Ryan
@ryansmits.bsky.social
teacher, luddite, hiker
publications listed at www.ryansmits.com
publications listed at www.ryansmits.com
I'm new to Oregon, but this certainly seems like a pressing issue. Based on the reporting, the universities here do seem to be teaching future teachers according to best practices. Of course, there are outliers. Going to keep following.
reader.theoregonian.com/is-teaching-...
reader.theoregonian.com/is-teaching-...
Is teaching future teachers the way out of literacy crisis?
reader.theoregonian.com
December 7, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I'm new to Oregon, but this certainly seems like a pressing issue. Based on the reporting, the universities here do seem to be teaching future teachers according to best practices. Of course, there are outliers. Going to keep following.
reader.theoregonian.com/is-teaching-...
reader.theoregonian.com/is-teaching-...
www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/l...
Just learned about these photo prompts from @nytimes.com, and I'm so delighted to have these in my back pocket for ELA journal prompts. #EduSky
Just learned about these photo prompts from @nytimes.com, and I'm so delighted to have these in my back pocket for ELA journal prompts. #EduSky
144 Picture Prompts to Inspire Student Writing (Published 2023)
www.nytimes.com
September 13, 2025 at 2:40 AM
www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/l...
Just learned about these photo prompts from @nytimes.com, and I'm so delighted to have these in my back pocket for ELA journal prompts. #EduSky
Just learned about these photo prompts from @nytimes.com, and I'm so delighted to have these in my back pocket for ELA journal prompts. #EduSky
Can we please remember this?
"Large language models like ChatGPT don’t 'think' in the human sense—when you ask ChatGPT a question, it draws from the data sets it has been trained on and builds an answer based on predictable word patterns."
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
#AI #Sceptic
"Large language models like ChatGPT don’t 'think' in the human sense—when you ask ChatGPT a question, it draws from the data sets it has been trained on and builds an answer based on predictable word patterns."
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
#AI #Sceptic
What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing?
The demise of the English paper will end a long intellectual tradition, but it’s also an opportunity to reëxamine the purpose of higher education.
www.newyorker.com
July 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Can we please remember this?
"Large language models like ChatGPT don’t 'think' in the human sense—when you ask ChatGPT a question, it draws from the data sets it has been trained on and builds an answer based on predictable word patterns."
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
#AI #Sceptic
"Large language models like ChatGPT don’t 'think' in the human sense—when you ask ChatGPT a question, it draws from the data sets it has been trained on and builds an answer based on predictable word patterns."
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
#AI #Sceptic
"Evolution primed us to see minds everywhere; nature never prepared us for machines this adept at pretending to have them. Already, the mimicry is good enough for some—the lonely, the imaginative. Soon, it may be good enough for almost everyone."
#AI #Sceptic
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
#AI #Sceptic
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
A.I. Is About to Solve Loneliness. That’s a Problem
The discomfort of loneliness shapes us in ways we don’t recognize—and we may not like what we become without it.
www.newyorker.com
July 20, 2025 at 6:01 AM
"Evolution primed us to see minds everywhere; nature never prepared us for machines this adept at pretending to have them. Already, the mimicry is good enough for some—the lonely, the imaginative. Soon, it may be good enough for almost everyone."
#AI #Sceptic
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
#AI #Sceptic
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Reposted by Ryan
Not a threat?
Using AI for "brainstorming creative projects" and "summarizing long texts" is even more of a threat to student learning than using it to generate text.
And yes, it is cheating -- Cheating students out of actually learning to read and come up with their own ideas.
🤢🤮🤢
#edusky
Using AI for "brainstorming creative projects" and "summarizing long texts" is even more of a threat to student learning than using it to generate text.
And yes, it is cheating -- Cheating students out of actually learning to read and come up with their own ideas.
🤢🤮🤢
#edusky
Most students are using AI to write, but not necessarily to cheat. They’re brainstorming, revising and thinking critically with tools like ChatGPT.
A writing professor says this isn’t a threat – it’s an opportunity, rather than a loss.
A writing professor says this isn’t a threat – it’s an opportunity, rather than a loss.
AI isn’t replacing student writing – but it is reshaping it
If AI allows students to automate routine cognitive tasks, it doesn’t mean they’re thinking less. It means their thinking is changing.
theconversation.com
July 6, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Not a threat?
Using AI for "brainstorming creative projects" and "summarizing long texts" is even more of a threat to student learning than using it to generate text.
And yes, it is cheating -- Cheating students out of actually learning to read and come up with their own ideas.
🤢🤮🤢
#edusky
Using AI for "brainstorming creative projects" and "summarizing long texts" is even more of a threat to student learning than using it to generate text.
And yes, it is cheating -- Cheating students out of actually learning to read and come up with their own ideas.
🤢🤮🤢
#edusky
Reposted by Ryan
Maybe it is less about tools saving teachers time and more about taking less time to learn relevant practices and tools.
Ask any teacher what they want from PD. Most start with: Will it help students?
Yes, they want to save time, but helping students comes 1st.
#EdTech #Teaching #EduSky
Ask any teacher what they want from PD. Most start with: Will it help students?
Yes, they want to save time, but helping students comes 1st.
#EdTech #Teaching #EduSky
June 12, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Finally! The Search for More Money!
June 13, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Finally! The Search for More Money!
More needs to be said about the environmental effects of AI. Select use of AI I'm all for, but people don't need personal generative AI devices, and such devices will be harmful beyond imagination. Here's a good quote from Kyle Chayka describing the energy demands:
June 3, 2025 at 12:52 PM
More needs to be said about the environmental effects of AI. Select use of AI I'm all for, but people don't need personal generative AI devices, and such devices will be harmful beyond imagination. Here's a good quote from Kyle Chayka describing the energy demands:
Doing this with AI and doing that with AI to improve blah blah blah can be accomplished by working with another human, too... And, get this, you get to develop a relationship with someone whom you can trust and depend on. Quit using AI for human tasks #EduSky
May 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Doing this with AI and doing that with AI to improve blah blah blah can be accomplished by working with another human, too... And, get this, you get to develop a relationship with someone whom you can trust and depend on. Quit using AI for human tasks #EduSky
Every time I pick up an Ursula K Le Guin book I'm blown away by the force of her writing. The opening lines of 'The Left Hand of Darkness:'
"I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.
"I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.
May 20, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Every time I pick up an Ursula K Le Guin book I'm blown away by the force of her writing. The opening lines of 'The Left Hand of Darkness:'
"I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.
"I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.
Passed my dissertation proposal defense this week, and I'm feeling pretty good about that. Is this how Sisyphus feels when he gets to the top of the mountain?
#phd #phdsky #academicsky
#phd #phdsky #academicsky
May 9, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Passed my dissertation proposal defense this week, and I'm feeling pretty good about that. Is this how Sisyphus feels when he gets to the top of the mountain?
#phd #phdsky #academicsky
#phd #phdsky #academicsky
"But no amount of peer-reviewed scholarship, no data set, can resolve the central questions that confront every human being: How to live? What to do? How to face death?"
From Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
From Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?
Maybe not as we’ve known them. But, in the ruins of the old curriculum, something vital is stirring.
www.newyorker.com
May 3, 2025 at 11:41 PM
"But no amount of peer-reviewed scholarship, no data set, can resolve the central questions that confront every human being: How to live? What to do? How to face death?"
From Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
From Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Reposted by Ryan
So did DOGE cut the person that was supposed to onboard everyone onto how to send a secure transmission? Signal and then Gmail??!
April 2, 2025 at 1:15 AM
So did DOGE cut the person that was supposed to onboard everyone onto how to send a secure transmission? Signal and then Gmail??!
Medical Benchmarks and the Myth of the Universal Patient
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
I really enjoyed this and thought it was a very well put argument against universal standards.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
I really enjoyed this and thought it was a very well put argument against universal standards.
Medical Benchmarks and the Myth of the Universal Patient
From growth charts to anemia thresholds, clinical standards assume a single human prototype. Why are we still using one-size-fits-all health metrics?
www.newyorker.com
April 1, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Medical Benchmarks and the Myth of the Universal Patient
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
I really enjoyed this and thought it was a very well put argument against universal standards.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
I really enjoyed this and thought it was a very well put argument against universal standards.
So many ARD meetings where the "accommodations" are just good teaching practices. Thanks #UDL for putting inclusion first into lesson design.
🏗️ Universal design is like a ramp: necessary for some, helpful to all. Embed it into every lesson, and watch everyone thrive. #LeadInclusion #EduSky #UDL #InclusiveEd #EdLeaders
February 22, 2025 at 4:22 PM
So many ARD meetings where the "accommodations" are just good teaching practices. Thanks #UDL for putting inclusion first into lesson design.
1/2
Good article from EdWeek on the moral considerations of using Gen-AI to grade: www.edweek.org/technology/i...
And here is the Archive.org version of the article for those who cannot access: archive.is/Qpqb7
They're asking some good questions in here that I think we all should consider. #EduSky
Good article from EdWeek on the moral considerations of using Gen-AI to grade: www.edweek.org/technology/i...
And here is the Archive.org version of the article for those who cannot access: archive.is/Qpqb7
They're asking some good questions in here that I think we all should consider. #EduSky
Is It Ethical to Use AI to Grade?
The technology gives students more feedback, more quickly. But some warn that using AI to score writing could have unintended consequences.
www.edweek.org
February 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
1/2
Good article from EdWeek on the moral considerations of using Gen-AI to grade: www.edweek.org/technology/i...
And here is the Archive.org version of the article for those who cannot access: archive.is/Qpqb7
They're asking some good questions in here that I think we all should consider. #EduSky
Good article from EdWeek on the moral considerations of using Gen-AI to grade: www.edweek.org/technology/i...
And here is the Archive.org version of the article for those who cannot access: archive.is/Qpqb7
They're asking some good questions in here that I think we all should consider. #EduSky
I might sound like Socrates over here whining about the alphabet, but what of our ability to think are we giving up with so much focus on the splendors of AI?
Maybe we should notch up the criticality a touch?
It seems like every time I open #EduSky it is just singing the praises of AI miracles...
Maybe we should notch up the criticality a touch?
It seems like every time I open #EduSky it is just singing the praises of AI miracles...
February 21, 2025 at 3:01 AM
I might sound like Socrates over here whining about the alphabet, but what of our ability to think are we giving up with so much focus on the splendors of AI?
Maybe we should notch up the criticality a touch?
It seems like every time I open #EduSky it is just singing the praises of AI miracles...
Maybe we should notch up the criticality a touch?
It seems like every time I open #EduSky it is just singing the praises of AI miracles...
Reposted by Ryan
Alright, ya'll, here's a quick 1-minute thing you can do to push back on the darkness:
SEND AN EMAIL: Don't Dismantle the Dept. of Education
www.saveschoollibrarians.org/deptofed2025
#TLSky #EduSky school library
SEND AN EMAIL: Don't Dismantle the Dept. of Education
www.saveschoollibrarians.org/deptofed2025
#TLSky #EduSky school library
SEND AN EMAIL: Don't Dismantle the Dept. of Education
www.saveschoollibrarians.org
February 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Alright, ya'll, here's a quick 1-minute thing you can do to push back on the darkness:
SEND AN EMAIL: Don't Dismantle the Dept. of Education
www.saveschoollibrarians.org/deptofed2025
#TLSky #EduSky school library
SEND AN EMAIL: Don't Dismantle the Dept. of Education
www.saveschoollibrarians.org/deptofed2025
#TLSky #EduSky school library
1/2
The playbook to effectively shut down the department of education in two quotes:
“So in the meantime,” Walberg said, “my efforts would be to find any means by which we may de-power the Department of Education.”
From:
www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
#EduSky
The playbook to effectively shut down the department of education in two quotes:
“So in the meantime,” Walberg said, “my efforts would be to find any means by which we may de-power the Department of Education.”
From:
www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
#EduSky
Trump preps order to dismantle Education Dept. as DOGE probes data
Closing the agency would require congressional approval, so the new administration hopes to diminish it in the meantime.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 4, 2025 at 11:40 AM
1/2
The playbook to effectively shut down the department of education in two quotes:
“So in the meantime,” Walberg said, “my efforts would be to find any means by which we may de-power the Department of Education.”
From:
www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
#EduSky
The playbook to effectively shut down the department of education in two quotes:
“So in the meantime,” Walberg said, “my efforts would be to find any means by which we may de-power the Department of Education.”
From:
www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
#EduSky
When I read words like this I am reminded of one of Ruha Benjamin's messages from "Viral Justice:" small acts of care, kindness, and justice have a powerful ripple that slowly change the overall climate of interaction. There is virality to positivity too.
I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world.
Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO
Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO
February 1, 2025 at 6:28 PM
When I read words like this I am reminded of one of Ruha Benjamin's messages from "Viral Justice:" small acts of care, kindness, and justice have a powerful ripple that slowly change the overall climate of interaction. There is virality to positivity too.
Wow! I never thought I'd find a "Green Diaper Bag Backpack for Mom: Baby Bags for Boys Girls Toddler Women Men Large Back Pack Diapers Bag Big Travel Pañaleras Modernas Para Bebe Niña Unisex Newborn Essential Baby Registry" but, by golly, there this SEO monstrosity is!
January 31, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Wow! I never thought I'd find a "Green Diaper Bag Backpack for Mom: Baby Bags for Boys Girls Toddler Women Men Large Back Pack Diapers Bag Big Travel Pañaleras Modernas Para Bebe Niña Unisex Newborn Essential Baby Registry" but, by golly, there this SEO monstrosity is!