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Jim Burke

@englishcomp.bsky.social
483 followers 278 following 113 posts

English teacher • Writer • Consultant • Speaker • Fly fisher • Husband • Father • New grandfather!

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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Not anti-AI but worry about these issues: What 370,000 College Essays Tell Us About A.I.’s Effects on Creativity www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | What 370,000 College Essays Tell Us About A.I.’s Effects on Creativity
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Amazing resource: Carefully annotated Shakespeare's Sonnets - Sonnet 28 | Folger Shakespeare Library. www.folger.edu/explore/shak...
folger.edu
Shakespeare's Sonnets - Sonnet 28 | Folger Shakespeare Library
Few collections of poems—indeed, few literary works in general—intrigue, challenge, tantalize, and reward as do Shakespeare's Sonnets. Almost all of them love poems, the Sonnets philosophize, celebrat...
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
@jodikantor.bsky.social new book speaks to us all about the need for work that gives us a sense of meaning and purpose. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/b...
nytimes.com
This Is a Hard Time to Start a Career. These Two Words Can Help.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
A great new discovery today: a new English teacher writing from the classroom and his own experience. substack.com/@tjwilson/no...
substack.com
TJ Wilson on Substack
A friend gave me back a book I lent him a long while ago: The New Analog by @Damon Krukowski. (You should read it.) It was written post-streaming services but pre-pandemic and pre-AI. I leafed through...
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Oh I love that, Gary! Thanks so much!
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
I always wanted to write a book about little things that make a big difference. Best of luck on this, Jennifer. So helpful to teachers!
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
I just registered for this workshop with @escribescribe.bsky.social. You might want to check it out or share this along to others. cvent.me/aEe32e?sms=7...
cvent.me
R. Joseph Rodriguez presents: Youth Scribes and Their Writing Process in Action
Join me for this event R. Joseph Rodriguez presents: Youth Scribes and Their Writing Process in Action. Take a look!
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Tom Newkirk—always worth your time to read and consider. Thanks to Julian Grisham for this www.juliangirdham.com/blog/thomas-...
juliangirdham.com
Thomas Newkirk's 'The Art of Slow Reading' — Julian Girdham
A revisiting of Thomas Newkirk’s book The Art of Slow Reading in the new AI world.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
www.arts.gov/stories/blog...
arts.gov
The Men-Women Split in Reading is Real—and Persists Amid Historical Rate Declines
What does the data tell us about reading rates by gender?
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Casper’s article of the day!
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
I have been working on an article about censorship lately and saw this in the NYT. It raises so many interesting questions--which is probably why it appeared in The Ethicist. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/m...
nytimes.com
Can I Ban Books From My Front-Yard Little Free Library? (Gift Article)
The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on the curation of a book collection.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Gotta love this. youtu.be/QqAnpEWOse8?...
youtu.be
A.J. Brown on why he was reading a book on the sideline against the Packers
YouTube video by CBS Sports
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Reposted by Jim Burke
Nick Covington @covingtonedu.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Oh... www.axios.com/2025/01/13/w...
Octavia E. Butler, the late-pioneering Black science fiction novelist who wrote about a wildfire from climate change starting on February 1, 2025, in her novel "Parable of the Sower," is buried in an Altadena cemetery.

The cemetery caught fire, the LA Times reports.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
www.oed.com/information/...
oed.com
Oxford English Dictionary
The OED is the definitive record of the English language, featuring 600,000 words, 3 million quotations, and over 1,000 years of English.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
I’ve had coffee with three former students this week: 20, 28, and 32. Such conversations provide a fascinating window on life, generations, and teaching. (I have 25, 30, and 32 year old “kids” but the conversations are always different when they’re your own!)
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Chris Hayes: I Want Your Attention. I Need Your Attention. Here Is How I Mastered My Own. (Gift Article)
The problem we face is existential and spiritual, not situational.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Best thing I’ll read today about attention, living, and learning: www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Chris Hayes: I Want Your Attention. I Need Your Attention. Here Is How I Mastered My Own. (Gift Article)
The problem we face is existential and spiritual, not situational.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
Interesting new resource(s) re: close reading. John Guillory’s “Close Reading” press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo... and this archive of close reading resources: www.closereadingarchive.org?utm_source=s...
closereadingarchive.org
Close Reading Archive
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | No, You Don’t Get an A for Effort (Gift Article)
High marks reward excellence, not grit.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
Consider doing what I call a two-way reflection in Teaching Better Day by Day: reflect on the year ending and the think about the year to come. Or you could use these EOY questions from @jamesclear.bsky.social : jamesclear.com/annual-review
jamesclear.com
Annual Reviews
Each year, I write my Annual Review. This page offers a complete list of the Annual Reviews I have written and explains my process.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Think about this next time someone asks you what you do as a teacher: sketchplanations.com/the-three-br...
sketchplanations.com
Sketchplanations - Simplifying complex ideas in sketches
The Three Bricklayers’ story illustrates the power of purpose. What is the 3 Bricklayers Story? A simple version goes that a person walked past a building project and asked three workers the same ques...
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Overheard while shopping in Green Apple Books in SF this morning: “OH I thought that was the fiction section but it is the nonfiction section. I WISH more of what is on those displays was fiction!”
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Excited to read this new book by Jeff Wilhelm, Michael Smith et al. Such smart guys and grateful for the years of presenting with them at NCTE:
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
I’ll be working on an article the next few days based on this presentation from NCTE this year titled “Teaching in Troubled Times. Not everything will make sense without my explanation but most of it should be understandable. bit.ly/JBTroubledTi...
bit.ly
PRES_Teaching in Troubled Times (NCTE 2024)_JB Shared
You can access my slides for this presentation at bit.ly/JBTroubledTimes
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
I rewatched “The Godfather” last night and was reminded of this activity I adapted from Coppolla’s “Godfather Notebooks” where he talks about how he creates scenes from a book he reads: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g9ahr...
dropbox.com
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
As teachers approach half-time in their school year, now is the time to reflect, review, and renew. My Teaching Better Day by Day offers a many ways to help teachers to this important work. www.corwin.com/books/teachi...
corwin.com
Teaching Better Day by Day
Can old-fashioned paper-and-pencil planning be cutting-edge? Yes, when it is a planner designed by master teacher Jim Burke, with space to dream big a...
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Recommended Read: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/u...
nytimes.com
Why Public School Curriculum Is Resistant to Political Pressure (Gift Article)
Politicians on both the left and the right have sought to change or limit what teachers can do inside classrooms. Teachers often ignore them.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Attention has my full attention these days. From The Atlantic: Many people believe that smartphones have ruined their ability to pay attention to what really matters in life, @kait_tiffany writes. Could a "School of Radical Attention" turn things around? www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
theatlantic.com
A ‘Radical’ Approach to Reclaiming Your Attention
It’s not just about putting your phone away.
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Reposted by Jim Burke
Angela Stockman @angelastockman.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
✨ This is a generous share. ✨
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Reposted by Jim Burke
Heinemann @heinemannpub.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
As you wrap up the school year, we want to leave you with some writing instruction considerations from @candersonwriting.bsky.social and @mattgloverwriting.bsky.social for the new year.
blog.heinemann.com
Writing Instruction Considerations | Heinemann
In this action-based post, Carl and Matt help you think about how to evaluate an instructional approach to writing. Downloadable PDF included.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Here’s the link: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/...
washingtonpost.com
She graduated without learning to read. Now she’s suing her school.
Aleysha Ortiz sued her Connecticut school district for allegedly failing to address her learning disabilities. She was illiterate when she graduated, she said.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
This story and her experience raise so many important and interesting questions: She graduated without learning to read. Now she’s suing her school.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Check out and be sure to share widely this info about summer NEH institute. I did two NEH summer institutes years ago. They were both transformative experiences. www.futurestoryproject.org/e
futurestoryproject.org
Future Earth Story Project
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Spent entire day drafting different tables of contents for my next book. Spent hours looking at other TOCs. It is the important, often unobserved work that is an essential part of the process. Reminds me of the old tile games we played as kids. images.app.goo.gl/JfZ9BQmHQBTM...
images.app.goo.gl
Google Image Result for https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/15-puzzle-02.jpg/220px-15-puzzle-02.jpg
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Suggestions for Starr here anyone? Conferring as Starr describes it in a FB post is definitely differentiation.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
Who’s on YOUR “panel of advisors” about that situation youre trying to desl with? sketchplanations.com/panel-of-adv...
sketchplanations.com
Sketchplanations - Simplifying complex ideas in sketches
Building your own panel of advisors is a simple technique to expand your perspectives and guide yourself through tough decisions. Think of people whose judgement and values you respect, add them to yo...
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Reposted by Jim Burke
Mattrkay @mattrkay.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
"Everybody talks" is not a healthy standard for teachers to hold ourselves to. (Or admins to hold us to.) Healthy, realistic goals for class discussions matter. ascd.org/el/articles/...
ascd.org
Busting the Myth of Equitable Class Discussions
Let’s be real—not every student is going to talk, and maybe that’s OK.
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Reposted by Jim Burke
Larry Ferlazzo @larryferlazzo.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
The Best Posts & Articles On How To Teach “Controversial” Topics – Suggest More! larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2014/10/04/t...
larryferlazzo.edublogs.org
The Best Posts & Articles On How To Teach “Controversial” Topics – Suggest More!
Check out my five-part Education Week Teacher series on handling controversial topics in the classroom! “Mock Trials? Debates? Here’s a Better Way to Approach Supreme Court Decisions in Class…
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
I love Annie Ernaux’s books. This is a thoughtful mediation on the role of the library in her development. www.theparisreview.org/blog/2024/12...
theparisreview.org
Rouen’s Municipal Library, 1959–1964 (or, The Formative Years) - The Paris Review
“With a certain measure of pride, I felt myself becoming an ‘intellectual.’ ”
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
From Ron Charles at the Washington Post: “A white paper soon to be released by Thorndike Press, a leading publisher of large print editions, indicates that books with a bigger font size can significantly improve students’ engagement and comprehension.” Can’t find report yet, but interesting…
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Reposted by Jim Burke
Jen Roberts, NBCT @jen.litandtech.com · 11/12/2024
🤖 My latest @Edutopia.org article explores why AI writing detectors aren't the answer. As an ELA teacher, I share practical strategies for encouraging authentic student writing. 📝 www.edutopia.org/article/ai-d... #EduSky #EduSkyAI
edutopia.org
What ELA Teachers Should Know About AI Detectors
Programs designed to identify use of AI in student writing aren’t infallible, but there are other ways to promote authenticity in writing assignments.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
I really appreciate you taking the time to write this, Sarah. So important for people to hear from a teacher like you.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Thanks, Brett. Just beautiful. What poetry does best.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
I mean…not as excited as I would be if I hooked a 30 lb char, but I need p Er pole to help me understand this AI stuff and where it’s going that’s good for teaching and learning. P.s. I caught a 26” steelhead recently…then returned him to his waters.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
“This Compost” or “Learned Astronomer”? poets.org/poem/compost and “We grow accustomed to the dark”?! www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org/poems/we-gro...
poets.org
This Compost
Something startles me where I thought I was safest
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Awesome! Congratulations, Angela.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
*and their students!
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Great work, Allison. My daughter is a pediatric oncology nurse. You capture perfectly the challenges (and importance) of the connective labor teachers and nurses and so many others do. Thanks.
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Jim Burke @englishcomp.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
@larryferlazzo is just a blessing and boon to all teachers (Ann’s their students)
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