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joshuajoy.bsky.social
Joshua Joy
@joshuajoy.bsky.social
280 followers 190 following 130 posts
Reader, teacher, dad. Doing my best. | Florida High Impact Teacher Corps
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joshuajoy.bsky.social
“A refusal of AI in creative work begins with a refusal of that product’s ideological packaging.”
November 6, 2025 at 5:26 PM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
Large Language Muddle www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
Large Language Muddle | The Editors
The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...
www.nplusonemag.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:22 PM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
I’ve reached the “knowing it’s a full moon just by observing the kids’ behavior” level of teaching.
November 5, 2025 at 9:28 PM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
I don’t really have anyone irl to share this with, so here it goes: I maxed out my state VAM score again. I’m really proud of myself and my students.
October 31, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
edutopia.org
Teachers, how are you setting up your classroom this year? Share your desk layouts & seating chart strategies below ⬇️

For more on the science behind why intentional classroom seating design matters, read the full feature by senior editor @youkiterada.bsky.social 👇

6/6 #EduChat
Research-Based Tips for Optimal Seating Arrangements
The right approach to seating works behind the scenes to keep students focused on learning while minimizing disruptions, research suggests.
edut.to
September 5, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
lutzfernandez.bsky.social
Schools can and should wait for more research on AI and its effects on learning. Recent studies suggest key skills may be harmed by use of some tools. In an MIT study, those using chatGPT to help write an essay showed lower brain engagement and lower "neural, linguistic, and behavioral” performance.
Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task – MIT Media Lab
 This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine…
www.media.mit.edu
July 25, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
lutzfernandez.bsky.social
Teach the children how to use AI responsibly, educators are being told. A 🧵.
July 25, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
lutzfernandez.bsky.social
I put together a short document for those wary of the AI mania in schools. Four of the main arguments for teachers using AI tools and introducing kids to AI as early as kindergarten are addressed--with thoughts and rebuttals and links to sources. Hope it's helpful.

drive.google.com/file/d/1urCM...
Help Sheet: Resisting AI Mania in Schools K-12 educators are under increasing pressure to use—and have students use—a wide range of AI tools. (The term “AI” is used loosely here, just as it is by many purveyors and boosters.) Even those who envision benefits to schools of this fast-evolving category of tech should approach the well-funded AI-in-education campaign with skepticism and caution. Some of the primary arguments for teachers actively using AI tools and introducing students to AI as early as kindergarten, however, are questionable or fallacious. What follows are four of the most common arguments and rebuttals with links to sources. I have not attempted balance, in part because so much pro-AI messaging is out there and discussion of risks and costs is often minimized in favor of hope or resignation. -ALF Argument: “Schools need to prepare students for the jobs of the future.” The skills employers seek haven’t changed much over the decades—and include a lot of “soft skills” like initiative, problem-solving, communication, and critical thinking. Early research is showing that using generative AI can degrade these key skills: An MIT study showed adults using chatGPT to help write an essay “had the lowest brain engagement and ‘consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.’” Critically, “ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.” A business school found those who used AI tools often had worse critical thinking skills “mediated by increased cognitive offloading. Younger participants exhibited higher dependence on AI tools and lower critical thinking scores.” Another study revealed those using “ChatGPT engaged less in metacognitive activities…For instance, learners in the AI group frequently looped back to ChatGPT for feedback rather than reflecting independently. This dependency not only undermines critical thinking but also risks long-term skill stagnation.” … Argument: “AI is a tool, just like a calculator.” Calculators don’t provide factually wrong answers, but AI tools have. Last year, Google’s AI search returned, among other falsehoods, that cats have gone to the moon, that Barack Obama is Muslim, and that glue goes on pizza. Even though AI tools have and are expected to improve, children in schools shouldn’t be used as tech firms’ guinea pigs for undertested, unregulated products while AI firms engage elected officials in actively resisting regulation. Calculators don’t provide dangerous, even deadly feedback. In one study, a ”chatbot recommended that a user, who said they were recovering from addiction, take a ‘small hit’ of methamphetamine” because, it said, it’s “‘what makes you able to do your job to the best of your ability.’" Users have received threatening messages from chatbots. Calculators don’t pose mental health risks because they aren’t potentially addictive or designed to encourage repeated use. They don’t flatter, direct, or manipulate. Chatbots have been designed this way—and this has led to dreadful mental health outcomes for some, including users in a New York Times report. Alleging a chatbot encouraged their teen to die by suicide, parents in Florida filed a lawsuit against its maker. Calculators don’t lie. Chatbots, however, have misled users. Writer Amanda Guinzberg shared screenshots of interactions with one that she asked to describe several of her essays. It spewed out invented material, showing the chatbot hadn’t actually accessed and processed the essays. After much prodding, it “admitted” it had only acted as though it had done that requested work, spit out mea culpas—and went on to invent or “lie” again. Calculators can’t be used to spread propaganda. AI tools, though, including those meant for schools, should worry us. Law professor Eric Muller’s back-and-forth with SchoolAI’s “Anne Frank” character showed his “helluva time trying to get her to say a bad word about Nazis.” In this er… Argument: “AI won’t replace teachers, but it will save them time and improve their effectiveness.” Adding edtech does not necessarily save teachers time. A recent study found that learning management systems sold to schools over the past decade-plus as time-savers aren’t delivering on making teaching easier. Instead, they found this tech (e.g. Google Classroom, Canvas) is often burdensome and contributes to burnout. As one teacher put it, it “just adds layers to tasks.” “Extra time” is rarely returned to teachers. AI proponents argue that if teachers use AI tools to grade, prepare lessons, or differentiate materials, they’ll have more time to work with students. But there are always new initiatives, duties, or committee assignments—the unpaid work districts rely on—to suck up that time. In a culture of austerity and with a USDOE that is cutting spending, teachers are likely to be assigned more students. When class sizes grow, students get less attention, and positions can be cut. AI can’t replace what teachers do, but that doesn’t mean teachers won’t be replaced. Schools are already doing it: Arizona approved a charter school in which students spend mornings working with AI and the role of teacher is reduced to “guide.” Ed tech expert Neil Selwyn argues those in “industry and policy circles…hostile to the idea of expensively trained expert professional educators who have [tenure], pension rights and union protection… [welcome] AI replacement as a way of undermining the status of the professional teacher.” Tech firms have been selling schools on untested products for years. Technophilia has led to students being on screens for hours in school each week even when their phones are banned. Writer Jess Grose explains, “Companies never had to prove that devices or software, broadly speaking, helped students learn before those devices had wormed their way into America’s public schools.” AI products appear to be no different. Efficiency is not effectiveness. “Speed a… Argument: “Students are already using AI, so we have to teach them ethical use. If schools want ethical students, teach ethics. More students are using AI tools to cheat, an age-old problem they make much easier. This won’t be addressed by showing students how to use this minute’s AI, an argument implying students don’t know what plagiarism is (solved by teaching about plagiarism) or understand academic integrity (solved by teaching and enforcing its bounds)—or that teachers create weak assignments or don’t convey purpose. The latter aren’t solved by attempting to redirect students motivated and able to cheat. Students can be educated on the ethics of AI without encouraging use of AI tools. They can be taught, as part of media literacy and social media safety programs, about AI’s potential and applications as well as how it can enable predation, perpetuate bias, and spread disinformation. They should be taught about the risks of AI and its various social, economic, and environmental costs. Giving a nod to these issues while integrating AI throughout schools sends a strong message: the schools don’t really care and neither should students. Children can’t be expected to use AI responsibly when adults aren’t. Many pushing schools to embrace AI don’t know much about it. One example: Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who said kindergartners should be taught A1 (a steak sauce). The LA Times introduced a biased and likely politically-motivated AI feature. The Chicago Sun-Times published a summer reading list including nonexistent books—yet teachers are told to use the same tools to do similar work. Educators using AI to cut corners can strike students as hypocritical. The many costs of AI call into question the possibility of ethical AI use. These include: Energy - AI data centers need huge amounts of water as coolant as well as electricity, pulling these resources from their communities—which tend to be lower-income—straining the grid, and raising household costs. Thi…
June 24, 2025 at 10:37 PM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
Have you ever had a dream that featured a place from a book? I hadn’t until yesterday, when a ferry from Olga Tokarczuk’s *Flights* made a cameo of sorts in my dream. It was nice!
June 24, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
laurenginsberg.bsky.social
AI is offering a different take on something cliff notes and spark notes already made $$ on: selling the idea that reading is unfairly difficult, that interpretation is a one way street to the ‘right’ answer vs reading as a deep and personal entanglement between reader and text new for every reader.
June 22, 2025 at 3:39 PM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
@sherylluna.bsky.social *Magnificent Errors* is sublime! Thank you!
June 17, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
covingtonedu.bsky.social
Are we all talking about the same thing when we talk about the "Science of Learning"? Researchers looked at 50 documents and found "43 unique definitions" of the Science of Learning. 👀

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #EduSky
Defining the Science of Learning: A scoping review
Interest in research on the Science of Learning continues to grow. However, ambiguity about what this field is can negatively impact communication and…
www.sciencedirect.com
June 12, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
mikemelton.bsky.social
The Agami Herons are very busy right now collecting twigs for their nests. One adult will collect sticks and then the mates will debate the best location for said twig. I'm going to spend some time over the next few weeks documenting the nesting of these amazing birds.

#herons #birds #costarica
A striking bird with deep blue wings, chestnut flanks, and a long pointed bill perches among dense green foliage. Pale silvery plumes extend from its head and neck, and its feathers shimmer with fine detail.
June 11, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
physgal.bsky.social
This is not at all a surprise. 🍎🎢 #HigherEd
AI Cheating Is So Out of Hand In America's Schools That the Blue Books Are Coming Back
Pen and paper is back, baby.
gizmodo.com
May 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Signed, Sealed and Delivered

The Newberry is now a member of the Digital Scriptorium, with more manuscript discoverability coming soon! Our Head of Cataloging Services, Megan Kelly, opens a slightly recalcitrant vellum document with Ferdinand II's name and seal on it! (Wing MS oversize ZW 6561 .26)
Female figure with long dark hair and clothes, wearing an id on a lanyard, holds one corner of the document lightly open and gestures to the other side. The bottom half the the document box is solid blue and contains an inset red wax seal that is attached to the document via cords.
January 13, 2025 at 1:16 PM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
Reading *Human Acts* by Han Kang, set during the Gwangju uprisings, on the heels of *Second-hand time* by Alexievich, set after the fall of the USSR, making me reflect on the fact that the relative political stability I’ve lived through up to now has been the anomaly and not the default.
December 26, 2024 at 3:29 AM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
Just started reading Han Kang for the first time (*The Vegetarian*) and my jaw is on the floor. I just finished a unit on *The Metamorphosis* with my students and Kafka’s pen is all over this, but in such a transformed/transformative way. This is a must-read if you haven’t already.
November 28, 2024 at 5:52 AM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
Archaeologists Discover Breathtaking Wall Paintings Frozen in Time Inside a Modest Home in Ancient Pompeii

www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a...
Archaeologists Discover Breathtaking Wall Paintings Frozen in Time Inside a Modest Home in Ancient Pompeii
Despite its unusually small size, the newly unearthed House of Phaedra is covered in elaborate frescos depicting mythological scenes
www.smithsonianmag.com
October 29, 2024 at 4:17 AM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
propublica.org
Welcome to Bluesky!

If you're new to us, hello 👋

We're ProPublica, a nonprofit, independent newsroom with one job: to hold the powerful to account. Here's all the times we've made that happen: www.propublica.org/impact
October 18, 2024 at 7:54 PM
joshuajoy.bsky.social
Archaeologists Uncovered a Massive Roman Bath With One Unique Piece of Decor - Popular Mechanics

apple.news/A1MWtQPu1T8q...
Archaeologists Uncovered a Massive Roman Bath With One Unique Piece of Decor — Popular Mechanics
The enormous complex is one of the largest ever found in Sicily.
apple.news
October 14, 2024 at 5:20 AM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
presuming-ed.bsky.social
This is sums up two of my four Brother in Laws. 👍
adamcsharp.bsky.social Adam Sharp @adamcsharp.bsky.social · Oct 12
In Spanish slang, speaking with total confidence about a subject you know nothing about can be referred to as cuñadismo. It means “brother-in-law-ism”

* read on for more of my favourite words and phrases, from various Spanishes, to mark Spanish Language Day…
October 13, 2024 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
novosad.bsky.social
What kind of childhood makes a top scientist? Is it enough to have all the right traits (brilliance, grit, etc) or do you need the right family too?

And why should we care? A 🧵 on our paper on the Nobel Laureates.

A teaser: the income distribution of the laureates' fathers.
1/N
October 9, 2024 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Thé Triumph of Death, a fresco originally in the Palazzo Sclafani in Palermo, but more recently moved to the Palazzo Abatellis. Orginally painted c.1440-5 for the King of Naples, the artist is unknown. Death on his skeletal horse aims his bow at those from all strata of society
October 3, 2024 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by Joshua Joy
nerdychristie.bsky.social
In a fly's brain, there are some 140,000 neurons that connect via 54.5 million synapses. Researchers have now mapped *all of them*. That story and more of the best in Science and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🧠
October 3, 2024 at 9:16 PM