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Sarah Mulhern Gross

@thereadingzone.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.9K following 580 posts

NBCT, English @ High Tech, past chair @alanorg Walden, AIP MAT Bio @ WCS, NYTimes Learning Network, #nerdcampNJ organizer

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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
#neverforget: My 9/11 Story
thereadingzone.wordpress.com
#neverforget: My 9/11 Story
This post was originally written on my personal blog in 2003. It has been revised and reposted each year since then. It feels like just yesterday. I had moved into my dorm at Douglass College just days earlier. As I sat in the dining hall with my best friend Erin chatting about our schedules on that beautiful morning, I remember hearing the morning radio show on the overhead speakers talking about the Twin Towers.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
English teachers- what are we using for a lockdown browser? Is there something that allows teachers to open and close something like a doc? (Why doesn’t Classroom allow this?!
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
We need to stop calling genAI tools "thought partners" when they are merely probability machines. There is no room for genAI classrooms. thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2026/06/19/n...
thereadingzone.wordpress.com
Not a “Thought Partner”: Reclaiming Our Classrooms from Silicon Valley
Photo by Mary Taylor on Pexels.com In May, the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford published test score data showing a decline in American students’ standardized test scores. The data show …
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
“But we must make them workforce-ready!” In that case, shouldn’t we be replace English with “Slack + Salesforce for Sophs? GenAI is a tool…Until now, we’ve trusted students can adapt to employer training because of the skills they learn in K-12…” thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2026/06/19/n...
thereadingzone.wordpress.com
Not a “Thought Partner”: Reclaiming Our Classrooms from Silicon Valley
Photo by Mary Taylor on Pexels.com In May, the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford published test score data showing a decline in American students’ standardized test scores. The data show …
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Meghan Wilson Duff 🦑 @mwduff.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I feel like it's more defending our classrooms and students from silicon valley at this point
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Not a “Thought Partner”: Reclaiming Our Classrooms from Silicon Valley Photo by Mary Taylor on Pexels.com In May, the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford published test score data showing a decline in American students’ standardized test scores. The data show what teachers have long known:…
thereadingzone.wordpress.com
Not a “Thought Partner”: Reclaiming Our Classrooms from Silicon Valley
Photo by Mary Taylor on Pexels.com In May, the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford published test score data showing a decline in American students’ standardized test scores. The data show what teachers have long known: students spend too much time on screens and not enough time reading, writing, and thinking. This generation was handed a Chromebook in kindergarten and a cell phone before the end of elementary school, and now we are giving them unfettered access to generative AI.
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Julia @scrappyteacher.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Important read by an incredibly brilliant teacher
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Brett Vogelsinger @thevogelman.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
At #NCTE26, I’ll be at #poetry roundtables with this crew 🤩: @joelrgarza.bsky.social @rebekahodell1.bsky.social @heymrsbond.com @marcusluther.bsky.social @thereadingzone.bsky.social @mraleosays.bsky.social @cayneletizia.bsky.social @xochitlbentley.bsky.social and more!
I’m presenting logo for NCTE convention.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2026/06/17/t... It's time to hit pause on AI integration in schools.
thereadingzone.wordpress.com
The Dystopian EdTech Trap
A few weeks ago, I opened a blank Google Doc to work on a lesson plan and was met with a new reality. There at the bottom of the document, politely asking how it could help, was Gemini, Google’s ge…
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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
There is a thrill in this. There guys are PUSHING SO HARD. They’re relentlessly doing interviews, writing articles and pushing propaganda. They’re used to everyone buying their bullshit!! But this time everyone’s like “nah”. It must feel inexplicable for them and that is so satisfying.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
It's time to hit pause in AI integration in schools.
thereadingzone.wordpress.com
The Dystopian EdTech Trap
A few weeks ago, I opened a blank Google Doc to work on a lesson plan and was met with a new reality. There at the bottom of the document, politely asking how it could help, was Gemini, Google’s generative AI tool.   My 9th-grade students had just completed a comparative literary analysis essay after reading The Tempest and a contemporary book discussed in their book clubs. 
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
It's time to hit pause in AI integration in schools.
thereadingzone.wordpress.com
The Dystopian EdTech Trap
A few weeks ago, I opened a blank Google Doc to work on a lesson plan and was met with a new reality. There at the bottom of the document, politely asking how it could help, was Gemini, Google’s generative AI tool.   My 9th-grade students had just completed a comparative literary analysis essay after reading The Tempest and a contemporary book discussed in their book clubs. 
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
We are seeing this with the iReady lawsuit. AI is even worse!
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Brought in Alan Gratz's latest book today (War Games) and the kids are practically fighting over the order of the borrow list. They are comparing their favorite Gratz titles and arguing over which one is the best.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Still angry about AI use being forced on students and educators at the K-12 level. Why aren't schools disclosing to parents how the district is using AI (ie what tools teachers have access to and how they will be used on student work).
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
We are at a crossroads with genAI and schools. I am going to lose my mind thanks to people not in the classroom constantly pushing teachers, especially in the humanities, to use AI.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
What a day. I’ve teared up so many times watching NASA’s coverage- the Carroll crater, mae the friendship bracelets and 🫶, poetry and photography alongside science, so many women in Mission Control, the science, and so much more.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
THIS THIS THIS. Districts need to stop pushing AI into the curriculum. There is no good pedagogical or developmental reason to give K-12 students access to AI tools. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-...
psychologytoday.com
Adults Lose Skills to AI. Children Never Build Them. | Psychology Today
Discussions of cognitive offloading often miss a critical distinction: What AI does to a 45-year-old's brain is categorically different from what it does to a 14-year-old's.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Audible exclusives should be illegal. The only way to access a particular format of a book, especially one that makes a book more accessible to all readers, should not be behind a paywall for years. (This complaint right to you by the second half of the Throne of Glass series).
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Nicholas A. Emmanuele, PhD (he/him/his) @naemmanuele.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
What are you up to Tuesday, March 31 at 7pm ET? Join @ncte.org's Secondary Section (7-12 ELA teachers!) for Zoom space to chat, connect, and explore NCTE. How can NCTE support you? What has worked? Come meet other secondary ELA teachers who are members of NCTE. ncte.org/secondary-of... #NCTEChat
Secondary Section Office Hour. Tuesday, March 31, 7pm ET. Members will 4eflect on ways that NCTE and its programs have helped their teaching careers, ask questions and provide feedback related to NCTE’s support of Secondary members, learn about NCTE resources and upcoming opportunities for Secondary members, and share professional needs that NCTE could address with future programming.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Ludacris performing the soundtrack of my college years is exactly what I needed this week. #iheartradioawards
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
The wholesale adoption of AI in schools is awful. I am a teacher who used social media with teens in the 2010s. I piloted using cell phones in the classroom. My students have been blogging and creating videos for Project for Awesome for over 15 years. I say this to make it clear that I love tech.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
This week the copy machine jammed every time used it, 2 printers broke, + I spent way too much time dealing w/phantom paper jams. My laptop broke last year & I had to use a 10+ yr old loaner until I got a slightly newer loaner last week. We have to justify ordering paper & pens. Robot teachers. 😂
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
The push to use AI in the classroom, especially reading and writing classes, may be what finally breaks me. I need anyone who is not in the classroom to just stop. I need parents to start asking more questions about why districts are forcing/allowing educators to upload student work to an AI abyss.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
This week at work is going to end me. Spring break can’t get here fast enough.
media2.giphy.com
https://media2.giphy.com/media/65zUxqnCUkZynv7G9U/200.gif
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Melissa gambling on this week’s Abbott Elementary is a little too close to what some high schoolers are doing. 😬
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Oh Gotham. 😬
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
I almost took a baseball bat to the copy machine today, à la Office Space. And we use Papercut, so you get logged out within a minute and can’t see your jobs/what’s left/any info. 🤬
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
What a time to be an English teacher. My seniors just finished The Handmaid’s Tale and today we begin Parable of the Sower.
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Children's Bookshelf @pwkidsbookshelf.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The American Indian Youth Literature Award for best young adult book goes to ‘Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories,’ edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith #ALAyma
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Laurel Snyder @laurelsnyder.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
As we kick off #alayma this morning, I want to say that I STILL THINK THIS IS A GOOD IDEA! What morning show wants to bring back the fun and glory, shine a little light on these beautiful books for kids? Everyone says they care so much about getting kids reading. Help us make it happen! #kidlit
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
The ALAYMA broadcast once again reminds me how angry I am that Twitter was destroyed by Musk. It also irritates me to see how many groups and companies exclusively post there.
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Jennie, this season's witch @calledthemoon.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
American Indian Librarian Association Youth Literature Award #ALAyma Best Picture Book Honors Braided Roots by Pasha Westbrook, illus Madelyn Goodnight Fierce Aunties by Laurel Goodluck, illus Steph Littlebird For a Girl Becoming by Jo Harjo, illus Adriana Garcia
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Jennie, this season's witch @calledthemoon.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Raven's Ribbons by Tasha Spillet, illus Daniel Ramirez We Weave by Daniel W. Vandever, illus Deonoveigh Mitchell Winner Chooch Helped by Andrea L. Rogers, illus by Rebecca Lee Kunz
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Watching the ALA Youth Media Awards on my phone while attempting the Ticketmaster war on my laptop. Thank goodness it’s a snow day!
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It's Time for Young Teen Lit @youngteenlit.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
It’s Youth Media Award season. While we hope to see some #youngteenlit receive awards, we decided to create our own list. Introducing the First Annual Young Teen Lit Top 10 Award list, announced on January 25, honoring books from 2024-2025 that we and our MS students enjoyed the most. #yma #yma2026
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
May the odds be ever in my favor.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
“Recent events have brought Trump’s governing style into sharper focus. Fascist best describes it, and reluctance to use the term has now become perverse. That is not because of any one or two things he and his administration have done but because of the totality.“ Better late than never.
theatlantic.com
Yes, It’s Fascism
Until recently, I thought it a term best avoided. But now, the resemblances are too many and too strong to deny.
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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
"Pope Leo XIV on Saturday stressed the risks of generative artificial intelligence, how it could usurp human identities and relationships, influence public opinion and deepen social polarisation."
rnz.co.nz
Pope warns against risks of AI algorithms
In a message marking the World Day of Social Communications, the pope said AI systems reflect the worldview of their creators.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Oh good. 😡😩
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
This. If you make money pretending to teach or you only teach to shill TPT, you should be using that privilege right now.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
A few days ago I set off the smoke alarms while cooking and now my dogs hide whenever I cook. Get smart dogs, they said. It will be fun, they said.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
What a time to be teaching Handmaid’s Tale followed by Parable of the Sower.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Not Mayor Mamdani telling everyone at his press conference that today is perfect for borrowing Heated Rivalry from the public library. 😂 We love pro-library announcements!
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Nicholas A. Emmanuele, PhD (he/him/his) @naemmanuele.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Join us this Wednesday (1/21/26) at 7pm ET to debrief on #NCET25 and #CEL25. We invite anyone who views themselves as classroom, school, district, community, or state-level leaders in ELA/literacy. Must be an NCTE member. An hour of casual reflections! #NCET26 #CEL26 ncte.org/reflect-rela...
Reflect and relaunch: A semester social hour kickoff. Wednesday, January 21. 7pm ET. Literacy leaders will reflect on leadership and literacy strategies learned at #NCTE25 and #CEL25, discuss how to launch and maintain team initiatives, and network with a community of lifelong literacy leaders. CEL is a constituent group of NCTE.
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Sarah Mulhern Gross @thereadingzone.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Today is World Aids Day. The current administration has barred federal offices from acknowledging it. In middle school I memorized Elizabeth Glaser's Address at the 1992 Democratic Convention for a forensic competition, and I've never forgotten it. awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/a...
awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu
Address at the 1992 Democratic National Convention - July 14, 1992
[July 14, 1992 | New York, New York] I'm Elizabeth Glaser.
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Meg Linehan @meglinehan.com · 11/11/2025
I would pay a substantial amount of money to know how she chose her giant square emoji face to attach to this tweet.
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Oona Marie Abrams @oonziela.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
#ThesisoftheWeek for Week 3 of October is inspired by a beautiful poem by Marjorie Saiser entitled "Crane Migration: Platte River." Find this prompt & others on the Poetry as Practice Blog! (Photo credits: Chris Helzer/The Nature Conservancy & USGS) poetryaspractice.blogspot.com/2025/09/intr...
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Nicholas A. Emmanuele, PhD (he/him/his) @naemmanuele.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Check out our upcoming #CEL virtual session open to all NCTE members & literacy leaders. @tanisleads.bsky.social @oonziela.bsky.social @hcodymiller.bsky.social @bnjmnkwdcck.bsky.social @sjeducate.bsky.social @thereadingzone.bsky.social @teachkate.bsky.social @angelastockman.bsky.social
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andré @andre-carlisle.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
feels like the holidays start earlier every year
screenshot of tweet from rose lavelle:

@roselavelle: 13 yrs ago today Mary got chased down the street by a vicious neighbor dog & to this day it is still the funniest thing I have ever witnessed
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