How Mark My Words Evolved From a Writing Checklist

The journey of Mark My Words began with a simple classroom frustration. As an English teacher, I found myself repeatedly writing the same feedback comments on student essays: "This paragraph lacks a clear topic sentence," "Your evidence needs to be more specific," "You need to explain how this quote supports your argument." It seemed I was spending hours writing these repetitive notes when what I really wanted was to have deeper conversations with my students about their ideas.

My first attempt at a solution was decidedly low-tech. I created a comprehensive writing checklist in Excel, covering all the common elements of strong academic writing. This checklist allowed me to quickly identify which specific skills a student had mastered and which needed more attention. Rather than writing out the same comments over and over, I could simply check off the relevant boxes and direct students to focus on particular areas.

From Spreadsheet to Skill Tracking System

While the Excel checklist was a step in the right direction, it had significant limitations. There was no easy way to track skill development over time, it was cumbersome to share with students, and I still had to manually write individualized feedback for each paper. I knew there had to be a better way.

The breakthrough came when I began exploring how data analytics could help visualize student progress. What if we could transform those spreadsheet checkmarks into a dynamic tracking system that would show not just where a student was struggling, but how they were improving over time? This question led to the development of the first prototype of Mark My Words' skill tracking feature.

By digitizing the checklist and linking it to a database, we could suddenly generate rich insights about a student's writing journey. We could see patterns emerge - a student might consistently struggle with using evidence effectively but excel at crafting thesis statements. This granular view of student abilities was revolutionary for my teaching approach.

The AI Breakthrough

The real transformation came with the integration of artificial intelligence. The early checklist system still required teachers to manually evaluate each skill element. While this was faster than writing out comments longhand, it remained time-consuming with large classes.

What if AI could assist in identifying the strengths and weaknesses in student writing, while leaving the final assessment decisions to the teacher?

We began experimenting with natural language processing models that could analyze student writing and make initial assessments of various skill elements. The results were promising. The AI could quickly identify structural patterns, evaluate evidence usage, and even assess the sophistication of arguments - all in a fraction of the time it would take a human teacher.

Crucially, we designed the system to be teacher-led. The AI would make suggestions based on the skills taxonomy we had developed from the original checklist, but teachers would always have the final say. This human-in-the-loop approach ensured that technology enhanced rather than replaced teacher expertise.

From Feedback to Learning Journey

As Mark My Words evolved, we realized that we weren't just building a feedback tool - we were creating a platform that could map a student's entire learning journey. The original checklist had focused on identifying what skills were present or absent in a single piece of writing. Our expanded vision was to track how those skills developed across multiple assignments and even across school years.

This longitudinal view transformed how teachers could approach writing instruction. Instead of treating each assignment as an isolated task, they could see writing as a developmental process. A student struggling with paragraph structure in Term 1 might show remarkable improvement by Term 3. Without systematic tracking, these patterns of growth might go unnoticed.

For students, this approach provided unprecedented clarity about their own progress. No longer were they receiving seemingly disconnected feedback on each assignment. Instead, they could visualize their growth in specific skill areas, celebrating improvements and focusing attention where it was most needed.

The Future: A Collaborative Learning Ecosystem

Today, Mark My Words has evolved far beyond that initial Excel checklist. It's now a comprehensive platform that combines AI-assisted assessment, skill tracking analytics, and personalized feedback generation. But the core mission remains the same: to help teachers provide better writing instruction and support students on their journey to becoming confident, skilled writers.

As we look to the future, we're exploring how Mark My Words can become the center of a collaborative learning ecosystem. We envision connections between classroom writing instruction, home practice, and long-term skill development. We're investigating how the platform can support writing across the curriculum, helping students transfer skills from English class to history, science, and beyond.

From a teacher's frustration to an AI-powered learning platform, the evolution of Mark My Words demonstrates how educational technology can amplify rather than replace the teacher's role. By handling the repetitive aspects of assessment, we free teachers to do what they do best: inspire, guide, and connect with their students.