Ralph Manak
@rmanak.bsky.social
musician, cabinetmaker, teacher, bricoleur
*side struggles* are along the lines of dealing with administration and colleagues who think they are thriving, or are persisting in suffering in, the conventional schooling culture.
January 7, 2026 at 10:59 PM
*side struggles* are along the lines of dealing with administration and colleagues who think they are thriving, or are persisting in suffering in, the conventional schooling culture.
6/6 The best resource we have as teachers is the room full of people.
January 7, 2026 at 10:57 PM
6/6 The best resource we have as teachers is the room full of people.
5/6 The biggest struggle is getting started, with side struggles Each class has its own personality, which itself informs the pedagogy. When students say they prefer worksheets, that’s a sign to keep moving forward so they can see for themselves their own genius.
January 7, 2026 at 10:56 PM
5/6 The biggest struggle is getting started, with side struggles Each class has its own personality, which itself informs the pedagogy. When students say they prefer worksheets, that’s a sign to keep moving forward so they can see for themselves their own genius.
4/6 Be aware and mindful that one is working with individuals, individuals in a group, and a group all at the same time. In this context, each class is a reinvention of the wheel—unless one is focused solely on content. Content alone shortchanges the discourse. Process enriches the discourse.
January 7, 2026 at 10:56 PM
4/6 Be aware and mindful that one is working with individuals, individuals in a group, and a group all at the same time. In this context, each class is a reinvention of the wheel—unless one is focused solely on content. Content alone shortchanges the discourse. Process enriches the discourse.
3/6… Nah: Do real things. The focus on content is the way people think, and recommend, that the wheel does not need to be reinvented.
January 7, 2026 at 10:54 PM
3/6… Nah: Do real things. The focus on content is the way people think, and recommend, that the wheel does not need to be reinvented.
2/6 But, a thought occurring later in my teaching days may be a good first principle: schooling is thought to be preparing people for something. “Getting ready.” …
January 7, 2026 at 10:54 PM
2/6 But, a thought occurring later in my teaching days may be a good first principle: schooling is thought to be preparing people for something. “Getting ready.” …
1/6 A confluence of my disposition, intuition, philosophy merged with the good luck of experience and the influence of timely mentors led to the main station, the arrival point that is also the point of departure. Always more to learn. Helpful to like surprises and learning what to do with them.
January 7, 2026 at 10:53 PM
1/6 A confluence of my disposition, intuition, philosophy merged with the good luck of experience and the influence of timely mentors led to the main station, the arrival point that is also the point of departure. Always more to learn. Helpful to like surprises and learning what to do with them.
Thanks for the questions. I'm about to go play some low notes for a while, and I will reflect and respond soon.
January 6, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Thanks for the questions. I'm about to go play some low notes for a while, and I will reflect and respond soon.
This is the way. K-12 education would be more successful—and not adversarial, which it tends to be—if practice had at least equal footing with content. Imagine, e.g., in maths, if students say, "I do math," rather than not doing, hating... math. It's a culture one builds with each class.
January 6, 2026 at 3:02 PM
This is the way. K-12 education would be more successful—and not adversarial, which it tends to be—if practice had at least equal footing with content. Imagine, e.g., in maths, if students say, "I do math," rather than not doing, hating... math. It's a culture one builds with each class.
Money, the moneyed, tend to get the future wrong.
December 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Money, the moneyed, tend to get the future wrong.
AI is performative. People using it, particularly in this way, are equally so. Also, turning grandma's dementia into entertainment is just... ugly.
December 26, 2025 at 3:23 PM
AI is performative. People using it, particularly in this way, are equally so. Also, turning grandma's dementia into entertainment is just... ugly.
This is just before it all goes in the casserole.
November 29, 2025 at 8:55 PM
This is just before it all goes in the casserole.
And de-emphasizing the humanities (I'm being euphemistic) is in the mortar.
November 28, 2025 at 1:48 PM
And de-emphasizing the humanities (I'm being euphemistic) is in the mortar.
For what it's worth, my grandfather (the Italian one) called pizza "leftovers on bread." I don't recall ever seeing the Czech grandfather eating pizza.
October 14, 2025 at 3:09 AM
For what it's worth, my grandfather (the Italian one) called pizza "leftovers on bread." I don't recall ever seeing the Czech grandfather eating pizza.
And, they're denying her constituents representation.
October 6, 2025 at 9:39 PM
And, they're denying her constituents representation.
Speaker Johnson, fundamentally, is denying Grijalva's constituents representation.
October 2, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Speaker Johnson, fundamentally, is denying Grijalva's constituents representation.
The SB12 lawmakers have shown little concern that the ROI on miseducated people is not only low, but often a negative number. That's among the prices we pay for the feeling of power they derive from causing world-class devastation.
September 25, 2025 at 4:07 AM
The SB12 lawmakers have shown little concern that the ROI on miseducated people is not only low, but often a negative number. That's among the prices we pay for the feeling of power they derive from causing world-class devastation.
Is this part of the complex solution to the budget problems that the district officials were talking about earlier this week?
September 25, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Is this part of the complex solution to the budget problems that the district officials were talking about earlier this week?
There's always someone to pick up the banner of the grift.
September 19, 2025 at 9:37 PM
There's always someone to pick up the banner of the grift.
Why did Charlie Kirk choose to have, manufacture, or imagine, enemies?
September 11, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Why did Charlie Kirk choose to have, manufacture, or imagine, enemies?
I'll take "People who didn't learn how to go with the flow in kindergarten, but then make proclamations about how the world should be" for five hundred dollars, please.
September 2, 2025 at 1:34 PM
I'll take "People who didn't learn how to go with the flow in kindergarten, but then make proclamations about how the world should be" for five hundred dollars, please.
The "no angel" spin is also cover for the institution & the people working within. Part of the insidious both-sides format, it serves the fallacy of people deserving a fate while also being anti-justice. It's lazy journalism that jumps to opinion early & often, lacks description, muddies the waters.
August 29, 2025 at 1:46 PM
The "no angel" spin is also cover for the institution & the people working within. Part of the insidious both-sides format, it serves the fallacy of people deserving a fate while also being anti-justice. It's lazy journalism that jumps to opinion early & often, lacks description, muddies the waters.