Derek Bruff
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derekbruff.bsky.social
Derek Bruff
@derekbruff.bsky.social
3.1K followers 330 following 2.2K posts
Educator, author, consultant. Associate director at the University of Virginia Center for Teaching Excellence. Author of Intentional Tech from West Virginia University Press. Host of the Intentional Teaching podcast. Birder.
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derekbruff.bsky.social
Today on the podcast: How does one move from faculty member to faculty developer? What are the pathways into jobs at centers for teaching and learning? And why are educational developers so important to higher education with all this happening?

www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
November 4, 2025 at 3:53 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
“To the extent consistent with judicial decisions”

federalinfo.virginia.edu
October 22, 2025 at 9:21 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Brown pelican fishing on the east coast of the Yucatán peninsula earlier this month

#SuperSeabirdSunday
October 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Spotted at #NoKings in Columbia, TN, which is a very red small town:
October 18, 2025 at 7:08 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
What happens when you integrate AI-generated feedback into a peer review process in a writing course? You get PAIRR: Peer and AI Review and Reflection. On the podcast, I talk with @annamillsoer.bsky.social & Marit MacArthur about the PAIRR Project.

intentionalteaching.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
October 14, 2025 at 11:56 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Birding in Mexico: Look it’s a mockingbird, but not our mockingbird! And a woodpecker, but not our woodpecker!

Here are two such lifers for me, a Tropical Mockingbird and a Brown Jay.

#birding
October 10, 2025 at 7:55 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Also, a few Royal Terns. I had seen them standing around near Galveston, Texas, but these were flying and fishing. They’re a little extra.

#Birding
October 10, 2025 at 2:41 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
The WiFi is strong for once so it’s time for birds.

At our first stop in Mexico was immediately greeted by multiple Magnificent Frigatebirds, which have wingspans bigger than pelicans! And they have “Magnificent” right in their name!

#Lifer #Birding
October 10, 2025 at 2:39 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
I've been tracking how instructors are using custom AI chatbots, and since I love to put things in categories, here is my current taxonomy of teaching applications of custom AI bots: derekbruff.org/2025/10/01/f...
Image generated by Midjourney from this prompt: several small birds depicted as light bikes inspired by Tron flying circles around a larger bird, dark mysterious background, very dynamic scene, high contrast, futuristic aesthetic
October 1, 2025 at 4:21 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
How can you manage hot moments in the classroom when just about any topic can be a hot one?

Today on the podcast I talk with @prairiedogking.bsky.social and @bethanynmorrison.bsky.social about navigating high-stakes discussions in the year 2025.

www.buzzsprout.com/2069949/epis...
September 30, 2025 at 1:59 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Merriam-Webster posts about their new “large language model,” that is, the new edition of their collegiate dictionary. Meta’s AI doesn’t get the joke.
September 28, 2025 at 7:59 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
And just now a white-breasted nuthatch!
September 28, 2025 at 5:45 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Bird feeder update: The wrens have found us!
September 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Shelby Bottoms on a warm and sunny September morning? Yes please! And I got two lifers—Sedge Wren and Marsh Wren—just feet away from each other. #birding
Sedge Wren Marsh Wren Eastern Phoebe
September 27, 2025 at 10:53 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
I am excited to share that I’m working on a new book! I’m joining @anetv.bsky.social and @marcwatkins.bsky.social in writing The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, coming in 2026 from W. W. Norton & Company! Details here: derekbruff.org/2025/09/26/4...
September 26, 2025 at 5:29 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
First hummingbird at the new feeder!
September 21, 2025 at 6:01 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
We're trying out a new format on the UVA Teaching Hub! CTE director @michael-palmer.bsky.social has contributed an annotated assignment for the site. The collection explores a digital media project he's used successfully in his general chemistry course. teaching.virginia.edu/collections/...
September 18, 2025 at 3:52 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Time to watch Sneakers again.
September 16, 2025 at 1:01 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
From the @aaup.org:

www.aaup.org/news/academi...
The AAUP notes with great alarm the rash of recent administrative actions to discipline faculty, staff, and student speech in the aftermath of the murder of Charlie Kirk. We write to remind leaders of colleges and universities of their fundamental duty to protect academic freedom and the absolute necessity to ensure that the freedom to discuss topics of public import without constraint is not curtailed under political pressure. As established in the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, faculty are entitled to hearings under longstanding principles before they may be subject to discipline. At a moment when higher education is threatened by forces that seek to destroy it and its role in a democratic society, the anticipatory obedience shown by this rush to judgment must be avoided. Publication date September 15, 2025
September 15, 2025 at 2:28 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
And Senator Blackburn is responsible for at least one of the firings. Here she was in 2021:
September 15, 2025 at 1:20 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Canyonlands NP, September 2016
September 12, 2025 at 3:38 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Shenandoah NP, June 2017
September 12, 2025 at 2:08 AM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Petrified Forest NP, July 2021
September 11, 2025 at 11:39 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Big Bend NP, January 2021.
September 11, 2025 at 6:14 PM
derekbruff.bsky.social
Maybe I’ll just post photos of national parks today. Here’s Channel Islands NP, March 2024.
September 11, 2025 at 12:42 PM