iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Thank you! I’m excited and hopeful this will do some good for teachers and kids.

Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The book is about instructional decision-making and reading comprehension: how to avoid the "re-teaching inference" trap for something more effective and research based. I'll be posting some of its ideas on LinkedIn if you'd like to follow along! #ela

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Hypothetically, what if you had a new book coming out in Nov. & hadn’t really announced it yet, but B&N launched a *25% off* pre-order sale today and tomorrow? Maybe you’d provide this link & ask everyone to act surprised down the line? 😅 Fair, right? www.barnesandnoble.com/w/team-up-wi...

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

My pleasure! We film tons of stuff at Uncommon, so I’ve always got clips to share.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Ahhh, takes me back to my DC reporting days. 😂

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Reposted by Steve Chiger

Karen Vaites @karenvaites.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

It was fascinating watching. Especially the calls for a new National Reading Panel. I wrote up the high points here: open.substack.com/pub/karenvai...

open.substack.com

The Science of Reading goes to Washington

Outtakes from this week's Congressional hearings. Do they portend national action on literacy?

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Thanks for this writeup! I was able to catch a bit of the feed and read the testimonies, but this fleshes out the day nicely.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

If you're still here, a link. Grab popcorn? appropriations.house.gov/schedule/hea...

appropriations.house.gov

Hearing: The Science of Reading

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Still a tiny bit of a beltway journalist in me—assuming this is being televised but perhaps not. 😂 I (somewhat) miss being in the audience for this stuff.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Heads up, indeed! If you are free, this looks highly worthwhile.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

I made a resource for this! Hope it helps! stevechiger.com/wp-content/u...

An image of the poetry resource I created.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Trying my best. I barely had my arms around this stuff before the social world fragmented. But still around even if quieter—and always ready to talk shop!

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

New post: The most important question in English class isn’t just what works—but what it’s all for. On novels, purpose, and teaching the “why” of literacy. www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-bo... #TLSky #EduSky

linkedin.com

Why bother teaching novels, anyway?

This week brought fresh thinking on the [unproven-but-likely] shift from novels to excerpts in US English classrooms. I’ll footnote some of that below*, but here’s the tl;dr: please—teach books.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

I guess this is a very yes/and take. It's fair to push curric directors like me to question the implications of our choices, and I think it invites useful conversations about our values and the needs of our kids.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

3) I'm not sure poetry actually is overrepresented and I don't think we can use NCTE sessions. My guess is that it depends on the teacher. I also contest that some of the (great) curriculum components the piece advocates are for ELA teachers alone, when we all share that responsibility. ...4/4

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

2) Poetry is writing where structure matters as much as language. From a pedagogical perspective, that is of heightened value in an English classroom. ... 3/4

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

1) If (like me) you think one of the goals of English instruction is personal and cultural introspection, poetry has a big role to play. From a humanities persp. it'd be like saying we don't need music or art. That's a values call, I know, but it's where I'll make a stand. ...2/4

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Yes -- I appreciate the author's message that we have to make choices based on the time we have, AND that doing it (or anything) poorly is a waste of time. AND I'm with this piece that curriculum needs to make time for things like digital citizenship. That said, three thoughts to gently push back:

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

There is no better feeling for an author than seeing their book in a school. Standing offer to do a FREE Q&A with any school that does a PLC or book study with either! (One is on 5-12 English pedagogy, the other is a kid-facing chapter book with solve-it-yourself media-lit mysteries.)

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

…FWIW, I do conceptualize SIFT differently than CRAAP. I suppose SIFT is a structured heuristic, but in application it’s an acronym for thoughtful lateral reading, which does have research to recommend it (and is very much what I practiced as a journalist and now as a reader).

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

…integrated curricular approaches versus standalone lessons. My gut is we’d want to assess in that context too, rather than generically. It’s easier to assess credibility on, say, climate change if you are learning about climate change…

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

An interesting post! In my current thinking, a lot of media literacy feels like mindset and process work that need to be iteratively practiced alongside with one’s [ever developing] knowledge base. That’s why I’d personally prefer…

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

All day—Last chance to grab a FREE kindle copy of Gram and Gran Save the Summer: acclaimed solve-it-yourself media literacy mysteries for ages 7-12. Leaving an honest rating or review helps us out! a.co/d/h8F492Q #EduSky #TLSky

A meme about the dearth of media literacy skills.

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Reposted by Steve Chiger

Faith Rogow @insightersed.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Happy to boost this post. I've said it before and I'll say it again: GRAM AND GRAN SAVE THE SUMMER is one of the best #MediaLiteracy books for kids I have ever encountered. This is a perfect chance to check it out for free so you can decide which kid(s) in your life to give it to as a holiday gift!

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Terrific post on the dangers of over-simplification for teachers and students!

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Daisy Christodoulou @daisychristo.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

If AI is being used extensively in office jobs, then should we be letting students use AI in the classroom? No - here's why. With reference to 3 papers that show what you do in a job isn't the template for what you do in the classroom. substack.nomoremarking.com/p/education-...

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Useful as always. If you don’t subscribe to Peps’ newsletter, consider doing so! (Link at the end of his thread.)

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Yes. My view is that we should teach this early and repeatedly in K12, so it's just part of how students interact with online text. "Lateral reading" was essential for me as a journalist (we called it "independent verification") and we're at a point where it's essential for everyone, all the time.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Oh, wow. “I think we need to be prepared for a world where it is impossible to tell real from AI-generated images and video, with implications for a wide swath of society, from the entertainment we enjoy to our trust for online content.” — Ethan Mollick

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Get ready for much more stuff like this. An (interesting!) article about a photograph leading with…an AI generated image. We need to help students be ready to navigate this world, and fast.

An article about a photograph that leads with an AI-generated version of it.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

I read and enjoyed this! It’s a good, fast primer for key cog sci research and its application in classrooms.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

That is true! The news value of timeliness definitely means something different than when I was a reporter. As an educator, I wish I could say secondary verification was the norm—but it’s something that contributes to a media ecosystem where not all actors are equally responsible.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

We have already left the world where “just look at the fingers” was sound advice. If we want to get this right, strong, sequenced media literacy instruction is an urgent need.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

From Ethan Mollick’s “One Useful Thing” blog—“I think we need to be prepared for a world where it is impossible to tell real from AI-generated images and video, with implications for a wide swath of society, from the entertainment we enjoy to our trust for online content.” Couldn’t agree more.

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

This is so important to me as an educator and as a parent. 👇🏼Books are so essential to English instruction it almost feels not worth saying. EXCEPT, as this interview shows, that may not be the case!

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Enjoyed this intellectually nutritious post on diet and cognition from the inimitable @andrewwatsonttb.bsky.social. www.learningandthebrain.com/blog/nutriti...

learningandthebrain.com

Nutrition and Learning: Do Saturated Fats Harm Cognition? – Education & Teacher Conferences

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

David is one of the smartest (and most prolific!) writers we have. If, like me, you find simulation theory fascinating, you’ll love this essay on what it means to build meaning in a world that might possibly not be real.

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Carl Hendrick @carlhendrick.substack.com · 22/05/2025

🧵How much does prior knowledge really matter for learning? A new study challenges one of the most foundational ideas in education: that the more you know, the more you can know. The results are pretty shocking. Here's why it really surprised me ⬇️

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Zach Groshell @mrzachg.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Attention is often referred to as the gateway to cognition. Securing attention should be a major focus! But you also have to give students something to attend to. Faultless communications are also necessary. Registration is open for this free webinar! educationrickshaw.com/2025/05/19/h...

educationrickshaw.com

Harnessing Attention and Explaining Better

Blake Harvard, a teacher and author of the best-selling book, Do I have your attention?, and I share an obsession with improving teaching through evidence-based practices. A major focus of both of …

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Steve Chiger @stevechiger.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Love this! Lateral reading and SIFT are critical skills. Our generation may be catching up now, but we owe it to our kids to build this into the K12 experience.

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