Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

I buy and read used books. I judge the previous readers by the quality of their marginalia.

Don’t conflate your conclusions grounded in cognitive biases with evidence.

It’s strange that faculty can claim both “I never use AI” and “I can spot AI generated text a mile away.”

What isn’t expected isn’t seen.

On Educators’ Reluctance to Change
https://hackscience.education/2023/10/10/on-educators-reluctance-to-change/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

“You get more conservative as you get older” is a myth… at least in the last several generations in my family.

If the purpose of your meeting is to “start a conversation,” please don’t invite me.

Optical illusions are not mysteries.

I meet regularly online with a person who obviously has three screens going. The are very distracted during meetings and often has no idea what we are talking about.

The Zevon lyrics “I was in the house when the house burned down” seems to have been written for us.

“Mistakes are chances to learn.”
Sure, but it depends on many factors.

I’m familiar with a school where there is serious concern about reading scores. That same school discarded… as in taking to the landfill… hundreds of books. 🤦‍♂️

I can tell when leaders have never been responsible for anything. They identify as "big idea people." They often don't have any idea that folks are too busy implementing their own better ideas to take on any "big ideas."

"It worked for me" is a terrible rationale for educators.

Epistemology is deeply important to educators. It allows them to evaluate practices, adopt and adapt those that are useful, discard those no longer useful, and otherwise refine their craft.

"Action without faith is misguided." Really? I can't imagine a statement that is more misguided than that one.

What do we know? How do we know it? What does it mean to know something?

These questions are important for educators to answer They exert important influences on what we do in classrooms, but we can't let them get in our way of acting.

What does it mean to be "literate" (in anything--reading, writing, math, or any other subject )? Ask a group of adults and you will get very different answers that are both reasonable and mutually exclusive.

One thing I leaned during 35 years in education: students have a low tolerance for dishonesty.

Einstein is supposed to have said "what matters cannot be counted and what can be counted doesn't matter." I am not sure he said it, and I would not take it as accurate just because he said it, but my experience in education sure suggests its true.