Good to have yet another reason not to buy that coffee. Didn’t even like the vibe back in the day on 24th street.

Do you have a link?

It's infuriating considering how many likely endeavor to get a piece of writing into this series. The prose in that piece is not particularly good but its AI voice has to be modeled/optimized re: what NYT likes, so is it not basically NYT loving itself instead of trying to find exciting voices?

49. Let’s All Go to the Lobby History, small-h heroism, memory, The Secret Agent, Judy Hopps, a box of Whoppers, and a keg-sized soda cup filled with ice and everything carbonated…

For profit-averse newsletter #49, my sloppy conversation-with-myself about teaching English in grim times, I discuss my favorite 2025 film The Secret Agent and the idea of modeling "small-h heroism" in class.

Just had a training on this stuff and that’s what I said!

In cadence and tone, it's a ringer for what my HS students submit when they are trying to pass off a Gemini production as their own fiction or personal narrative.

Speaking of which, I'm reporting an article for publication about how HS teachers are handling the instruction of writing conventions in English classes in the current era. Any teachers in the building should feel free to send a chat my way if interested in sharing thoughts...

Grammarly is also the most noxious AI plagiarism tool for HS students. A Trojan horse of false legitimacy dedicated to getting them insecure about their ideas and abilities AND dependent on generative AI "inspiration" and prose glow-ups. Hate, hate, hate!

Hello! I am reporting an article for a national publication about the challenge and value of teaching writing conventions and proofreading.

I’d like to interview high school English teachers at both public and private institutions! Shoot me a message if you're interested.

With the same voice, through history? Or was it time? Cannot recall!

I like to add “like a DOG!” To pretty much anything unrelated to killing.

Agree. My knees, ankles, and hips don’t like it but I have had the same experience everywhere I’ve taught. I’m a good player so it helps build respect both ways but it’s also sports as a show of care and a willingness to risk failure publicly (which is school for many kids).

Been doing this with my students (earnestly, candidly) for years.

Have Teachers Reached App Overload? Educators are overwhelmed by an avalanche of tools. The solution isn’t zero tech, but the question of balance is critical.

Last week, I wrote for @edutopia.org about teachers coping with too many software licenses for products that feel inconsistently useful, weaving my own experiences into a reported piece.

Curious how many district-level positions are being cut...

6. Race to the Top Updating the flow chart...

Five years ago, I wrote about several students adding the image of an ape to a presentation about Black history (related to a unit on Kindred). The kids characterized it as a subversive "joke" and claimed, ironically, given the context, not to get why it was perceived as racist.

I hope your children are okay!

48. You Can Get With This, or You Can Get With That The weekend crystallizes for teens a binary choice: bridge distance and take up the mantle of all-American solidarity or join the goons…

In #48 of my newsletter about teaching high school in a depraved newsletter, with reflection on Minnesota and a trip down memory lane, I consider the allure of apathy for teens and express some optimism. Solidarity is the only path for the grievously disaffected!

A short story about a NYT mag story profiling a therapist who coaches AI bots in the 2030s through a reckoning with the tough times they experienced in their mid-2020s childhood is just there, waiting to be written..

47. Processin' Revising the country, its history, one's self, and an essay...

I used #47 of my poorly optimized newsletter to reflect on a country trying to edit itself and its history as my students edit their writing and selves. From Minneapolis to national parks to 1984 to the writing process…

Also studying American cinema and postmodernism. We’ve got quite a text here.

One interesting bit is the usage of Grammarly to simply “clean up” writing. Grammarly has a generative AI feature that changes entire documents with a click: “make it confident,” “make it persuasive,” etc. Students can use this and feel authentic unlike when they put prompts into chat gpt…

46. From Kyoto, On Drugs: A Maybe-Book Stirs How any class can make better communicators, planners, problem-solvers, and community members through journalism…

For #46 of my boutique newsletter dedicated to teaching English to teens in dark times, I share a medication-scrambled thought-vomit from Thanksgiving vacation: the next book for educators I just might write.

I had that reaction to the joint-in-mouth selfie on the couch as his kid goes off to fight fascism. Too perfect.

Both red fern and bridge in fourth grade for this guy. Along with “a taste of blackberries.” And Roots, the whole TV series! In class!

45. This Ain't No Golf Course, This Ain't No Boardroom My high school chemistry teacher, a whistle-blower's portrayal in Michael Mann's classic film The Insider, and one science class lesson I haven't sort of forgotten...

For #45, I wrote about good learning, iffy teaching, and my high school chem teacher...

They pretend that sentiment does not exist but view every slightly wishy-washy likely-R voter as this unlearned kingmaker to be soothed like a fussy baby.

Watching this was fascinating after having Wigand for high school chemistry.

A very bad recent diagnosis, a sudden authentic spiritual awakening, and/or a decision to pack everything/everyone along for the trip…

I’ve found that high school students (I teach) often don’t even perceive AI use in brainstorming/writing process as inauthentic, because the app extension is in the document advising them, because they see it as an extension of the self.