If you had asked me earlier in my career whether I wanted my students to use a tool to correct their grammar, such as Grammarly, my answer would have been heck no. However, after a few years, I have seen the benefits of Grammarly as an excellent tool for students in my high school English classroom. Here are the top three reasons why I allow my students to use Grammarly:
1. It saves me time.
As a teacher, I always search for ways to save time when grading. As an English teacher, grading essays is a time-consuming process. By using Grammarly, which is built into students’ browsers, students are alerted to their mistakes and given options to fix them. It means fewer reminders in my feedback to add punctuation, proper capitalization, and figuring out what a misspelled word should say.
2. Teaches a life skill.
Many people believe that not teaching foundational skills may lead to the downfall of students’ skill sets. I agree with this notion and have continued teaching the basics of grammar and mechanics. However, it’s crucial to teach our students how to effectively use the tools that have now been integrated into our daily lives. Programs such as Grammarly will be available to them in the future, so I take the time at the beginning of the school year to teach them how to use it correctly. At first, students want to accept every suggestion made by Grammarly, but I provide examples of where it doesn’t make sense and how the human brain needs to check it. They can use their knowledge and Grammarly together to create stronger writing.
3. A way to teach proper AI use.
Speaking of a human brain checking the corrections, Grammarly also has more updated AI features. Again, I do not want my students to miss out on learning the foundations. But, they should know about their available tools and how to use them properly. This year, when Grammarly came out with its new Generative AI tool, I played around with it and have been slowly integrating it into lessons to show students how it can be helpful. My next goal is to use it in class and teach them how to cite the work created by AI to teach how to cite work properly.
The world of technology continues to expand each day. A goal of mine is to teach students the skills they need to succeed moving forward. Incorporating tools such as Grammarly has improved my grading process and taught students life skills. I hope you can give it a try soon, too!
