In an era where technology dominates classrooms, one teacher in Fort Worth is taking a different approach. Chanea Bond, an educator at Southwest High School, has opted for a nearly paper-exclusive teaching style, distancing her students from generative artificial intelligence (AI) in favor of traditional learning methods.
Stacks of worksheets fill Bond’s classroom, and despite the availability of school-issued laptops, her students spend most of their time handwriting assignments. “If you walk into almost any one of my classes today, you will see that all of my students are handwriting,” Bond explains. This hands-on method begins with journaling in notebooks and extends to submitting all assignments in physical form.
Bond’s decision to go analog is rooted in her desire to keep AI out of her American literature and composition classes. Teaching primarily low-income students, she believes this method ensures they learn to think and write independently. “I know that when my students leave my class that they know how to think and they know how to write,” Bond asserts.
Interestingly, a July 2025 poll from the EdWeek Research Center indicates that 60% of teachers have integrated AI into their classrooms at least to some degree. However, Bond initially attempted to incorporate AI by having her students use it to generate thesis statements after analyzing Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise. The outcome was disappointing. “It was terrible,” Bond recalls, noting a lack of engagement with the material.
Adapting to an AI-free Environment
Bond emphasizes the importance of foundational skills, such as writing a thesis and constructing arguments. Her teaching strategy involves grading each component of a project, including the thesis, outline, bibliography, and draft, to ensure students engage with the entire process. “The steps matter to the cumulative overall grade because that’s how I know that the thinking is happening,” she explains.
Students type their final essays but only after completing the initial stages on paper. This approach is welcomed by many students, including junior Meyah Alvarez, who admits she was initially confused by the requirement to handwrite her work. “It was different, but I do like it now,” Alvarez says, acknowledging it helps stimulate her thinking.
In Bond’s classroom, students’ resistance to AI comes not only from her teaching method but also from their personal beliefs. Some students are against AI for environmental and ethical reasons. Sophomore Eligh Ellison appreciates the chance to form his own thoughts without AI’s interference. “AI does have a time and a place, but especially as it’s still evolving, we’re standing on shaky ground,” he observes.
Exploring Diverse Approaches to AI in Education
While Bond’s approach is distinct, other educators like Brett Vogelsinger, an English teacher at Central Bucks High School South, are exploring how to responsibly integrate AI into learning. Vogelsinger encourages transparency in AI use, aiming to teach students the difference between using AI as a tool for learning versus a shortcut.
Contrasting Bond’s AI-free zone, several educational institutions and governments are embracing AI. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, one of the largest districts in the U.S., offers high schoolers access to Google’s Gemini chatbot. “The future is now,” said Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres in a video on Google’s YouTube channel.
New Jersey has allocated over a million dollars in grants to foster AI in classrooms, and a federal executive order aims to expand AI education through partnerships and teacher training.
Despite the widespread adoption of AI, Bond remains committed to her methodology, focusing on developing her students’ critical thinking and articulation skills without technological assistance. “I just don’t see a world where students learning how to think and learning how to articulate themselves puts them at a disadvantage,” Bond concludes.
