iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

So this weekend, rest up, teacher friends. I honestly don’t know how we do this. But I know it’s gotta be one day at a time. And for today, we made it through.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Their words don’t match their actions. Their actions show us what they value. And it is not humanity when they keep taking the humanity right out of the equation.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

And use my own brain to decide what is best for them and talk to my colleagues and wrestle with the hard things and not turn first to an AI notebook. But there’s just no time for that anymore. Even though they will tell us that of course that still matters.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I want to sit next to a student and talk to their whole, human self.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

When a scope and sequence wasn’t nearly as important as seeing a whole child as their whole self and honoring where and who they were. I don’t want to feed all my data into AI and have it design lessons for me.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

And we are told to use AI to be more efficient. But we didn’t need to be more efficient before, when we could slow down and take a breath and get to know our students in a way AI never could.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

And it’s sad for us and sad for our students. We keep running on fumes as we race through curriculum and jump from one workbook to the next.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

And we weren’t always great artists, but as we honed our craft and were trusted with new tools, we learned to make some beautiful and magical art. But now. It’s all just paint-by-numbers and no matter how good any of us is at paint-by-numbers, it will never make beautiful and magical art.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This week, on top of the absolute exhaustion, there’s the heavy sadness of what teaching has become. When I started, it felt like teaching was an art.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

How I’m heading into this new school year.

Anchor chart that says welcome to fourth grade. This year we will work to create a community of care. We will do this by caring for: ourselves, our community and our space.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Give them work that matters. Give them books they love. Give them books that allow them to see themselves and the world they actually live in reflected as it is. Teach them that reading makes us better. Not better at taking tests, but better people and better communities. That’s what they need.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Yes. Our kids are losing a desire to read and therefore an ability to sustain the attention required to read. But it is not because they are bad test takers and the solution is not to make them better test takers. The solution is to bring back meaning to the work that we do.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

It would be like forcing every American driver to go back to driver’s ed to learn how to drive a stick shift car so that they could pass the test and then being surprised when they go back to driving their automatic cars and nothing has actually been improved.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

We then have manufactured a problem that is no where near the actual problems our kids are facing. And we try to solve a reading crisis by making them better test takers and then we are surprised when kids don’t want to read anymore.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I am so sick of articles about plummeting test scores. When the tools we use to measure our children do not match the world they are living in, it’s like attempting to assess American’s ability to drive by insisting we only test our driving using stick shift cars as test vehicles.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Because what we are doing, it is not working. The children are hurting, the educators are hurting and the world is hurting. And it just seems to me that we cannot reward and punish our way into a kinder place. But a real focus on CARE, it just might start to move the needle.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

It just means we focus on care. We talk about how we care for ourselves, care for each other and care for our community. We hold us all to the highest expectations of care. Not to earn prizes or points or parties. But to build a better world. In our classrooms and schools and beyond.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

The world of education loves an acronym & a set of initials. Especially when it comes to a child’s social-emotional learning (SEL). I’d like to suggest we throw them all away. Get rid of PBIS & CHAMPS & STOIC & all the rest. And instead let us just focus on CARE. It doesn’t stand for anything.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

It has been a JOURNEY. And it is far from perfect. But I am trying to find the spaces in which I can move. While still meeting the requirements of the program and the standards and all the things.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Like so many other teachers, this year has forced me to teach a prepackaged, scripted literacy program. It’s been soul sucking to say the least. One thing I’m trying hard to do is to help my students learn to read these texts critically. Weaving critical thinking into a program that is devoid of it.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

I’m so grateful for those who are finding the ways.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

We find the ways to move the needle while keeping ourselves safe. I take so much solace in being in community with others who are doing the work. Who are finding ways to keep showing up for young people when everything around us is telling us to sit down and stay quiet.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

I sit through meetings within my own district with post-it notes that I write myself that remind me to just stay quiet. That’s what being an educator feels like right now.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Tonight, I spoke with dozens of educators and librarians about the ways in which we can keep working to create inclusive spaces for our LGBTQ+ young people within our classrooms and libraries even in this unsafe political moment. At the same time…

A post it note with the words, “Just stay quiet” written on it.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

I believe that the ways in which different people are answering that question is leading us to very different places. And I’m fearful of the ways in which those with the most power in the education system continue to answer that question.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Often, in education, we make decisions by asking, “Will this meet the needs of our students?” I think we also have to start being more clear about the answer to the question, “Which needs are we most concerned about meeting?” Are we trying to best meet their test taking needs or their human needs?

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

One of the things that makes me most sad about these new packaged reading curriculum (and so so much makes me sad) is the way it feels as if we have switched from teaching children to training children. And we can do that, we can make it work, but it is costing us (and our students) so very much.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Because the truth is, I believe that if we focus on care, the rules and routines will come from that focus. Because so much of the compliance we demand of children can also be reached through conversations on how we care for ourselves, our community and our space.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

When we return to school tomorrow, we are going to begin our new year by taking time to set goals on how we will work to care for ourselves, our community and our space. We will do this instead of focusing on rules and routines. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.com

Setting Goals on Taking Care

Name: ____________________________________ Setting Goals on Taking Care In this new year, we are going to focus on taking care here at school. Taking care of ourselves, our community and our space. ...

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

I’ve been feeling so sad at the loss of freedom to craft curriculum in a way that allows us to cover standards while also guiding students towards compassion, critical thinking & justice. So I’m trying to find other ways to do that work. With that, I’m committing to a focus on care this new year.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Chanea. I am sending you all the love. I am so grateful to know you exist in this world. The goodness you add to it, gives my very tired heart so much hope. Happy year’s end, my friend. Here’s to a new one.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Every year, on New Year’s Eve, I pick a poem to carry with me into the new year. It’s a way for me to set some intention on what I want this new year to be. This year, my poem for the new year is Joy Harjo’s “For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet.” Here’s to 2026.

Put down that bag of potato chips, that white bread, that bottle of pop.

Turn off that cellphone, computer, and remote control.

Open the door, then close it behind you.

Take a breath offered by friendly winds. They travel the earth gathering essences of plants to clean.

Give it back with gratitude.

If you sing it will give your spirit lift to fly to the stars’ ears and back.

Acknowledge this earth who has cared for you since you were a dream planting itself precisely within your parents’ desire.

Let your moccasin feet take you to the encampment of the guardians who have known you before time, who will be there after time. They sit before the fire that has been there without time.

Let the earth stabilize your postcolonial insecure jitters.

Be respectful of the small insects, birds and animal people who accompany you.

Ask their forgiveness for the harm we humans have brought down upon them.

Don’t worry.

The heart knows the way though there may be high-rises, interstates, checkpoints, armed soldiers, massacres, wars, and those who will despise you because they despise themselves.

The journey might take you a few hours, a day, a year, a few years, a hundred, a thousand or even more.

Watch your mind. Without training it might run away and leave your heart for the immense human feast set by the thieves of time.

Do not hold regrets.

When you find your way to the circle, to the fire kept burning by the keepers of your soul, you will be welcomed.

You must clean yourself with cedar, sage, or other healing plant.

Cut the ties you have to failure and shame.

Let go the pain you are holding in your mind, your shoulders, your heart, all the way to your feet. Let go the pain of your ancestors to make way for those who are heading in our direction.

Ask for forgiveness.

Call upon the help of those who love you. These helpers take many forms: animal, element, bird, angel, saint, stone, or ancestor.

Call your spirit back. It may be caught in corners and creases of shame, judgment, and human abuse.

You must call in a way that your spirit will want to return.

Speak to it as you would to a beloved child.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Holding on to justice and liberation in the classroom right now feels like trying to light a candle outside on a really windy day. And the lighter, it’s running low on fuel, y’all. And I guess we just keep on going. Trying to light the fire in whatever ways we can. That’s all.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Thanks, Jenn. I just don’t know where we go from here. I can’t remember ever feeling quite so hopeless in our profession.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Oh, Jenn. The money. The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent. And all that is being lost. I don’t know how we keep on doing this. I am also not sure what choice we have. I’m going to try to just keep on loving the kids through this all. But goodness. What this is doing to my heart!!!

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Today I filled my shelves with workbooks. And my heart is just so sad at what teaching and learning have become.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

I’d be curious to know how many people at the large national teacher conferences are classroom teachers. It just seems like such a far away world to what’s happening in our classrooms these days.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

I think about what we, as educators, will say in years from now when we are asked, “How did you help kids through the crisis when human beings were being dragged off the streets by masked folks with guns?” For some of us the answer is sadly going to be, “Oh. We doubled down on phonics instruction.”

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

This year the letter home about Halloween costumes and ways to help us ensure they are not harmful, feels particularly important. Teachers, please feel free to use in whatever ways feel helpful! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.com

Halloween Letter Home

Dear Families and Caretakers, Halloween is quickly approaching! While dressing up and celebrating the holiday provide opportunities for fun and community building, they can also create situations w...

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

If you want to teach students to read media critically, to seek out reliable resources and multiple perspectives and support them as they process their emotions in response to that, that is important work that must be done with care and such deliberate intentions. That does NOT happen in a debate.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Teachers: DO NOT DEBATE ICE IN YOUR CLASSROOM! To ask students to witness their own humanity and safety being debated by their classmates is harmful. This is a reality that is causing harm and fear and pain to so many young people.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

What they are asking us to do is not teaching. It is moving through curriculum. And I fear for what that means for our students.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Yes, there is good reason to be deeply concerned about what is happening in our schools. But no, it is not because of our test scores.

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Reposted by Jess Lifshitz

Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul @sonjacherrypaul.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

We hope you’ll join us in the work of building toolkits that help us create LGBTQ-affirming schools. Register today to secure your spot! 2/2 #IREL25

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Reposted by Jess Lifshitz

Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul @sonjacherrypaul.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

We can’t imagine moving through the world of education without the light that Jess consistently provides for children, families, and communities. Now more than ever we need this light and each other. 1/2

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

The school year has started and I find myself already in desperate need of the kind of community rooted in justice and liberation. I am so grateful that @sonjacherrypaul.bsky.social and @triciaebarvia.bsky.social are bringing us back together again for another Teaching Towards Freedom.

Saturday, September 27th Teaching Towards Freedom. Register at theirel.org.

Presenters: Dr. Sonja Cherry Paul and Tricia Ebarvia.

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Jess Lifshitz @jess5th.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Might I add that I’m terrified of what this coming year will bring.

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