach in a world filled with generative AI, new compatible practices, strategies, and structures are popping up all the time.
I share these as much as I can in resources, Twitter (X), and in the newsletter with our community.
For HS teachers this has been one of my favorite examples of integrating AI into your writing assignments, by the IB English Guys.
Keep sharing!
