Jim Burke

Thank you @edutopia, for running this excerpt of my latest book. 🥰 edutopia.org/article/guidel…

I also recommend the new second edition of Well Spoken, my favorite book on teaching speaking to students. @erik_palmer @stenhousepub

@starrestelle Great to still see your name and keep the connection, Starr!

@englishcomp I looked for you over there last week! I will go find you. Mine is the same @starrestelle.bsky.social

For a period of time, educators will use Twitter and BlueSky, but eventually turn to BlueSky as the better choice as a professional community. I will mostly check Twitter but post here: @englishcomp.bsky.social

You can find me @englishcomp on Blue Sky. We’ve needed that space. The week of #NCTE24 is a perfect time to join us over there on BlueSky

Excited to be presenting with @CarolJago, @DeborahAppleman and Jeff Wilhelm this Friday. Looking forward to seeing so many great teachers and friends at #NCTE24

I enjoyed my discussion with @davestuartjr where we discuss topics ranging from maintaining one's love of teaching to helping students become better readers. A good convo for your drive to/from school: youtube.com/watch?v=Ar5UGH… Thanks, Dave.

Many kids can't read, even in high school. Is the solution teaching reading in every class? - The Hechinger Report hechingerreport.org/many-kids-cant…

HIGHLY Recommended: How to Get through Your Curriculum This Year (Credibility Booster) - Dave Stuart Jr. davestuartjr.com/how-to-get-thr…

Wow. Just think about this one line from this article: “At one library in Idaho, the situation became so dire that it announced it no longer permits minors on the premises [in the library] without an adult (or a signed waiver).” washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/…

Regie Routman's "What I'm Reading with commentary" is a gift. Summer is a great time to explore her reading list with five book standouts described. See her commentary: The Pleasure of Honoring and Rereading a Favorite Author at the bottom of the page regieroutman.org/blog/what-im-r…

Wonderful List: open.substack.com/pub/apersonala…

Interested to see where this goes 🤔I have joined Rebind.ai waitlist. rebind.ai/?ref=nBwFaK

@Larryferlazzo Go Larry! See Jane Friedman's newsletter and all the resources offered through that. She is the Larry Farlazzo of writing/writers ;-) How amazing to consider also: doing for retired teachers through your genius for online resources and wisdom what you have done so long for Ts!

I plan on retiring in 2-4 years and would like to try my hand then at writing a novel. What helpful books, articles or videos would you recommend to an aspiring novelist?

@MattRKay Attention and the gauntlet we have to navigate. It's the main thing I am thinking about, digging into, Matthew. Thanks for putting this out there.

I’ve got a massive stack of grading, finding my attention continually pulled to chrome tabs that *aren’t* Canvas. ESPN. CNN. Philly.com. Non-profit tasks. Messages. Tomorrow’s lesson plan. Here. I’m grown. My brain is developed.

Helpful reminder here (And thanks to @KellyGToGo for the original posting reference to this): In his new piece, The Broken Logic of "Sold a Story," (will post link right after this), Tom Newkirk offers robust research and reasoned perspective. At one point, he quotes a particularly strong caution against the constant and misused qualifier, "The Science of" in regards to any discipline or education theory. He and others remind us that certain groups try to cloak themselves in the semblance of science-like vocabulary, phrasing, and pundits, but they are often found very unscientific when put under close scrutiny. Here is a composite of passages from one research article referenced by Newkirk in his response: "Perhaps the most obvious example [of using science to justify a certain reading approach over all others]... is the statement that “the [research] results were so conclusive in favor of systematic phonics instruction that the Institute of Education Science [IES] no longer funds research on whether systematic instruction is effective. It is considered ‘settled science.’” We would challenge the authors...to provide evidence of any such IES policy. ...[S]ettled science might be considered an oxymoron. Scientists are never entirely comfortable that their current data and explanations are fully explanatory. They are continually testing the veracity and utility of current theories, findings, and interpretations. They look for anomalies in their data, and they set an extremely high bar for any conclusions that might approach certainty... Multidimensional continua, not binaries, are the stuff of science, especially when science is applied to real-world decisions in the realm of instructional practice (see Yaden et al., 2021)....In short, [a group, district, or state that promotes a strict focus on phonics and diminishes the merits of balanced literacy and other approaches]...uses science as a rhetorical tool to promote a preferred orthodoxy or, as some have argued more forcefully, as a bludgeon to silence discussion or debate (Ayres, 2006). Science, used this way, is not a means of inquiry toward better understanding or to obtain better results, but something that requires uncritical deference and genuflection. It suggests that the aim of science is to reach a state where no further understanding is possible, where no more questions need to be asked, where no more evidence needs to be considered, where no other perspectives or interpretations can be reasonably offered, and where anyone who thinks otherwise is a misguided, if not a heretical denier of immutable truth. Such perspectives are not science, especially in matters of teaching and learning, which are always embedded in an incredibly complex social system that entails cultural norms, values, and beliefs, including issues of equity and justice." @DrMaryHoward @plthomasEdD

I encourage you to read Tom Newkirk's critique of "Sold a Story." Worth your time and attention if you are committed to navigating and understanding the complexity of teaching kids to read. @Tom_Newkirk literacyresearchcommons.org/resources/

All English teachers will want to read this!

All English teachers will want to read this!