In-class Writing: Helpful or Harmful to Students?

Though Stuyvesant is typically regarded as a STEM school, its humanities education is just as rigorous. In addition to Advanced Placement courses and core English classes, the English Department offers various electives, which count toward the required four years of English education. Students are usually given at least one week to complete English assignments, which typically consist of take-home analytical essays. However, this fall the English Department required teachers to give an in-class writing assignment during the first marking period.

 This change was implemented in response to increased AI usage by students, and ideally will provide teachers with a baseline of students’ abilities. Though the implementation of this new policy concerning in-class essays may provide helpful insight for teachers, it has also raised questions among the student body about their value. According to teachers, the primary purpose of in-class essays is to test students’ ability to quickly adapt and formulate thoughts. “The real value of in-class writing is in forcing students to have to prepare and know the material well enough to say substantive things about it on the spot. It’s also something to know something well enough to be able to answer a prompt or a question. Like, right now, you have a question about in-class writing, and I am informed enough to answer it,” Freshman Composition and AP English Language and Composition teacher Dr. Minkyu Kim stated. 

Adding that the ability to think on one’s feet is just one of the many necessary facets to developing a well-rounded writer, Assistant Principal of English Eric Grossman agreed with Dr. Kim’s sentiment. “It is still important for students to learn all kinds of writing and in lots of different ways. When you go to gym you don’t just work one muscle, you develop yourself all around, and in-class writing works one particular set of muscles: thinking on your feet, having internalized some of the writing skills so that you don’t necessarily have to rely on some online source or any other number of checks and fail safes to remind you what's important,” he explained. 

Grossman addresses a valid concern that students rely on sources other than themselves to confirm the quality of their work. Rather than being their own editors, students use AI to ensure their work is at the level it should be. This truth is a large part of why in-class essays are now required, especially early in the year. “If you can’t handle something without passing it off to a machine, which may or may not hit the right tone, you are missing out and not developing an important skill,” Dr. Kim claimed. Skills like quick thinking and preparedness are not developed when AI is used to enhance work. Students no longer go through the process of critically thinking about solutions to their own writing issues. In-class essays can combat AI usage since the writing occurs in class with teacher supervision. They also allow a teacher to evaluate a student's writing quality before reading essays done at home that could have been edited by AI. “Part of it is for teachers to have control, like in an experiment. They can compare if there are questions about student integrity,” Dr. Kim explained. 

Looking into teachers’ perspectives, it is clear how in-class essays are supposed to help students develop the necessary life skills of quick thinking, combat the extensive use of AI, and produce high-quality work through the understanding of literature. Students generally seem to understand their teachers’ perspectives on in-class writing. “In-class essays are supposed to teach students how to think on their feet and analyze literature under a time constraint and under pressure,” sophomore Alisha Singh stated. Sophomore Sophie Rose expressed a similar point of view toward this kind of in-class writing. “Sometimes the best ideas come when under pressure. It’s also preparation for [the] Regents, and in-class essays teach students to think faster and be decisive.”

Additionally, students contend that in-class writing tends to help students alleviate procrastination. Stuyvesant students often fall victim to procrastination, stemming from distractions and, at times, a lack of self-accountability. In-class assignments address this directly by not allowing a chance for procrastination to occur. “Knowing you have a time limit will allow you not to procrastinate on writing for long, and it keeps you on task,” sophomore Kiki Yang admitted. In-class writing assignments could potentially result in higher-quality work, especially for students who put off writing essays for weeks and scramble to finish them at the last moment. 

Despite this, there are still considerable complaints from the student body, showing how the backlash does not come from students misunderstanding the assignment’s purpose. Alongside their benefits, in-class essays are also often more high-pressured when compared to a standard writing assignment. “In-class essays make it hard to write good-quality papers because you are under a lot more pressure. My sentences are written more like bullet points than actual sentences,” sophomore Anya Huntsman shared. In-class writing can add stress to students, which can diminish writing quality and ultimately defeat its original purpose of accurately determining how well one can truly write. 

Many students can agree that their writing is worse on the spot than at home. Usually, home assignments are done over time, with days of outlining and thinking. “My writing during in-class essays is definitely very much different and possibly poorer. Because of the time limit, I tend to skip over details, rushing to reach a page limit or word count,” Yang described over email. The restrictions on in-class writing add waves to the already high-pressure environment, and these restrictions extend far beyond just word count. 

Writing environments greatly influence work quality among students, because when students are at home, they are in control of their comfort. “I get to have my own work environment. I have some coffee and drinks on the side, music on, and windows open,” Yang stated. 

Singh also shared more details on how classroom environments prevent her from listening to music, one of the factors that can potentially influence her productivity. “I always play music in the background and when you write in class, [but] the only music you get [in class] is people’s keyboards clacking,” she stated. Being at home lets students cater to their own needs, allowing them more security and comfort, which fosters stronger thinking and writing. 

In the classroom, not only can students not adjust their surroundings to their liking, but other people can also be distractors. “I hate when there is too much click-clacking. It’s overstimulating,” Yang stated. 

Other students agree on how distracting others can be. “The existing environment really panics me, and also everyone around me feels the same emotions, which increases the stress in the environment and makes it harder to focus,” Singh described. 

The reality of in-class essays is that they are undeniably anxiety-inducing. But their importance is evident since they practice and help with life skills like problem-solving on the spot and overall preparedness. Many forget that writing isn’t just about school—it’s about having clear communication that gets your ideas across to others in daily life. Students must be able to write to express themselves as people. When speaking to others, no one has time during conversations to write and edit what they would like to convey. Grossman added to this by sharing an anecdote from a former student’s event at their medical school. “The most striking part was that several doctors and teachers from the medical school spoke, and every single one of them talked about writing. One of them said, ‘You’ve all got good grades and test scores, but that’s table stakes, that’s not why you’re here. You were selected because of the stories you had to tell,” Grossman explained. Being able to be vocal with who one is and what one thinks is a key part of life that is transferable beyond academics, and being a strong writer is a step to boost this quality. 

The skills in-class writing builds prove to be useful in day-to-day life. In-class writing can pose challenges due to constraints regarding time and environment, but it forces students out of their comfort zones and, at times, can lead students to create their greatest pieces. Stressful situations are a part of life, and in-class writing certainly emphasizes that, but also helps us learn to adapt to them.