A. Smith
@smitheng.bsky.social
English teacher (2008-) & department chair (2018-) in public education. Mostly [re]posts on education, policy, & the humanities. Not here representing my employer etc.
Reposted by A. Smith
“Iyou could shove it in your purse or your pocket...There were, say, a few hundred book stores in the US but there were thousands of little drugstores+ bus stations+so on in small towns.That’s why they’re called mass market. There was a much more robust system for getting these books out there.”
A eulogy for the mass market paperback, "one of the most brilliant technologies in the history of the world."
So Long to Cheap Books You Could Fit in Your Pocket
www.nytimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:38 PM
“Iyou could shove it in your purse or your pocket...There were, say, a few hundred book stores in the US but there were thousands of little drugstores+ bus stations+so on in small towns.That’s why they’re called mass market. There was a much more robust system for getting these books out there.”
Reposted by A. Smith
The guy who owns Amazon shutting down the books section of the Washington Post is beyond parody
WaPo also closing Books section and downsizing International and Metro sections
February 4, 2026 at 2:05 PM
The guy who owns Amazon shutting down the books section of the Washington Post is beyond parody
Reposted by A. Smith
Market-driven open access often reinforces commercialism & private control.
On the Future Knowledge #podcast, @SamuelMoore.org & @HJoseph.bsky.social discuss how PUBLISHING BEYOND THE MARKET envisions ethical, commons-based publishing.
🎧 ➡️ futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/pub...
On the Future Knowledge #podcast, @SamuelMoore.org & @HJoseph.bsky.social discuss how PUBLISHING BEYOND THE MARKET envisions ethical, commons-based publishing.
🎧 ➡️ futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/pub...
February 4, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Market-driven open access often reinforces commercialism & private control.
On the Future Knowledge #podcast, @SamuelMoore.org & @HJoseph.bsky.social discuss how PUBLISHING BEYOND THE MARKET envisions ethical, commons-based publishing.
🎧 ➡️ futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/pub...
On the Future Knowledge #podcast, @SamuelMoore.org & @HJoseph.bsky.social discuss how PUBLISHING BEYOND THE MARKET envisions ethical, commons-based publishing.
🎧 ➡️ futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/pub...
Reposted by A. Smith
School vouchers are a budgetary time bomb that lead to learning loss, state-funded civil rights violations, and discrimination against students with disabilities. Read more here: www.aclusc.org/news/ugly-tr...
The ugly truth about school vouchers - ACLU of South Carolina
Top South Carolina lawmakers intend to pass a private school voucher law in 2025. This is a terrible idea. A voucher is a tool for taking public school funding and sending it to private schools. A fa...
www.aclusc.org
February 4, 2026 at 3:38 PM
School vouchers are a budgetary time bomb that lead to learning loss, state-funded civil rights violations, and discrimination against students with disabilities. Read more here: www.aclusc.org/news/ugly-tr...
Reposted by A. Smith
And this is by design. Voucher folks were gung-ho to use same scale as public schools until ~2015-6 when horrific Louisiana and Indiana results came out.
They even tried to quash those results for a year or more.
Since then, the strategy has been kill as many testing requirements as possible.
They even tried to quash those results for a year or more.
Since then, the strategy has been kill as many testing requirements as possible.
New: How will we know if new private school choice programs are working?
This will prove difficult to answer in the short term because publicly funded private schools don't typically take the same tests as public schools.
cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/are-privat...
This will prove difficult to answer in the short term because publicly funded private schools don't typically take the same tests as public schools.
cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org/p/are-privat...
Are private school choice programs helping students?
Researchers say it may prove difficult to answer this question.
cbnewsletters.chalkbeat.org
January 29, 2026 at 5:28 PM
And this is by design. Voucher folks were gung-ho to use same scale as public schools until ~2015-6 when horrific Louisiana and Indiana results came out.
They even tried to quash those results for a year or more.
Since then, the strategy has been kill as many testing requirements as possible.
They even tried to quash those results for a year or more.
Since then, the strategy has been kill as many testing requirements as possible.
Reposted by A. Smith
She Fought a Book Ban. She May Never Teach Again. (via @nytimes.com) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/u... #books #bookbans
She Fought a Book Ban. She May Never Teach Again.
www.nytimes.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:19 PM
She Fought a Book Ban. She May Never Teach Again. (via @nytimes.com) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/u... #books #bookbans
Reposted by A. Smith
The most recent film in this year’s class of #NatFilmRegistry inductees is “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” We spoke to Wes Anderson about how the striking visuals for the film came directly from the Library of Congress photocrom prints collection.
January 29, 2026 at 1:25 PM
The most recent film in this year’s class of #NatFilmRegistry inductees is “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” We spoke to Wes Anderson about how the striking visuals for the film came directly from the Library of Congress photocrom prints collection.
Reposted by A. Smith
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
I grew up with Alex Pretti
The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.
www.theverge.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:45 PM
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
Reposted by A. Smith
Paradiso, Canto XIV. Dante and Beatrice move into the fifth heaven — an illustration from 1880 by Gustave Doré, who died three years later on this day in 1883.
More Dante illustrations by Doré (and others) here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dante-divine-comedy-in-art
More Dante illustrations by Doré (and others) here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dante-divine-comedy-in-art
January 23, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Paradiso, Canto XIV. Dante and Beatrice move into the fifth heaven — an illustration from 1880 by Gustave Doré, who died three years later on this day in 1883.
More Dante illustrations by Doré (and others) here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dante-divine-comedy-in-art
More Dante illustrations by Doré (and others) here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/dante-divine-comedy-in-art
Reposted by A. Smith
But students WANT to be challenged in deep ways. Even the most cynical students I've met who thin school is B.S. will say that it'd be nice if it wasn't. LLMs are an invitation to rethink what matters for humans.
January 23, 2026 at 2:14 PM
But students WANT to be challenged in deep ways. Even the most cynical students I've met who thin school is B.S. will say that it'd be nice if it wasn't. LLMs are an invitation to rethink what matters for humans.
Reposted by A. Smith
"Managers should learn not to mistake their own enthusiasm for business results. Just because they find using AI tools enjoyable doesn’t mean that the organization is benefiting as a result. They would be better off focusing on standard analytics than more vibes-based analyses of the AI future."
A survey found that two-thirds of employees say AI saved them zero to two hours a week, while it saved their bosses eight hours. What gives? www.platformer.news/ai-productiv...
January 23, 2026 at 2:20 PM
"Managers should learn not to mistake their own enthusiasm for business results. Just because they find using AI tools enjoyable doesn’t mean that the organization is benefiting as a result. They would be better off focusing on standard analytics than more vibes-based analyses of the AI future."
Reposted by A. Smith
This must be weird news to see if you’re one of the literally hundreds or even thousands of university administrators who preemptively censored faculty, scrubbed websites, changed the names of centers, etc.
Trump administration drops legal appeal over anti-DEI funding threat to schools and colleges. This leaves in place a federal judge's ruling that the anti-DEI effort violated the First Amendment and federal procedural rules. (Via AP) apnews.com/article/dei-... #ncpol #nced
Trump administration drops legal appeal over anti-DEI funding threat to schools and colleges
The Trump administration is dropping its appeal of a federal court ruling that blocked a campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion threatening federal funding to the nation’s schools and colle...
apnews.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:45 PM
This must be weird news to see if you’re one of the literally hundreds or even thousands of university administrators who preemptively censored faculty, scrubbed websites, changed the names of centers, etc.
Reposted by A. Smith
"In other words, this is a bad idea, and I would still think it was a bad idea even if I could personally pick the works for the list."
as ever, read @palan57.bsky.social
curmudgucation.substack.com/p/tx-state-m...
as ever, read @palan57.bsky.social
curmudgucation.substack.com/p/tx-state-m...
TX: State Mandated Canon
Back in 2023, a bill passed by the Texas legislature to spice up their education code required the State Board of Education to specify a list of required vocabulary and at least one literary work to b...
curmudgucation.substack.com
January 22, 2026 at 3:37 PM
"In other words, this is a bad idea, and I would still think it was a bad idea even if I could personally pick the works for the list."
as ever, read @palan57.bsky.social
curmudgucation.substack.com/p/tx-state-m...
as ever, read @palan57.bsky.social
curmudgucation.substack.com/p/tx-state-m...
Reposted by A. Smith
Haven't checked out the #Sinners syllabus yet? Well, w/ a record of 16 Oscar nominations, it's high time to do so! bsky.app/profile/disc...
January 22, 2026 at 2:38 PM
Haven't checked out the #Sinners syllabus yet? Well, w/ a record of 16 Oscar nominations, it's high time to do so! bsky.app/profile/disc...
Reposted by A. Smith
Your power bill has tripled and you can't afford new PC parts just to create this.
December 20, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Your power bill has tripled and you can't afford new PC parts just to create this.
Reposted by A. Smith
M.T. Anderson in Cambridge Day
M.T. Anderson to Mass. legislature: Support free expression - Cambridge Day
The author of "Feed" calls on state legislators to support an Act Regarding Free Expression.
www.cambridgeday.com
January 21, 2026 at 5:29 PM
M.T. Anderson in Cambridge Day
Reposted by A. Smith
Takeaways:
-2nd compact on the way
-signed agreements from Brown, Columbia, Cornell Northwestern, Penn, and UVA have emboldened the admin (thanks y'all!)
-Vanderbilt's committed to cosplaying as the "reasonable adult" while aiding authoritarians
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
-2nd compact on the way
-signed agreements from Brown, Columbia, Cornell Northwestern, Penn, and UVA have emboldened the admin (thanks y'all!)
-Vanderbilt's committed to cosplaying as the "reasonable adult" while aiding authoritarians
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
Investigations and a Billion-Dollar ‘Shakedown’: How Trump Targeted Higher Education
www.nytimes.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Takeaways:
-2nd compact on the way
-signed agreements from Brown, Columbia, Cornell Northwestern, Penn, and UVA have emboldened the admin (thanks y'all!)
-Vanderbilt's committed to cosplaying as the "reasonable adult" while aiding authoritarians
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
-2nd compact on the way
-signed agreements from Brown, Columbia, Cornell Northwestern, Penn, and UVA have emboldened the admin (thanks y'all!)
-Vanderbilt's committed to cosplaying as the "reasonable adult" while aiding authoritarians
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...
Reposted by A. Smith
Something else that really struck me in this report is this paragraph. "AI is doing things for students that they used to enjoy."
January 14, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Something else that really struck me in this report is this paragraph. "AI is doing things for students that they used to enjoy."
Reposted by A. Smith
I’m not in any way surprised:
„The report offers a surfeit of evidence to suggest that students who use generative AI are already seeing declines in content knowledge, critical thinking and even creativity.“
„The report offers a surfeit of evidence to suggest that students who use generative AI are already seeing declines in content knowledge, critical thinking and even creativity.“
I got a lot to say about this study and no time to say it, but any time someone thinks using AI is helping students learn writing it is likely to be the opposite and rooted in a view of what learning writing is like that must be challenged and revised. www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...
The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits, report says
A new report warns that AI poses a serious threat to children's cognitive development and emotional well-being.
www.npr.org
January 14, 2026 at 5:12 PM
I’m not in any way surprised:
„The report offers a surfeit of evidence to suggest that students who use generative AI are already seeing declines in content knowledge, critical thinking and even creativity.“
„The report offers a surfeit of evidence to suggest that students who use generative AI are already seeing declines in content knowledge, critical thinking and even creativity.“