Jenn Borgioli Binis
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jennbinis.bsky.social
Jenn Borgioli Binis
@jennbinis.bsky.social
4.1K followers 530 following 1.6K posts
Freelance editor, researcher, and/or fact-checker for education and academic authors. Writing a book about teachers. This is my personal/professional account. Luddite. Newsletter: https://dissertate.jennbbinis.com/. r/Askhistorians moderator.
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jennbinis.bsky.social
Got one!
My logo - Schoolmarm Advisors, research and editing services - is over a shelf of school textbooks from the early 1900s. At the end of the shelf of books is brand new Collegiate Dictionary, 12th edition.
November 25, 2025 at 4:23 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Great write up of the indy author day at @buffalolibrary.bsky.social from Buffalo State's student paper.

buffstaterecord.com/21654/recent...
Binis went on to underline AI’s tendency to hallucinate responses, or making up answers out of thin air without any source or factual background to support its claim. She referred to Cory Doctorow, who dubbed AI “the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations.” She spoke from the perspective of an editor, stating that human feedback on writing can be more fruitful than asking a chatbot. She also highlighted AI’s inability to do proper research.
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
In case it's relevant to your interests, the @f1tv.bsky.social Peloton scenic ride dropped this morning and it's objectively very cool! (I recommend the Chill station for the full vibe.)
15 min 2025 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Ride - the photo is taken standing on the track
November 25, 2025 at 11:18 AM
jennbinis.bsky.social
#PairedTexts

1. From a Moms for Liberty post-election day email (ends with a donation request)

2. "Moms for Liberty Shut Out Nationwide with Every Candidate Losing in 2025 Elections" (uomod.com/moms-for-lib...)
Moms for Liberty Wins 17 Critical Local Election Races! Jennifer, The news report yesterday morning was that of a “blue wave.” My opinion on the statewide election results is a fairly traditional one: Virginia and New Jersey are blue states, and New York City is extremely leftist. What is not being reported is our HUGE wins Tuesday night! Moms for Liberty won 17 school board races! A Moms for Liberty “Founders Award Winner” and chapter vice-chair won her city council race! This is the path forward to save America. In a stunning rebuke of the far-right education movement, Moms for Liberty (M4L) candidates failed to win a single contested race across the United States in the November 4, 2025, elections. According to official results, all 31 M4L-endorsed candidates who appeared on ballots in competitive races were defeated, marking the first total shutout for the organization since its rise to prominence in 2021. The 17 races M4L claims to have won were uncontested races, meaning nobody ran against them, so it was impossible for them to lose those elections.
November 21, 2025 at 1:52 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Inspired by @ladyofsardines.bsky.social's wonderful AI zine, I've added a variation of this language to my client contracts and have started sharing it in slide decks when I do talks.

To quote Courtney Radsch and others, we should all be Luddites.
To the best of my knowledge, everything you are about to see and hear was created by human beings without the use of LLM applications such as ChatGPT or other forms of Generative AI. I believe the benefits of GenAI do not, and cannot, outweigh the harm caused to the environment, to art, to people, to us. Therefore, in the spirit of the Luddites, I refuse to use it.
November 20, 2025 at 3:15 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
I do think Mr. Mann would get a kick out of someone defacing his Wiki page like this.
Talk:Horace Mann 67 Skibidi rizz poop Skibidi ohio
November 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
And the first #PairedTexts. (One wrong statement doesn't a bad essay make... but also. Grrr.)
Harvard has introduced a remedial algebra course to address learning gaps in its incoming first-year students. FACT FOCUS: Trump's claims about remedial math at Harvard don't add up. “Harvard College does not offer any so-called remedial math classes,” said James Chisholm, a spokesperson for the university’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which encompasses its undergraduate program. He added: “Math MA5 is a college-level calculus class. It is simply a new format of Math MA, the introductory freshman calculus course that has been taught at Harvard for decades.” Students in Mathematics MA and MA5 have the exact same homework, exams and grading structure, according to Chisholm. The only difference is that the former meets three days a week and the latter five days a week. They are both prerequisites for higher-level math courses.
November 18, 2025 at 12:58 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Gotcha. (For me, it was the essential question if we're better served by 50+ sets of standards or one. And my trust in educators like Dr. Christopher Danielson who wrote this.)
Understanding What Common Core Math Is There really is no such thing as Common Core Math. Okay, you're scratching your head, so allow me to explain what I mean and why this book is so important. In a Common Core classroom, students' ideas are center stage with the focus not on Common Core Math, but on student thinking. Teachers work every day to help students improve their thinking and to provide students with new ideas when they need them and when they're ready for them. The Common Core Standards still require students to memorize addition and multiplication facts. They still require students to learn the standard algorithms and the Pythagorean theo-rem. None of those things have disappeared from the math curriculum. Instead, the role of student thinking has changed. Students' ideas are an important beginning place for math learning rather than being seen as an irrelevant distraction. Many people in this country have experiences with school math that can be summarized as rules without reasons. They were told to do this in situation A, but do that in situation B. They never understood why and they struggled to remember whether to do this or that in situation A. And they struggled to tell situation A from situation B so they just applied what they hoped was the right rule in the right situation and prayed that they could earn enough pouti Common Core Math for Dummies
November 18, 2025 at 11:05 AM
jennbinis.bsky.social
To be blunt, this entire paragraph is misleading and wrong and Darling-Hammond has been repeating it for a few years now, despite efforts to get her to move away from it. It's difficult to summarize it here but basically:
November 17, 2025 at 1:51 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Had a great time today meeting authors at the @buffalolibrary.bsky.social Independent Authors Day! Lots of great conversation about my presentation and what developmental authors do. Had my own spot during the afternoon table session, too!
Several old texts books sit between books about editing on a table
November 15, 2025 at 11:08 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Granted, I see history in everything because that's my hammer but IMO, there's a bunch of writing from English teachers in the early days of NCTE and NEA that speak about the unique demands of being an English teacher. There's also this from the Committee of Ten.
TO THE COMMITTEE OF TEN : - The Conference on the Study of English has the honor to submit the following Report : The Conference was called to order on Wednesday , December 28th , 1892 , at quarter of eleven A.M. , by Professor Allen . Principal Thurber was elected Chairman and Professor Kittredge , Secretary . The Conference remained in session till half past three o'clock Fri- day , December 30th , when it adjourned sine die . Every member was present at the deliberations and took part in debate . The results embodied in the present Report were arrived at after much discus- sion , and represent in all but a few points of minor importance the unanimous opinion of the Conference . The subjects which the Con- ference thought were included in its commission are those usually taught in schools under the names of English Language , English Grammar , Composition , Rhetoric , and English Literature . Elocution appeared to lie outside of the subjects which the meeting was con- vened to discuss . The main direct objects of the teaching of English in schools seem to be two : ( 1 ) to enable the pupil to understand the expressed thoughts of others and to give expression to thoughts of his own ; and ( 2 ) to cultivate a taste for reading , to give the pupil some acquaintance with good literature , and to furnish him with the means of extending that acquaintance . Incidentally , no doubt , a variety of other ends may be subserved by English study , but such subsidiary interests should never be allowed to encroach on the two main pur- poses just indicated . Further , though it may be necessary to consider these main purposes separately in the Report or even to separate them formally in the statement of a programme , yet in practice they should never be dissociated in the mind of the teacher and their mutual dependence should be kept constantly present to the mind of the pupils . The recommendations of the Conference should all be interpreted in accordance with these general prin…
November 12, 2025 at 5:14 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Spending the first Saturday since June without any campaign obligations in style.
A white cat with blanket fringe on his head.
November 8, 2025 at 4:27 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
In the spirit of @karenattiah.bsky.social's post, sharing this picture a clerk at my local hardware store insisted on taking of me handily carrying two 40 pound bags of salt.

#Swoletariat
I'm carrying two 40 pound bags of salt. My sweatshirt reads, "protect trans kids"
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Mid-election-day break. Stopped in to check in on my chief of staff and got yelled at for breaking the "no shoes in the house" rule.
A white cat staring intently at something out of frame.
November 4, 2025 at 5:37 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Thank you!!! I'm starting in a great location!
Sunrise over a sports field.
November 4, 2025 at 11:55 AM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Today is a weird day in terms of NYS elections - early voting ended yesterday and tomorrow's election day. So today, we're joining a morning overpass protest, finalizing details for tomorrow, and writing the last of the thank you cards.

We canvassed/lit dropped 6K doors - almost 1K on Saturday.
A thermometer keeping track of canvassing efforts. It's all colored red.
November 3, 2025 at 10:37 AM
jennbinis.bsky.social
It's rainy and gloomy and the election is in four days but I will be chuckling about this @theonion.com ad all night.
An image of Dawn dish soap and a duck with copy line that says also gets. Blood off a duck. We refuse to explain further.
October 30, 2025 at 9:47 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
There are some very vocal conservatives who are encouraging people not to vote for me for town board because they think my sign is about last year's Prop 1.

And I don't blame them for not knowing the difference! Last year's was on the news all the time! This year's isn't!
Two election signs. One reads Sweeney + Borgioli for Lancaster Town Council and the other reads "Vote Yes on Prop 1" There are small trees on the second sign.
October 30, 2025 at 3:44 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
And like clockwork... yet another example of AI failure. (Beggers' Night *is* tonight. I'm canvassing during it and going to a party after. It's not an official event. But the AI overview doesn't know the difference between official and traditional.)
Screenshot of AI overview from Google saying beggers night isn't tonight
October 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
I've actually had the chance to use the phrase "people over machines" in real life a lot more than I expected! Really exciting to spend time with writers and @buffalolibrary.bsky.social talking about why that matters with book editing and research.
Morning Session: Expert-Led Presentations The morning session, running from 9:15 AM to 2:00 PM in the Mason O. Damon Auditorium (Clinton Street entrance), features presentations from industry professionals covering essential topics for writers at all levels. Featured presentations include: Beta Reading: The Inside Scoop by Valerie Gee & Katelin Pickard of Writer Island When to Trust Humans Over Machines: Understanding What Editors Can Do and What AI Cannot by Jennifer Borgioli Binis of Schoolmarm Advisors Demystifying the Publishing Landscape: Traditional, Hybrid, and Self-Publishing by H.R. Gordon of Gordon Publishing HONEST GHOST! Authentic Writing and Fantastic Subjects by Mason Winfield of Haunted History Ghost Walks, Inc.
October 30, 2025 at 12:03 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Still knocking doors and connecting with residents but sleeping easy at night. Also, this is objectively cool.
Ballot for local elections with my name on it.
October 24, 2025 at 11:10 AM
jennbinis.bsky.social
My finished product.
Have a plan to vote? Early. Voting starts October 25th. Election day is November 4th but yes in prop 1. Check your status QR code.
October 18, 2025 at 6:51 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
Y'all. The check out line at Michaels.
Several customers buying posters
October 17, 2025 at 8:56 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
More that 2017 was a long time ago in terms of New York State Standards revisions. The current standards call for full-length books.
October 13, 2025 at 11:59 PM
jennbinis.bsky.social
We're doing another Braver Angels training and this is absolutely fantastic - I think we've found our red Kevin Bacon.
Pie chart that is 50% red (conservative or Republican), 43% blue (liberal or vote Democrat), 7% other (don't lean red or blue)
October 9, 2025 at 11:27 AM