How AI Is Inspiring Students to Write More Than Ever

When students get feedback right away, something changes. They lean in and revise more. They start to care about the words on the page.

That’s exactly what teachers are seeing with Class Companion, an AI-powered writing tool designed to help students grow through feedback, not shortcuts.

If you missed seeing Class Companion at our recent Panorama Next webinar, here’s what educators are talking about—and why their students are writing more than ever.

See it for yourself: Sign up for free and start using Class Companion with your students today.

Classrooms Are Changing

Teachers across the country are exploring new ways to make writing more engaging, especially as students balance shorter attention spans and increasing pressure to perform. At the same time, AI is entering classrooms at a rapid pace, leaving many educators unsure how to use it meaningfully.

That uncertainty is understandable. Many tools on the market can produce a polished paragraph in seconds, but they skip the most important part of learning: the process of thinking, drafting, and improving.

Class Companion takes a different approach. Built as part of Panorama Solara, the secure AI platform for K–12 districts, it’s designed to support authentic writing growth. Students receive instant, rubric-aligned feedback that helps them revise, reflect, and build confidence, while teachers remain fully in control of the process.

Casey Steinert, TOSA for Educational Technology and Elementary Science at Upland Unified School District

Feedback that Buildings Confidence Classrooms Are Changing

With Class Companion, students don’t wait days or weeks to understand how they did. As soon as they submit work, they see feedback specific to their writing. They can make edits, resubmit, and watch their progress unfold in real time.

“We saw a 15–17% increase in our students’ ELA CAASPP scores. Two of our 6th grade teachers and one 5th grade teacher saw score increases equivalent to more than a year’s worth of growth."

–Casey Steinert, Teacher on Special Assignment at Upland Unified School District (CA).

That kind of growth doesn’t come from shortcuts. When students receive immediate, actionable feedback, they stay engaged in the process of improvement. Over time, that awareness builds motivation, and turns writing from a task into something they’re proud to refine.

What Teachers are Seeing

Across classrooms, teachers are watching students become more engaged with the writing process. Instead of stopping after a first draft, many are revising, resubmitting, and celebrating their growth.

At Danvers High School (MA), English teacher Diane Morey uses Class Companion to track her students’ progress throughout the year.

“[Class Companion] assists me in figuring out where their growth is as we go through the year. It gives me a summary of each student's growth, and it helps me to do better work with them and to know what I can target. When I got my instructional report at the beginning of this month on how my students did, I was so excited to see, particularly with the writing, that they had improved. They were above global, and in some cases, state.”

—Diane Morey, English Teacher at Danvers High School (MA)

Teachers in Upland Unified School District (CA) are seeing similar patterns: students showing greater persistence and confidence as they write. Many describe the change as a shift from compliance to curiosity, fueled by the instant, personalized feedback Class Companion provides.

For Jon, an educator at Homewood-Flossmoor (IL) with 26 years of teaching experience, the transformation has been just as clear:

“My students are genuinely emotionally engaged in their writing. They thoughtfully dispute their feedback, which gets them connected to their writing moments after submitting it…Class Companion has turned [the process] into a more interactive experience that engages me in the task in a much more dynamic way.”

—Jon, Homewood Flossmoor (IL)

From elementary classrooms to high schools, teachers say the same thing: when feedback is fast and constructive, students write more—and care more—than ever before.

Why Class Companion Works

Class Companion is part of Panorama Solara, the only AI platform built specifically for K–12 districts. Every feature reflects Panorama’s commitment to safety, privacy, and educator control.

Teachers can review, edit, or override AI-generated feedback at any time. The system connects securely with district-approved materials, ensuring all responses align with local expectations and instructional goals. Solara’s protections meet rigorous privacy standards, including SOC 2, FERPA, and COPPA compliance, so teachers can use AI with confidence.

The result is a classroom experience that feels supportive rather than automated. Students stay in charge of their writing, and teachers gain back the time to focus on meaningful conversations and coaching.

Students Who Want to Write

Teachers describe a new sense of excitement in their classrooms. Students are revising more often, writing longer pieces, and reflecting more deeply on what makes their work strong.

At DSST Public Schools (CO), educator Zach Kennelly shared how Class Companion reshaped his approach to reviewing student work:

“It saves immeasurable time reviewing and is an incredibly effective use case for genAI. Students don’t use genAI—instead, they get immediate, rubric-aligned feedback. This has made me a much better and more effective educator—not to mention more fulfilled.”

—Zach Kennelly, DSST Public Schools (CO)

For Kennelly, the impact goes beyond efficiency. With the time saved, he’s able to engage in richer conversations about writing and focus on helping students build confidence in their own voice.

This is what teachers across districts are discovering: when feedback is immediate and meaningful, students don’t just write more. They invest in the process of improvement.

See Class Companion In Action

Class Companion shows that AI can deepen learning when it’s built for teachers and students. It transforms feedback into momentum and brings curiosity back to writing.

Want to experience it yourself? Sign up for free with Class Companion or learn more about Solara with Class Companion to see how feedback turns into growth.

Because when feedback feels meaningful, students don’t just write more. They believe more in what they can create.