Enthusiastic Reader > Recent Status Updates

I'm definitely wondering how long it's been since Willingham observed a k12 classroom. So much of this focuses (so far) on learning as retaining & retrieving information, and there's a LOT more to learning than effective information retrieval.

YIKES.

I love her so, so, SO much.

Slow going, but just a REALLY fascinating read!

"Algorithms are not arbiters of objective truth and fairness simply because they're math."

This is the biggest concern with 2023 versions of "AI." They're nothing more than predictive text, based on the text that they've been fed. What they come up with depends COMPLETELY on what text has been input previously.

"Popular is assumed to be high-quality, accurate, and created in good faith and is promoted as the very best a site has to offer... the algorithm isn't terribly concerned with THE ACTUAL CONTENT, just with the fact that whatever it is, it's popular – because the algorithm doesn't know the difference between negative and positive attention." (more)

"Silence in the face of abuse is not a solution; it's what abusers want."

That isn't just gold, that's full-on platinum.

I'm glad I didn't have it this bad. But it still feels distressingly familiar.

"Teachers Are Heroes – but They Shouldn't Have to Be"

Really? Because the way Robbins describes a LOT of these teachers is that they suck. They're petty, conniving, and/or incompetent.

I'm liking this book less and less.

I wish Robbins had also chosen to focus on teachers who aren't martyrs. Many of the colleagues of her "protagonists" seem to be incompetent, but there's no examination of why they make the mistakes they do. It oversimplifies the issue into "well some people are good teachers and other people aren't." And that's just COMPLETELY inaccurate.

I'm not sure who the intended audience is for this. As a more veteran teacher, I've started pushing back more and more on the assumptions and the "just one more thing" tasks that get piled on. But it's REALLY hard to do this. There's a LOT of social pressure to just give, give, give until you break.

So far it's fun bu tI'm not really pulled in.

I never thought trees growing could be described in an exciting way XD

Why are these "mother trees" and not "parent trees," and "maternal instinct" and not "parental instinct"?

Just pondering...

This is so much more my jam! LOVING IT!

Skimming a LOT. It's interesting because it feels like the world is BUILT but we're not actually shown it. Stuff goes on involving Names and mixwords and those are probably significant and I don't understand but it doesn't feel confusing because I don't care.

People keep referring to this as magical realism but it doesn't give me that vibe; it's modern fantasy.

Probably a DNF.

I am starting to feel like this might not be a me-book. It's trying hard to be clever and is coming across as coy.

I am LOVING this. It's hilarious and adorable and exactly what I need right now.