Reading with AI wisely

 Reading Pledge

This is a rich and important distinction — “scaffold, not shortcut” — and you’re right that it’s not always clear to students what that means in practice.

Below is a student-friendly explanation using analogies (athletics and cooking), followed by a short AI Reader’s Pledge that could be printed, posted, or recited at the beginning of your Gatsby unit or writing intensive.

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🔧 Scaffold, Not Shortcut

A student-friendly way to think about using AI wisely

🏋️ ATHLETICS ANALOGY

Using AI as a shortcut is like:

🛑 Having your coach lift the weights for you and saying, “There! You’re stronger now.”

Using AI as a scaffold is like:

✅ Having your coach show you how to hold the bar, spot your form, and help you through the last rep so you can do more than you thought.

🧠 Why it matters: If you don’t do the lifting — the noticing, wondering, interpreting — your mind doesn’t grow stronger. AI can help you train better, but it can’t do the training for you.

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🍳 COOKING ANALOGY

Using AI as a shortcut is like:

🛑 Asking a chef to make the whole meal, serve it on a plate, and calling yourself a cook.

Using AI as a scaffold is like:

✅ Asking the chef, “What does ‘julienne’ mean?” or “What should I know before I use saffron?” — then doing the cooking yourself.

🧠 Why it matters: If you don’t mess with the ingredients, taste things, and make a few mistakes, you don’t become a better cook. AI can’t give you your flavor.

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📝 AI Reader’s Pledge

For curious, courageous, and honest reading

I understand that reading deeply — like training, or cooking, or making art — is something I must do, not just watch.

I will use AI to help me:

• Understand confusing references and words

• Ask better questions about what I’m reading

• Try out new ways of seeing a text — after I’ve tried my own

I will not use AI to:

• Do my thinking for me

• Copy someone else’s ideas without trying my own first

• Avoid the effort of close reading and reflection

I use AI as a scaffold, not a shortcut — because I care more about becoming a stronger, wiser reader than just sounding like one.

🖋️ Signature: ___________________________
📅 Date: _____________________