Annie Bilancini
@abilancini.bsky.social
Teacher. I published some fiction during Obama's second term.
It would be nice, too, if such a thing existed outside of the "marketplace." I'm all for teachers making money off their work (à la TPT and the like), but that feels a bit like NIL, but for teachers: a small win for the individual that ignores a larger exploitation.
November 15, 2025 at 6:59 PM
It would be nice, too, if such a thing existed outside of the "marketplace." I'm all for teachers making money off their work (à la TPT and the like), but that feels a bit like NIL, but for teachers: a small win for the individual that ignores a larger exploitation.
I'm teaching F451 right now to high school sophomores, and it's landing really, really weirdly. We talked about the AI bubble and speculative narratives on Friday. One kid said, "Okay, miss, I'm going to read this now, I promise. It's getting good."
November 10, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I'm teaching F451 right now to high school sophomores, and it's landing really, really weirdly. We talked about the AI bubble and speculative narratives on Friday. One kid said, "Okay, miss, I'm going to read this now, I promise. It's getting good."
Reminds me of that Haraway quote, "It matters what matters we use to think other matters with... It matters what knots knot knots."
November 2, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Reminds me of that Haraway quote, "It matters what matters we use to think other matters with... It matters what knots knot knots."
Atomized learning for all the good little slop-fed children.
November 2, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Atomized learning for all the good little slop-fed children.
It's all built in to their freshmen orientation course. They also said many of their profs have banned using GenAI for any of the work in their class. One is spiraling about whether to stay in STEM because the institutional messaging she's receiving devalues the field (sounds familiar...).
November 2, 2025 at 4:24 PM
It's all built in to their freshmen orientation course. They also said many of their profs have banned using GenAI for any of the work in their class. One is spiraling about whether to stay in STEM because the institutional messaging she's receiving devalues the field (sounds familiar...).
My co-worker, a computer science teacher (I'm a high school English teacher in Ohio), has kept in regular contact with two of our recent grads, both wonderful, bright students in STEM programs at OSU. So far, they've reported that the "AI" instruction has felt compulsory and half-baked...
November 2, 2025 at 4:24 PM
My co-worker, a computer science teacher (I'm a high school English teacher in Ohio), has kept in regular contact with two of our recent grads, both wonderful, bright students in STEM programs at OSU. So far, they've reported that the "AI" instruction has felt compulsory and half-baked...
"If we can give children the knowledge they need to use these AI tools, that's going to be a huge thing. It's helping people understand that AI doesn't just mean cheating; it means growing capabilities."
Why will that be a huge thing? And what capabilities will they grow? And for whom?
Why will that be a huge thing? And what capabilities will they grow? And for whom?
October 30, 2025 at 1:41 AM
"If we can give children the knowledge they need to use these AI tools, that's going to be a huge thing. It's helping people understand that AI doesn't just mean cheating; it means growing capabilities."
Why will that be a huge thing? And what capabilities will they grow? And for whom?
Why will that be a huge thing? And what capabilities will they grow? And for whom?
What's so interesting about admitting to offloading some cognitive work to GenAI? What's so interesting about openly and shamelessly using a technology with so many environmental and ethical issues attached to it? I just can't get past the open disdain for human labor. I like people and thinking!
July 21, 2025 at 1:26 PM
What's so interesting about admitting to offloading some cognitive work to GenAI? What's so interesting about openly and shamelessly using a technology with so many environmental and ethical issues attached to it? I just can't get past the open disdain for human labor. I like people and thinking!
I also had Molly! 🙃
July 18, 2025 at 12:50 AM
I also had Molly! 🙃
This is a really good question. I do think there are still a lot of students who confer a great deal of cultural capital to having read "the classics." And I think the aestheticizing of bookishness is nothing so new. Rory Gilmore informed more of my tastes in the early aughts than I care to admit.
July 18, 2025 at 12:45 AM
This is a really good question. I do think there are still a lot of students who confer a great deal of cultural capital to having read "the classics." And I think the aestheticizing of bookishness is nothing so new. Rory Gilmore informed more of my tastes in the early aughts than I care to admit.
I think there are a lot of high school English teachers out there who share my (your) sentiments. We are sick of it. Our students deserve better (humanity deserves better). I wish I could light the beacons of Gondor or something to get them to mobilize.
July 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM
I think there are a lot of high school English teachers out there who share my (your) sentiments. We are sick of it. Our students deserve better (humanity deserves better). I wish I could light the beacons of Gondor or something to get them to mobilize.
I'm a nobody high school English teacher from Cleveland, and I've basically wanted to burn GenAI to the ground for the past two years or so. You've perfectly articulated the reasons why here. I'll co-sign this manifesto. Thank you for writing it.
July 16, 2025 at 11:56 PM
I'm a nobody high school English teacher from Cleveland, and I've basically wanted to burn GenAI to the ground for the past two years or so. You've perfectly articulated the reasons why here. I'll co-sign this manifesto. Thank you for writing it.
I haven't read that one yet! Looks like it's inter-library loan time!
July 7, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I haven't read that one yet! Looks like it's inter-library loan time!
While I was heading north on I-71 yesterday to head back to Cleveland from Cincinnati, alas, I did not see him. I just knew he couldn't be bopping around NE Ohio because there haven't been any Krogers here since the mid '80s. They let their contracts with local unions expire, I think.
July 7, 2025 at 12:46 PM
While I was heading north on I-71 yesterday to head back to Cleveland from Cincinnati, alas, I did not see him. I just knew he couldn't be bopping around NE Ohio because there haven't been any Krogers here since the mid '80s. They let their contracts with local unions expire, I think.
And south of Mansfield, OH? Maybe even south of Columbus?
July 7, 2025 at 1:35 AM
And south of Mansfield, OH? Maybe even south of Columbus?
I had some success with Eula Biss' writing as a kind of gateway for students to sample contemporary writing that was doing something more complicated than just delivering information. Weinberger does such incredible stuff with creative nonfiction as a form, though! I loved Angels & Saints.
July 7, 2025 at 1:24 AM
I had some success with Eula Biss' writing as a kind of gateway for students to sample contemporary writing that was doing something more complicated than just delivering information. Weinberger does such incredible stuff with creative nonfiction as a form, though! I loved Angels & Saints.
I like the way it throws a dart at "bridal platypus" but then at the very last second is like, "NO. FEED US MORE LACE."
June 28, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I like the way it throws a dart at "bridal platypus" but then at the very last second is like, "NO. FEED US MORE LACE."
I loved this, Amber!
June 28, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I loved this, Amber!
This seems just so in-line with how these jackasses think. He wants to use scripture to justify his own sense of separation from nature (creation!) so he can manipulate and destroy it in an attempt to achieve his own shallow ends. My guy is so deeply afraid of death. Like, go read some Ross Gay, bro
June 28, 2025 at 2:09 PM
This seems just so in-line with how these jackasses think. He wants to use scripture to justify his own sense of separation from nature (creation!) so he can manipulate and destroy it in an attempt to achieve his own shallow ends. My guy is so deeply afraid of death. Like, go read some Ross Gay, bro
I'l also add: for my students that don't view college as their path, I think the blending of the K-12 and higher ed writing ethos is actually crucial. These students deserve to go out into the world with a writing life they can continue to develop instead of work against or dismantle.
June 26, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I'l also add: for my students that don't view college as their path, I think the blending of the K-12 and higher ed writing ethos is actually crucial. These students deserve to go out into the world with a writing life they can continue to develop instead of work against or dismantle.
When I taught FYC as part of my grad program, undoing what students had learned in their high school writing courses was the unspoken ethos of the pedagogical training. Now that I teach high school, I'm constantly haunted by that framing.
June 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
When I taught FYC as part of my grad program, undoing what students had learned in their high school writing courses was the unspoken ethos of the pedagogical training. Now that I teach high school, I'm constantly haunted by that framing.
This was such a great analysis of the problems at hand. I've been trying to think through how I can adjust my own teaching to accommodate more systems-thinking in reading literature, so this is well timed. (Also, the line about drivers not wanting to think about how they are the traffic: that's IT.)
June 26, 2025 at 1:29 PM
This was such a great analysis of the problems at hand. I've been trying to think through how I can adjust my own teaching to accommodate more systems-thinking in reading literature, so this is well timed. (Also, the line about drivers not wanting to think about how they are the traffic: that's IT.)