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Ryan

@ryansmits.bsky.social
156 followers 625 following 107 posts

teacher, luddite, hiker publications listed at www.ryansmits.com

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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
reader.theoregonian.com/google-searc... Who would have ever thought anything bad would happen from testing an unknown technology on kids? /s We're at a point where we should just ban Google from schools. They have repeatedly shown they do not care about safety or privacy.
reader.theoregonian.com
Google Search AI poses ‘unacceptable risk’ to kids, report finds
The artificial intelligence features built in to Google Search failed to detect suicide risks, said an eating disorder symptom was normal and provided instructions for creating deepfakes.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
reader.theoregonian.com/doj-levies-f... These Morrow officials absolutely need to be held accountable for the obfuscation of this Windwave's value. The accounting firm that helped hide that value also needs consequences.
reader.theoregonian.com
DOJ levies fresh allegations in data center ‘scheme’
The state alleges officials lied to watchdogs as associates “rubber-stamped” the deal.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I wrote up some thoughts about the new required list of literary works that Texas just adopted including ways to resist: www.ryansmits.com/2026/06/thou... They don't go into effect for a few more years, but now is the time to start thinking about how to respond. #Texas #censorship #EduSky
ryansmits.com
Thoughts on Texas' 2026 Literary Works Requirement
Thoughts on the   2026 Texas Literary Works List   The State of Texas just adopted a new policy where they are going to require specific t...
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I enjoyed the #CivicsOfTech book club meeting today, and I encourage anyone and everyone who is interested in learning more about the role of technology in our lives but particularly in education to check out their website or join a book club. I had a few days warning for this one...
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Why am I watching Zac Brown talk about spearfishing on #Survivor?
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/r... Quick article about how people build replicas of Thoreau's cabin and what "Walden" means to them. Could be a good way to introduce Thoreau and transcendentalism. I could imagine this in a unit asking, "what does it mean to live deliberately?" #edusky
nytimes.com
They Went to the Woods Because They Wished to Live Deliberately
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
"Hamnet" was an incredible movie and that ending was poignant. Jessie Buckley delivered an incredible performance as did Paul Mezcal, but that ending with Agnes reaching out is going to stick with me. Such a beautiful movie about love, loss, grief, and expression.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
@edzitron.com has been saying it as long as anyone has listened, but looks like the mainstream is finally coming wise to the inevitable AI crash... The whole thing is a house of cards www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/b... #AIBubble
nytimes.com
As A.I. Companies Borrow Billions, Debt Investors Grow Wary
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
I'm new to Oregon, but this certainly seems like a pressing issue. Based on the reporting, the universities here do seem to be teaching future teachers according to best practices. Of course, there are outliers. Going to keep following. reader.theoregonian.com/is-teaching-...
reader.theoregonian.com
Is teaching future teachers the way out of literacy crisis?
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/l... Just learned about these photo prompts from @nytimes.com, and I'm so delighted to have these in my back pocket for ELA journal prompts. #EduSky
nytimes.com
144 Picture Prompts to Inspire Student Writing (Published 2023)
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Can we please remember this? "Large language models like ChatGPT don’t 'think' in the human sense—when you ask ChatGPT a question, it draws from the data sets it has been trained on and builds an answer based on predictable word patterns." www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... #AI #Sceptic
newyorker.com
What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing?
The demise of the English paper will end a long intellectual tradition, but it’s also an opportunity to reëxamine the purpose of higher education.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
"Evolution primed us to see minds everywhere; nature never prepared us for machines this adept at pretending to have them. Already, the mimicry is good enough for some—the lonely, the imaginative. Soon, it may be good enough for almost everyone." #AI #Sceptic www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
A.I. Is About to Solve Loneliness. That’s a Problem
The discomfort of loneliness shapes us in ways we don’t recognize—and we may not like what we become without it.
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Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
Not a threat? Using AI for "brainstorming creative projects" and "summarizing long texts" is even more of a threat to student learning than using it to generate text. And yes, it is cheating -- Cheating students out of actually learning to read and come up with their own ideas. 🤢🤮🤢 #edusky
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SkillTech Learning Solutions @skilltechsolution.com · 13/06/2025
Maybe it is less about tools saving teachers time and more about taking less time to learn relevant practices and tools. Ask any teacher what they want from PD. Most start with: Will it help students? Yes, they want to save time, but helping students comes 1st. #EdTech #Teaching #EduSky
Teachers will invest in things they see value in.  A lot of time.
  Tamara Ferguson
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Finally! The Search for More Money!
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Seems accurate
Single-panel Mallard Fillmore comic strip. A university administrator is speaking at graduation. They say, "And now that you're officially alumni, it's time to start thinking about giving something back... ... We accept all major credit cards. To set up a one-time or recurring donation, just scan the QR code printed on all four corners of your diploma."
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
More needs to be said about the environmental effects of AI. Select use of AI I'm all for, but people don't need personal generative AI devices, and such devices will be harmful beyond imagination. Here's a good quote from Kyle Chayka describing the energy demands:
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Doing this with AI and doing that with AI to improve blah blah blah can be accomplished by working with another human, too... And, get this, you get to develop a relationship with someone whom you can trust and depend on. Quit using AI for human tasks #EduSky
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Every time I pick up an Ursula K Le Guin book I'm blown away by the force of her writing. The opening lines of 'The Left Hand of Darkness:' "I'll make my report as if I told a story, for I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Little happy ant hill!
A small ant mound with homes in it that look like a smiley face.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Passed my dissertation proposal defense this week, and I'm feeling pretty good about that. Is this how Sisyphus feels when he gets to the top of the mountain? #phd #phdsky #academicsky
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
"But no amount of peer-reviewed scholarship, no data set, can resolve the central questions that confront every human being: How to live? What to do? How to face death?" From Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence? www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
newyorker.com
Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence?
Maybe not as we’ve known them. But, in the ruins of the old curriculum, something vital is stirring.
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John Vibes @johnvibes.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
I hope everyone realizes that scrubbing historical references from web sites is no different than burning books
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
So did DOGE cut the person that was supposed to onboard everyone onto how to send a secure transmission? Signal and then Gmail??!
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Medical Benchmarks and the Myth of the Universal Patient www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... I really enjoyed this and thought it was a very well put argument against universal standards.
newyorker.com
Medical Benchmarks and the Myth of the Universal Patient
From growth charts to anemia thresholds, clinical standards assume a single human prototype. Why are we still using one-size-fits-all health metrics?
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
We are training people to think more like machines every time we use #AI. Make like a #Luddite and consider the social costs—break out your proverbial hammer. Do you want to live in a world where everyone goes to the mean? Some might...I don't. #EduSky
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
So many ARD meetings where the "accommodations" are just good teaching practices. Thanks #UDL for putting inclusion first into lesson design.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
1/2 Good article from EdWeek on the moral considerations of using Gen-AI to grade: www.edweek.org/technology/i... And here is the Archive.org version of the article for those who cannot access: archive.is/Qpqb7 They're asking some good questions in here that I think we all should consider. #EduSky
edweek.org
Is It Ethical to Use AI to Grade?
The technology gives students more feedback, more quickly. But some warn that using AI to score writing could have unintended consequences.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
I might sound like Socrates over here whining about the alphabet, but what of our ability to think are we giving up with so much focus on the splendors of AI? Maybe we should notch up the criticality a touch? It seems like every time I open #EduSky it is just singing the praises of AI miracles...
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Steve "It's TAY-tro" Tetreault @drtlovesbooks.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Alright, ya'll, here's a quick 1-minute thing you can do to push back on the darkness: SEND AN EMAIL: Don't Dismantle the Dept. of Education www.saveschoollibrarians.org/deptofed2025 #TLSky #EduSky school library
saveschoollibrarians.org
SEND AN EMAIL: Don't Dismantle the Dept. of Education
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
1/2 The playbook to effectively shut down the department of education in two quotes: “So in the meantime,” Walberg said, “my efforts would be to find any means by which we may de-power the Department of Education.” From: www.washingtonpost.com/education/20... #EduSky
washingtonpost.com
Trump preps order to dismantle Education Dept. as DOGE probes data
Closing the agency would require congressional approval, so the new administration hopes to diminish it in the meantime.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
When I read words like this I am reminded of one of Ruha Benjamin's messages from "Viral Justice:" small acts of care, kindness, and justice have a powerful ripple that slowly change the overall climate of interaction. There is virality to positivity too.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Wow! I never thought I'd find a "Green Diaper Bag Backpack for Mom: Baby Bags for Boys Girls Toddler Women Men Large Back Pack Diapers Bag Big Travel Pañaleras Modernas Para Bebe Niña Unisex Newborn Essential Baby Registry" but, by golly, there this SEO monstrosity is!
An Amazon listing for a diaper bag that shows that it expands into a small play/sleep area. The description for the product says, Green Diaper Bag Backpack for Mom: Baby Bags for Boys Girls Toddler Women Men Large Back Pack Diapers Bag Big Travel Pañaleras Modernas Para Bebe Niña Unisex Newborn Essential Baby Registry.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
I wouldn't be surprised if the next executive order read something along the lines of — Teaching Any Point of View Now Banned. For real, we're closing in on some Orwellian Doublespeak... How are y'all doing? #EduSky #AcademicSky
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
#UIL Texas has had the Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition since 1995. It just disappeared overnight. It's purpose was to explore the contributions of African Americans to Texas history. What a shameful moment for Texas. #censorship #EduSky
UIL Texas page showing no information about the Barbara Jordan essay contest. Only the name and phone number of the director is displayed. An archived version of the Barbara Jordan Essay contest that shows the previous years prompt.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Knowledge is power, but power can also be knowledge. Power will always exert control over what can be known.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Surprise surprise, students are expressing frustrations with increased screen use in schools. Before deciding something should go on a computer, we MUST ask ourselves why. Does it on a screen make anything about the task more valuable or does it just go digital? #EduSky www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
wsj.com
Screens Have Taken Over Classrooms. Even Students Have Had Enough.
Educators question whether the rapid shift toward more technology has benefited learning. “I really lose my focus.”
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
I'm trying a new thing out for my English class: I'm making my own version of the audiobooks where I include commentary on what stands out and what I'm paying attention to. My hope is to build some metacognition skills and give students a more fulfilling avenue of reading. #EduSky
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Marla Kilfoyle @marlakilfoyle.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
What do Trump & McMahon have in mind for public schools? It's not pretty. @network4pubed.bsky.social whiteboard explainer breaks it down. Go here: vimeo.com/1034506987 #EduSky #Education
vimeo.com
Trump and McMahon's America First Agenda Puts Students and Their Teacher's Last
Linda McMahon, Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, is Board Chair of America First, which has an agenda for K-12 schools. It is filled with a subtle…
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Trump Disavowed Project 2025 During the Campaign. Not Anymore. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/u... Who is this a surprise to?
nytimes.com
Trump Disavowed Project 2025 During the Campaign. Not Anymore.
President-elect Donald J. Trump has filled his administration with people who have ties to the right-wing manifesto.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Just finished #reading "James" by Percival Everett and, wow, what a perfect novel. A brilliant reinterpretation of Twain's Huck Finn from Jim's perspective. Very emotional ride from laughter to sorrow, excitement to disgust. This is an instant classic.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Listening to [Today, Explained] The kids aren't reading all right #todayExplained podcastaddict.com/today-explai... and the guest says that students are reading like its a scavenger hunt, and that description resonates with me. What has #EduSky seen with their students' #reading?
podcastaddict.com
Today, Explained - The kids aren't reading all right - Podcast Addict
Listen to Today, Explained - The kids aren't reading all right by Vox on Podcast Addict. College students in 2024 are less willing and able to read full books. Today, Explained asks whether that matte...
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Looking for a community of scholars on #AcademicSky who use #IPA for their research. I'm ramping up work on my dissertation and would love to find others who are interested in the IPA methodology. I've got a reignited passion about my project after last night's workshop hosted by TQR.
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Morgan J Freeman @mjfree.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
There There Here we are upon the golden hour A setting sun casts its long glare forward At our backs, warmth of the past, falling into a shivering future Will the sun also rise? #poem #writing
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Sorry that this is behind a paywall #EduSky and #AcademicSky, but it has some harbingers of the incoming censorship storm: www.chronicle.com/newsletter/t... Basically UNT is the first university in Texas to overcomply with SB17 and place restrictions on academic freedom. Canary in the coal mine... 😞
chronicle.com
Is Texas Where Academic Freedom Will Finally Die?
One state university is either a canary in the coal mine or the exception that proves the rule.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
#EduSky and #AcademicSky right now, the University of North Texas is over complying with state demands to shutter DEI offices and programs. The college of education is censoring their courses to remove all mentions of DEI even though courses were exempt. www.ntdaily.com/news/college...
ntdaily.com
College of Education makes 78 changes to course titles and descriptions
The College of Education is making 78 changes to course titles and descriptions to take effect next fall.
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/u... I want to repost this again to #EduSky. If you live in a red state, particularly a southern red state, this is coming to you. Oklahoma and Louisiana have already been working on bringing Bibles and the protestant ten commandments into schools. Now Texas is joining...
nytimes.com
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Ryan @ryansmits.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Texas Education Board Backs Curriculum With Lessons Drawn From Bible www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/u... Another chip out of the public education system in Texas... Heed the warning, this is coming to other states soon.
nytimes.com
Texas Education Board Backs Bible-Infused Lessons in Public Schools
School districts serving more than two million elementary-school children would be able to adopt a curriculum that draws on the Bible.
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Seth Andrews @sethandrews.com · 17/11/2024
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