Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

You know... it is not the SPAM that clutters my inbox, it is all of the messages I get CC'ed on that have absolutely nothing to do with me.

If you join a committee and do not assume responsibility for any of the work to be done, please resign from the committee.

Yes, you have an idea that you take seriously.

Folks like me (you know those who value empirical evidence) rejected it long ago.

No, I’m not going to take it seriously.

When I was a senior in high school I could take either a “writing” course (for seniors preparing for college) or a history course (enrolling mainly sophomore). The history teacher sent the three seniors off to write… we wrote three research papers in a semester. Greatest writing course ever!

What is left out of the curriculum is as important as what is in it.

I can’t imagine being threatened by books

Here is your regular reminder that Deming was talking about manufacturing not education.

If they ask for your password, they are *not* a system administrator.

“I’ve the single method that’ll work to teach anyone anything.”

Avoid these people. Seriously avoid them!

If you start your explanation with, “it’s simple,” I stop listening because you clearly don’t understand it.

It’s interesting to me how some folks can be faculty members for decades, yet never internalize the reality that faculty have the least political influence of any group in the school.

The problem is that the most important aspects of education cannot be measured on a test, and the stuff we can test is the least important.

Familiarity is often confused with understanding.

I have a colleague who wants the ability to edit our web site. They are very inconsistent with capitalization. They aren’t getting access anytime soon.

What “enhances learning?” Is an interesting question. If you listen to answers, you understand just how different concepts of learning are.

I used to include “Always state the opinions upon which you state your facts” in my email signature. I deleted it because so many people were pointing out I had it wrong.

A blog post for students preparing for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam focung on the networking and content delivery module:
https://hackscience.education/2025/10/13/aws-networking-and-content-delivery/

Administrators ask for advice, then reject it immediately.

I learned than in 1988. It was true in 2018, when I left k-12. It’s still true now that I work in higher education.

I started reading a book about autocracies and democracies... it was written in 2024... before the elections. That makes the contents much scarier.

Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it.
- Thomas Paine