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Paul Allison

@paulallison.bsky.social

Working with National Writing Project teachers and students to create Writing Partners writingpartners.net a social annotation platform that supports AI-guided writing, reading, and discussion. I'll be posting here about what we are learning together.

10,741 Followers  |  33,550 Following  |  245 Posts  |  Joined: 18.11.2024
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Posts by Paul Allison (@paulallison.bsky.social)

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Perhaps by asking an AI Thinking Partner to engage with artifacts that show revision, writers can begin to see and name what they have done, and not be "limited by the very cognitive patterns [they're] trying to examine."

Escaping a Reflection Loop via AI - 4 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

05.02.2026 16:40 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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I ask for more, and after providing 4 more points, the Thinking Partner asks the writer "to name the 'rule' of your own revision styleβ€”like 'always cut repeats' or 'always add a why after a quote'β€”what would you call it?

Escaping a Reflection Loop via AI - 3 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

05.02.2026 16:36 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Acting as this writer, I asked the writingpartners.net Thinking Partner: What patterns do you see in this revision process?

Perhaps the Thinking Partner can help the writer see their work through another perspective.

Escaping a Reflection Loop via AI - 2 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

05.02.2026 16:33 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Granting that "Student Reflections on AI Use Doesn’t Work" Patrick Dempsey:
open.substack.com/pub/thepatri...

Here's an image of a revision process by a student on writingpartners.net.

How to avoid Dempsey's closed loop?

Escaping a Reflection Loop via AI - 1 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

05.02.2026 16:26 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I’m just here to grow and learn. Thanks.

05.02.2026 14:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Who is doing the instruction now?

05.02.2026 00:27 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I apologize if my responses were upsetting. I’m genuinely interested in learning more with you.

04.02.2026 22:59 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

From here you might ask how your experiences with Google and w/ other ways of moving from broad research to more targeted inquiries created mental habits that limited your use of the LLM AND helped you to understand how to use it. My point is to move beyond the either/or stance in your earlier post.

04.02.2026 22:48 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

You might start by describing your most β€œproductive, expert use of these tools.”

04.02.2026 22:30 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

How about this question: Describe your most β€œproductive, expert use of these tools” and identify how the β€œlearning [you have done] β€œin the absence of those tools” both limits your use of them and/or helps you to use them more effectively.

04.02.2026 22:07 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

What questions do you have lurking behind your assertion that you understand a literacy by not using it better than people who do engage with it?

04.02.2026 21:51 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

How is this assertion a stance seeking to create knowledge?

04.02.2026 21:44 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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I wrote that I was interested to hear more about how friction works in these different descriptions. The Thinking Partner paraphrased key ideas from each article related to AI and cognitive friction.

From Blog Post to Peer-Reviewed Article Inquiry via AI 4 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

04.02.2026 14:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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I asked the Thinking Partner to point me to peer reviewed articles that also describe the themes in this blog post. In seconds, I had a list of themes from the post and links to 4 peer-reviewed articles.

From Blog Post to Peer-Reviewed Article Inquiry via AI 3 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

04.02.2026 14:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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I asked the writingpartners.net Thinking Partner to check this post. It noted that Nosta's posts appear to be heavily AI‑generated, then suggested that I pair it with at least one peer‑reviewed article.

From Blog Post to Peer-Reviewed Article Inquiry via AI 2 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

04.02.2026 14:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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With breakfast, I read a new post in Psychology Today by John Nosta, "The Curvature of Thought - Personal Perspective: Can AI bend the geometry of human knowing?" www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-...

From Blog Post to Peer-Reviewed Article Inquiry via AI 1 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

04.02.2026 14:02 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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I ask the Thinking Partner for sources that document Trump and his admin lying abour ICE. I get 6 new sources and comments like: "this is very close to Squealer..." My inquiry leaps ahead with a collection of 10+ resources.

From Literature to Inquiry via AI 4 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

03.02.2026 15:58 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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When I meander about "how the Trump administration tries to control the narrative about ICE and their Immigration policy using social media, what they call 'memes'... ", the Thinking Partner connects my issues w/ Animal Farm.

From Literature to Inquiry via AI 3 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

03.02.2026 15:45 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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I tell an AI Thinking Partner (writingpartners.net) to connect me to sources that compare this paragraph to current events, politics, and culture in America. It provides four summaries w/ links & asks me to narrow my inquiry.

From Literature to Inquiry via AI 2 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

03.02.2026 15:39 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Let's start with a paragraph from "Animal Farm," Chapter V, which includes: "Of late the sheep had taken to bleating "Four legs good, two legs bad" both in and out of season, and they often interrupted the Meeting with this."

From Literature to Inquiry via AI 1 of 4
#AIinEducation #eduskyAI #edusky

03.02.2026 15:16 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

More either/or framing. Why?

14.12.2025 20:34 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Is it really that hard to imagine a teacher designing an inquiry that engages students in deep inquiry by using AI thought partners? I would suggest learning more about what students are being asked to do, and avoid making assumptions about what being forced to use AI means.

10.11.2025 19:38 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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This Writing Partner (GPT) is really helping me to think about this Abstract. writingpartners.net/documents/85.... #eduskyAI #AIinEducation #edusky

06.11.2025 16:17 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Where to start?

30.10.2025 15:08 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Sam also brings his desire to show students a way of using AI for challenging themselves that goes beyond their use of AI on frontier, commercial products such as ChatGPT that he worries often undermines learning.
5/5
#eduskyai #aiineducation

23.10.2025 14:22 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Where might the ease with generating images be used to motivate or deepen understanding?

We frame all of this with a realpolitik focus on the logistics of using different platforms for different assignments in this unit of study.
4/5
#eduskyai #aiineducation

23.10.2025 14:21 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

We consider where social annotation might be just what's needed and where we could design AI "mini-Coach Reeds" to provide additional support. Could these AI partners be use to help with vocabulary or to lead to understanding difficult concepts?
3/5
#eduskyai #aiineducation

23.10.2025 14:19 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Our conversation explores how using Writing Partners (with both the tools for social annotion and AI connections) might help students understand and engage with the material and with each other, especially those struggling with reading and comprehension.
2/5
#eduskyai #aiineducation

23.10.2025 14:18 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
TTT 10.22.2025 Sam Reed Integrating AI into a unit about Jackie Robinson: The Man Who Broke Barriers
YouTube video by Paul Allison TTT 10.22.2025 Sam Reed Integrating AI into a unit about Jackie Robinson: The Man Who Broke Barriers

Educators Paul Allison, David Cole, and Sam Reed explore strategies for integrating AI into a reading and writing unit focused on Jackie Robinson and his values.
1/5
#eduskyai #aiineducation

youtu.be/gqUTDEJLvRY?...

23.10.2025 14:18 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

β€œWhat we’re missing in most classes isn’t rules; it’s education about how AI can enhance our learning rather than replace it.” Let’s listen.

07.10.2025 20:19 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0