Hypothetically, what if you had a new book coming out in Nov. & hadn’t really announced it yet, but B&N launched a *25% off* pre-order sale today and tomorrow? Maybe you’d provide this link & ask everyone to act surprised down the line? 😅 Fair, right? www.barnesandnoble.com/w/team-up-wi...

It was fascinating watching. Especially the calls for a new National Reading Panel. I wrote up the high points here: open.substack.com/pub/karenvai...

The Science of Reading goes to Washington

Outtakes from this week's Congressional hearings. Do they portend national action on literacy?

open.substack.com

Adopting AI (or anything else) in schools shouldn’t start with fanfare, it should start with hard questions. I’ve been thinking about what responsible skepticism looks like for administrators. #edusky #tlsky

Adopting tech? Start with the hard questions.

Today I read, with both fascination and sadness, Kathryn (Katie) Conrad's post on questions educators should ask AI vendors who come knocking. On one hand, her piece offers a terrific starting point f...

linkedin.com

Heads up, indeed! If you are free, this looks highly worthwhile.

Karen Vaites@karenvaites.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Head's up... @stevechiger.bsky.social @shannonsaglio.bsky.social @jillbarshay.bsky.social @mpolikoff.bsky.social @lrj417.bsky.social @callielowenstein.bsky.social @dtwuva.bsky.social @gaablab.bsky.social @gtoppo.bsky.social @guidingliteracy.bsky.social @rosehorowitch.bsky.social

New post: The most important question in English class isn’t just what works—but what it’s all for. On novels, purpose, and teaching the “why” of literacy. www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-bo... #TLSky #EduSky

Why bother teaching novels, anyway?

This week brought fresh thinking on the [unproven-but-likely] shift from novels to excerpts in US English classrooms. I’ll footnote some of that below*, but here’s the tl;dr: please—teach books.

linkedin.com

New post: The most important question in English class isn’t just what works—but what it’s all for. On novels, purpose, and teaching the “why” of literacy. www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-bo... #TLSky #EduSky

Why bother teaching novels, anyway?

This week brought fresh thinking on the [unproven-but-likely] shift from novels to excerpts in US English classrooms. I’ll footnote some of that below*, but here’s the tl;dr: please—teach books.

linkedin.com

There is no better feeling for an author than seeing their book in a school. Standing offer to do a FREE Q&A with any school that does a PLC or book study with either! (One is on 5-12 English pedagogy, the other is a kid-facing chapter book with solve-it-yourself media-lit mysteries.)

All day—Last chance to grab a FREE kindle copy of Gram and Gran Save the Summer: acclaimed solve-it-yourself media literacy mysteries for ages 7-12. Leaving an honest rating or review helps us out! a.co/d/h8F492Q #EduSky #TLSky

Happy to boost this post. I've said it before and I'll say it again: GRAM AND GRAN SAVE THE SUMMER is one of the best #MediaLiteracy books for kids I have ever encountered. This is a perfect chance to check it out for free so you can decide which kid(s) in your life to give it to as a holiday gift!

Steve Chiger@stevechiger.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Happy Media Literacy Week! To celebrate, @teachergoals.bsky.social has made Gram and Gran FREE on Kindle all week! Not asking for anything in return, but honest ratings/reviews always welcome! We’re a chapter book of solve-it-yourself media literacy mysteries for gr 3-7. Pls share! a.co/d/gKflH5A

Happy Media Literacy Week! To celebrate, @teachergoals.bsky.social has made Gram and Gran FREE on Kindle all week! Not asking for anything in return, but honest ratings/reviews always welcome! We’re a chapter book of solve-it-yourself media literacy mysteries for gr 3-7. Pls share! a.co/d/gKflH5A

Terrific post on the dangers of over-simplification for teachers and students!

Alex Quigley@alexjquigley.bsky.social · last yr.

'The oversimplification trap' "When it comes to students in the classroom, we can simplify an explanation of a concept into PPT where complex phrases become glossy icons. Books can become short booklets. Subjects become revision guides." alexquigley.co.uk/the-oversimp...

New substack: LLM Chatbots Are the Inscrutable Unknown Variable in Lesson Plans dtwuva.substack.com/p/llm-chatbo...

LLM Chatbots Are the Inscrutable Unknown Variable in Lesson Plans

The cognitive consequences of using LLM Chatbots in class can be subtle and hard to predict

dtwuva.substack.com

If AI is being used extensively in office jobs, then should we be letting students use AI in the classroom? No - here's why. With reference to 3 papers that show what you do in a job isn't the template for what you do in the classroom. substack.nomoremarking.com/p/education-...

Useful as always. If you don’t subscribe to Peps’ newsletter, consider doing so! (Link at the end of his thread.)

Peps@pepsmccrea.bsky.social · last yr.

🔥 16 hottest education related research papers from the last 8 weeks: (all open source 🔓) ↓

Wiley just put the audio version of Why Don't Students Like School on sale--50% off! www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...

50% OFF Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, 2nd Edition

Why Don't Students Like School? Second Edition features 25% updated material while still honoring the classic, beloved approaches of the original. The book draws its themes from the most frequ...

audiobooks.com

Get ready for much more stuff like this. An (interesting!) article about a photograph leading with…an AI generated image. We need to help students be ready to navigate this world, and fast.

I read and enjoyed this! It’s a good, fast primer for key cog sci research and its application in classrooms.

Pooja K. Agarwal@retrievelearn.bsky.social · last yr.

Refresh your teaching with practical tips from my book "Smart Teaching Stronger Learning," co-written with 10 cognitive scientists (who are also teachers!).

From Ethan Mollick’s “One Useful Thing” blog—“I think we need to be prepared for a world where it is impossible to tell real from AI-generated images and video, with implications for a wide swath of society, from the entertainment we enjoy to our trust for online content.” Couldn’t agree more.

This is so important to me as an educator and as a parent. 👇🏼Books are so essential to English instruction it almost feels not worth saying. EXCEPT, as this interview shows, that may not be the case!

Holly Korbey@hollykorbey.bsky.social · last yr.

There's been lots of media attention on how many college students can't get thru a book—but students aren't getting much practice reading books before they get to college. A new survey finds top elementary English programs feature few—or no—books. hollykorbey.substack.com/p/students-r...

Enjoyed this intellectually nutritious post on diet and cognition from the inimitable @andrewwatsonttb.bsky.social. www.learningandthebrain.com/blog/nutriti...

David is one of the smartest (and most prolific!) writers we have. If, like me, you find simulation theory fascinating, you’ll love this essay on what it means to build meaning in a world that might possibly not be real.

David Didau@didau.bsky.social · last yr.

NEW: Are we living in a simulation? open.substack.com/pub/daviddid...

🧵How much does prior knowledge really matter for learning? A new study challenges one of the most foundational ideas in education: that the more you know, the more you can know. The results are pretty shocking. Here's why it really surprised me ⬇️

Attention is often referred to as the gateway to cognition. Securing attention should be a major focus! But you also have to give students something to attend to. Faultless communications are also necessary. Registration is open for this free webinar! educationrickshaw.com/2025/05/19/h...

Harnessing Attention and Explaining Better

Blake Harvard, a teacher and author of the best-selling book, Do I have your attention?, and I share an obsession with improving teaching through evidence-based practices. A major focus of both of …

educationrickshaw.com

At the very least, English teachers made our mark on the writers at The Onion. 😂

You Can’t Even Watch A Movie Anymore Without Seeing Some Theme Explored

I’ve loved movies ever since I was a little kid. Just stepping into that dark theater, with the smell of fresh popcorn, was like being transported to a whole other world. It used to be so magical. But...

theonion.com

Love this! Lateral reading and SIFT are critical skills. Our generation may be catching up now, but we owe it to our kids to build this into the K12 experience.

Timothy Caulfield@caulfieldtim.bsky.social · last yr.

Think Like a Fact-Checker: www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/misg... by @matthewfacciani.bsky.social Key 👇 "- Stop & reflect before sharing or believing the information. - Investigate the source - Find better coverage from reliable sources - Trace the information back to its original context"

Hello friends! You're keen to spend a week this summer studying memory, attention, and learning? I've got just the workshop for you... We'll be in Boston this July for our 7th summer; I hope you'll join us. Reach out if you have any questions. Cheers

SUPER proud of my partner Charell Star for publishing her memoir today! It’s one thing to write about what you know, but it’s another to write about what you’ve experienced. Powerful, moving, and full of lessons in joy & resilience to live by. a.co/d/dZT8OLf

This is precisely why @hibitus-habitus.bsky.social and I wrote Gram and Gran Save the Summer. Kids need to develop skills in #medialiteracy from a young age. (Plus, who doesn’t love solve-it-yourself mysteries?)

Alex Quigley@alexjquigley.bsky.social · last yr.

Interesting article (and linked research) on ‘How adolescents identify online misinformation’. Younger children rely more on the look of a website, whereas older students focus more on language and meaning. @researchdigest.bsky.social www.bps.org.uk/research-dig...

Even though my funding was cut, I’m still committed to helping people build media & digital literacy skills. I’ll keep sharing research summaries, practical tools, and continue my own work—however I can. If you're interested in my work, follow along via my newsletter: matthewfacciani.substack.com

Misguided: The Newsletter | Matthew Facciani | Substack

Misguided: The Newsletter shares my research on misinformation and explores how social and psychological forces shape our understanding of the world. Click to read Misguided: The Newsletter, by Matthe...

matthewfacciani.substack.com

Matthew Facciani@matthewfacciani.bsky.social · last yr.

My postdoc funding & salary were eliminated, and my work broadly fell into the category of "misinformation." My research had nothing to do with censoring anyone or targeting political beliefs. I designed & tested a game that taught users how to identify hoaxes, scams, and misleading headlines.

Probably the most first important step in driving change and adopting the science of learning is the challenge of creating a shared understanding of how learning happens within a school community. 1/4