iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

A6: Multilingual students and their families have so much knowledge from living and learning from home across many languages, and I’m excited about academic research that partners with youth and families directly to reimagine curriculum and pedagogy together #literacies

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A5: I think this is such an important point, and really speaks to the importance of exploring stories, poetry, theory and artwork that engages with that history. Personally, the work of Gloria Anzaldua helped me start to think about this more critically #literacies

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A4: One example I see is not acknowledging their existence altogether or speaking of indigenous languages as something of the past. #literacies

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A3: teachers are in situations where they must get creative to support and communicate with their students and their families. This is a part of good teaching practice, and also, it doesn’t feel sustainable to rely only on individuals only when systems need changing #literacies

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I grew up in a monolingual household in the Midwest, and was not in many spaces where my languging practices were not in the majority. When I lived and taught overseas for four years, it was the first time that I began to understand my ways of speaking as so particular my context. #literacies

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I love this question! Because I am particularly interested in multimodal #literacies, I am also thinking about languaging practices broadly - writing about playful interactions with children in a dissertation format has been its own challenge of translation. #literacies

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Trevor Aleo @mraleosays.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Hi all! My name is Clara Abbott and I’m a PhD candidate in literacy studies at University of Pennsylvania GSE. Shoutout to the amazing @writinglit.bsky.social graduate student board members - excited for this chat tonight 🫶🏻 #literacies

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I think a lot about ways to share, spread, and democratize academic knowledge. Unfortunately, most of the tools and mediums I encounter are digital. I love this as an analog alternative! Feels up your alley, @clarabbott.bsky.social!

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Clara Abbott @clarabbott.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

This looks AMAZING! I need to find a way to go! 🤩

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Haeny Yoon @haenyyoon.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Q5 1/2: My colleagues and I organized play retreats once a month on Fridays to work/play/make. It was amazing to see people in a different light. Maybe it’s not about separating the space between play and work, but knowing that a spirit of playfulness informs and pushes our work #literacies

A6: I am super interested in the topic of kidfluencers! From kids who review games and food, to kids who learn/choreograph dances, it feels like a space where kids are in the limelight in a very new way. What are the ethics of kidfluencers, and how are they shaping the play #literacies of our day?

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I love seeing people transform and reimagine themselves through play! A child in my research project digitally annotated a video of herself to look like an old man with a pink beard because she didn't want her face to be visible. That small moment filled me with hope for the future #Literacies

Nathan Holbert @snowdaylearninglab.org · 26/08/2026

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A4: If you’re a teacher, find/create opportunities to play with your students. Give them opportunities, IN CLASS, to make digital (and tangible) things. Give them space to try something new, mess around with it, iterate on it, or abandon it. Stop restricting and start widening! #literacies

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Jon M. Wargo (he/him/his) @wargojon.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

A4: I agree with Gray, but the level of "surveillance" (of play) has changed, even in seemingly offline contexts (e.g., Flock cameras). I think it is important to discuss this as youth explore and engage in play, both digital and otherwise #literacies

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Nicole R. Misra she/her @nicolermisra.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I think co-designing play spaces is so powerful. The kids at my former school helped design their playground, and took pride in it. Really inspired by scholars like @sonialivingstone.bsky.social who are working to design digital spaces for children's play WITH kids. #literacies

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A4: Building pockets of intentional community is important. @clarabbott.bsky.social and @rabani.bsky.social have made me more aware of the importance of shifting responsibility for accountability from users to companies for the impact of algorithms on both young and older folks alike. #literacies

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IMO, figuring out the role of tech in our lives is something we need to do together. So many adults (myself included!) struggle with phone use too, and we have a lot to learn from the complexities young people face daily, and vice versa. Critical of tech, but without ageist generalities! #literacies

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I agree with @snowdaylearninglab.org about feeling a bit funny about some forms of AI play. Specifically (for me), forms of play/humor where someone's face/image is being animated, added to a video, etc. using AI brings up issues of consent. It's why critical AI #literacies are so important!

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I feel like it was totally a celebration of her country roots! Have always wanted to see her life, so wouldn't be mad about a concert recap takeover ✨

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Thrifting influencers have taken over all my feeds! Personally, I have learned the hard way to not buy something if it involves a sewing project, but hoping that's another future next side-quest 🪡 Good luck on the purse search!

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What do you think about Kasey's new album from this spring?!

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This summer, play has looked like pet-sitting! Spending time with cats, dogs and other animals really reconnects me with play. As an elementary educator, it reminded me how powerful it was to see children connect to caring for class or school pets and/or therapy animals! #literacies

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AERA Writing & Literacies SIG @writinglit.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Hi all! My name is Clara Abbott and I am a doctoral candidate at Penn GSE studying elementary #literacies. I'm also so lucky to be on the @writinglit.bsky.social GSB bluesky team with the wonderful @kpsinedu.bsky.social @lexikwoodward.bsky.social and @nicolermisra.bsky.social!

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We are only TWO DAYS away from our July #literacies chat all about Black Girl Literacies, hosted by the incredible Dr. Barrett Rosser ( @drbarrettrosser.bsky.social )!

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Alex Corbitt @alexcorbitt.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Yes!! You're making me think about the concept of "bleed" in RPG studies! Huizinga's magic circle of play is POROUS and we are simultaneously representing and creating who we are (and who we are to become)! #literacies

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A6: I see children reimagining and revising the media, stories, and situations they are surrounded with as "materials" to play with. This is why I love family #literacies work as well, to connect and engage with children's social worlds, as they reimagine them through their play practices.

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I keep hearing this! Okay, this is definitely my sign to reach out – her work sounds so cool!

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A5: @alexcorbitt.bsky.social this makes me think of your speculative work! Critically asking what kind of world we are imagining or building through play (and why) helps me with this. I love to say that there is no such thing as "real life" or "pretend" when we are making a play. #literacies

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exactly!! and with that framing, it becomes really natural to think about how props, lighting, and the space are also collaborating as part of the overall effect of the play. I thought about this during our last performance, which the children performed outside as an immersive "stage" #literacies.

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A4: I think this is really the power of arts-based research and pedagogy. Of course theater isn't free from individualism, but it has offered me and my participants a powerful language to talk about the impacts of different ways of working and playing together as an ensemble #literacies

Jon M. Wargo (he/him/his) @wargojon.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I love how this illuminates what can happen when unwritten/unspoken rules are brought to the surface and discussed openly! This feels like such a powerful critical pedagogy move more broadly #literacies

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A2: Rules are constraints, but I also think rules can be affordances. These days, I have been thinking a lot about graduate writing & the so-called "rules" of unfamiliar genres we - as advisors, colleagues, mentors - do not necessarily teach or expose our students to (e.g., grant apps). #literacies

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Ok, you have to do a demo during our crafting #literacies AERA breakout next year!!!

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A3: One of my participants kept repeating "it's hard to act like someone you're not" after acting as a conservative character in our play about the 2024 election. It was really important to hold supportive space to think about the ethical discomforts he was feeling in this role #literacies

Yes! and I love the idea of community principles/norms as a way of thinking more expansively about rules. I often think with the children I work with about what it means and takes to work as an "ensemble," and we come up with norms that way. Feels similar to your example! #literacies

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A2: I think about this ALL the time as an educator trained in a democratic education space. Folks often think that centering children's agency means having no rules, but structures are vital for equitable decision-making. E.g., in drama, the "yes, and" rule helps all ideas be honored. #literacies

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I always love following children's media and pop culture, both because it really informs my #literacies thinking and work with children, but also just because it is still deeply fun!

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Thank you for being so supportive of the project! The youth have now finished up their theater projects and are making films about their artistic processes, inspired by @rabani.bsky.social and @amystorn.bsky.social's "data reels"! Really exciting stuff! #literacies

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A1: My whole dissertation is rooted in a children's theater space, so playfulness feels woven into everything I'm working on right now. It is truly such a privilege and often does not feel like "work" to be in that space #literacies!

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So excited for this #literacies chat! Thank you for being our wonderful host!

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