Reposted by Annie Abrams
Yes. The effect the questions have on me is to make any considered reflection I may have brought to the exam flee from my mind, to be replaced by a kind of desperate groping for something to say.
February 17, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Yes. The effect the questions have on me is to make any considered reflection I may have brought to the exam flee from my mind, to be replaced by a kind of desperate groping for something to say.
an exercise: ap prompts from the past few years are up on the website, set a timer for 40 minutes and see what you learn about the exam by writing one of the essays
The exam questions, assuming the ones A. Manshel quotes are typical, likewise radiate grotesque ways of addressing the work to be written about on the one side and the test-taker / essay writer on the other. At least to me.
February 17, 2026 at 11:01 PM
an exercise: ap prompts from the past few years are up on the website, set a timer for 40 minutes and see what you learn about the exam by writing one of the essays
Reposted by Annie Abrams
And equally gross when college faculty disrespect their students' decisions to going into high school teaching.
February 17, 2026 at 10:58 PM
And equally gross when college faculty disrespect their students' decisions to going into high school teaching.
it’s gross and totally lacking in awareness when college faculty make fun of high school teachers ✨
February 17, 2026 at 10:56 PM
it’s gross and totally lacking in awareness when college faculty make fun of high school teachers ✨
Reposted by Annie Abrams
anyway, in solidarity: meaningful transitions between thoughts in an essay matter a great deal and we should teach that across school and college
February 17, 2026 at 10:13 PM
anyway, in solidarity: meaningful transitions between thoughts in an essay matter a great deal and we should teach that across school and college
one might reasonably ask “what are we doing here”
I straight up tell them - 4-10 times across the year at least - that what grades well on the AP (and by extension my tests) isn’t and can’t count as good or even thoughtful writing most of the time. They have to look elsewhere - like our longer reading excerpts in AP Gov - for that.
February 17, 2026 at 10:44 PM
one might reasonably ask “what are we doing here”
Reposted by Annie Abrams
hypothetically it doesn’t have to be the case that a system of standards erects a wall between the real purposes for doing things and the ways we teach them and yet
Why are we writing? To defeat a rubric!
February 17, 2026 at 10:00 PM
hypothetically it doesn’t have to be the case that a system of standards erects a wall between the real purposes for doing things and the ways we teach them and yet
The current setup actually does, in real life, with serious consequences, limit self-expression and habits of mind.
No kidding: our high school kids are being encouraged to use clauses like “my first piece of evidence” (and then “second…”) and “in conclusion”.
I had to stop being a friendly editor for them because all my recommendations were the opposite of what they were being taught.
I had to stop being a friendly editor for them because all my recommendations were the opposite of what they were being taught.
February 17, 2026 at 10:32 PM
The current setup actually does, in real life, with serious consequences, limit self-expression and habits of mind.
Reposted by Annie Abrams
No kidding: our high school kids are being encouraged to use clauses like “my first piece of evidence” (and then “second…”) and “in conclusion”.
I had to stop being a friendly editor for them because all my recommendations were the opposite of what they were being taught.
I had to stop being a friendly editor for them because all my recommendations were the opposite of what they were being taught.
February 17, 2026 at 10:29 PM
No kidding: our high school kids are being encouraged to use clauses like “my first piece of evidence” (and then “second…”) and “in conclusion”.
I had to stop being a friendly editor for them because all my recommendations were the opposite of what they were being taught.
I had to stop being a friendly editor for them because all my recommendations were the opposite of what they were being taught.
Reposted by Annie Abrams
I had a look at the comparative politics samples - I could see some prose, but nothing developed enough to count as an essay.
February 17, 2026 at 10:26 PM
I had a look at the comparative politics samples - I could see some prose, but nothing developed enough to count as an essay.
hypothetically it doesn’t have to be the case that a system of standards erects a wall between the real purposes for doing things and the ways we teach them and yet
Why are we writing? To defeat a rubric!
February 17, 2026 at 10:00 PM
hypothetically it doesn’t have to be the case that a system of standards erects a wall between the real purposes for doing things and the ways we teach them and yet
Reposted by Annie Abrams
A friend of mine proposed the idea that 101 be reserved for the most prestigious senior professors and upper-division courses be for the junior professors and anyway it is a disservice to deny students the genuine good of a general education
available on the college board’s website
reminder that these written responses translate into lower enrollments in intro courses by design
reminder that these written responses translate into lower enrollments in intro courses by design
February 17, 2026 at 9:47 PM
A friend of mine proposed the idea that 101 be reserved for the most prestigious senior professors and upper-division courses be for the junior professors and anyway it is a disservice to deny students the genuine good of a general education
Reposted by Annie Abrams
Oh boy
a recommendation: if you’re an english or history professor and you’ve not recently read sample ap essays earning top marks, you might want to check out what hundreds of thousands of high school students think counts as excellent college level work
February 17, 2026 at 9:40 PM
Oh boy
Reposted by Annie Abrams
There was a point in the teens when I stopped sharing AP samples with my students as exemplars.
a recommendation: if you’re an english or history professor and you’ve not recently read sample ap essays earning top marks, you might want to check out what hundreds of thousands of high school students think counts as excellent college level work
February 17, 2026 at 9:39 PM
There was a point in the teens when I stopped sharing AP samples with my students as exemplars.
Reposted by Annie Abrams
Was having a talk with my (AP lang) students. Trying to explain that, at least *theoretically* (with all that the word implies here), the score and its credits also assume the student was doing high end WORK in class. (All the self-teaching books and vids suggest the lie)…
February 17, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Was having a talk with my (AP lang) students. Trying to explain that, at least *theoretically* (with all that the word implies here), the score and its credits also assume the student was doing high end WORK in class. (All the self-teaching books and vids suggest the lie)…
Reposted by Annie Abrams
“How many paragraphs?” Is a question I fight all the time. And something like a 2-page paper in the test setting just… isn’t… it…..
February 17, 2026 at 9:29 PM
“How many paragraphs?” Is a question I fight all the time. And something like a 2-page paper in the test setting just… isn’t… it…..
Reposted by Annie Abrams
LISTEN
a recommendation: if you’re an english or history professor and you’ve not recently read sample ap essays earning top marks, you might want to check out what hundreds of thousands of high school students think counts as excellent college level work
February 17, 2026 at 8:47 PM
LISTEN
a recommendation: if you’re an english or history professor and you’ve not recently read sample ap essays earning top marks, you might want to check out what hundreds of thousands of high school students think counts as excellent college level work
February 17, 2026 at 8:45 PM
a recommendation: if you’re an english or history professor and you’ve not recently read sample ap essays earning top marks, you might want to check out what hundreds of thousands of high school students think counts as excellent college level work
Reposted by Annie Abrams
Parents are increasingly opting out of mandatory school laptops for kids. Surprised this article didn’t mention the privacy and security risks that should also make parents concerned. www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
Parents opt kids out of school computers, insisting on pen and paper instead
Parents are forming a loose network teaching one another how to get their children off school-issued Chromebooks and iPads.
www.nbcnews.com
February 16, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Parents are increasingly opting out of mandatory school laptops for kids. Surprised this article didn’t mention the privacy and security risks that should also make parents concerned. www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
we should think about school as though students’ real lives are actually happening right now
February 17, 2026 at 12:04 AM
we should think about school as though students’ real lives are actually happening right now
they're changing the history tests
Swear to god, so many of these uber rich guys who keep trying to intellectualize and sanitize white supremacy really are the dumbest motherfuckers alive. They constantly say word salad-y nonsense like this that would cause them to fail a fourth grade US history test.
This odious white supremacist needs to learn some history.
Not so long ago, it was common to see "Irish need not apply" in job listings in the United States. You know, the same type of pernicious prejudice that Elon exhibits regularly.
Not so long ago, it was common to see "Irish need not apply" in job listings in the United States. You know, the same type of pernicious prejudice that Elon exhibits regularly.
February 15, 2026 at 8:00 PM
they're changing the history tests
Reposted by Annie Abrams
It does not take any especial brand of genius to understand that if you have no moral standards and don't care about breaking the law, you can accumulate wealth and power in a way that people who are morally and ethically upright cannot.
February 15, 2026 at 7:58 PM
It does not take any especial brand of genius to understand that if you have no moral standards and don't care about breaking the law, you can accumulate wealth and power in a way that people who are morally and ethically upright cannot.
Reposted by Annie Abrams
I'll be at the CUNY Grad Center on Friday, Feb 20 to give a little talk and lead a workshop on close reading. Thank you to @sinsleyh.bsky.social for hosting it, and you can RSVP to her below.
Listen to the Emory launch…and then join us for the NYC one! @johannawinant.bsky.social will be at the CUNY Graduate Center Friday, Feb. 20 at 5pm for a talk and workshop, followed by a reception. RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
This is my first attempt to capture a live event of this size.
I’m thankful to @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social & @johannawinant.bsky.social for letting me adapt the launch of their tremendous book.
I think these episodes will be an additive supplement to it.
I’m thankful to @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social & @johannawinant.bsky.social for letting me adapt the launch of their tremendous book.
I think these episodes will be an additive supplement to it.
February 11, 2026 at 5:23 PM
I'll be at the CUNY Grad Center on Friday, Feb 20 to give a little talk and lead a workshop on close reading. Thank you to @sinsleyh.bsky.social for hosting it, and you can RSVP to her below.
these guys care a lot about culture
Yes, that’s why my family left Germany because they really wanted to go to Great Britain and sort of missed it by thaaat much
February 15, 2026 at 7:25 PM
these guys care a lot about culture
Reposted by Annie Abrams
Brief self-promotion: This spring I am doing workshops and talks for a humanities collective at nyu, association of women in math, teaching advancement folks at UNT, a school of social work, a bunch of brain scientists, an anonymous neighborhood group in occupied MN, and some folks at UVA.
The Public Scholar Workshop
There’s no such thing as the Ivory Tower. Colleges and universities are not isolated enclaves, and they probably never were. Public engagement is an essential part of the core mission of higher educat...
www.davidmperry.com
February 15, 2026 at 5:58 PM
Brief self-promotion: This spring I am doing workshops and talks for a humanities collective at nyu, association of women in math, teaching advancement folks at UNT, a school of social work, a bunch of brain scientists, an anonymous neighborhood group in occupied MN, and some folks at UVA.