Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

“All observation is partnership between mind and nature, and all good partnerships require compromise.” -Stephen Jay Gould

Yeah, as long as we realize, we are going to do all of the compromising.

Stories help humans learn, but sometimes we must misunderstand the moral.

I enjoy the incredulous looks on teachers’ faces when they complain about the amount of grading they need to do and I ask, “Who assigned all of that work anyways?”

Here us your regular reminder that the saying should be “if I didn’t believe it, I never would have seen it.”

Wait. We have to interpret and reflect on data… including why and how it was collected and we have to decide if it is good?

I thought we just let it drive us. You know, we could be passive. Understanding it seems way too much work.

Reality emerges as our technologies and concepts mature, not as we get better or more information.

“Systems are marked by long stability.” Yea, seems right. At least until they change. Then things get interesting.

Parasocial interactions are those that appear social, but lack reciprocity. Maybe this is why “social” interactions in classrooms are unlike those “in the wild.” Hierarchy is systemic in classrooms.

You know how we teach algebra, when statistics & arithmetic is what folks need?

I think there is similar situation with coding and databases. What data is kept, why, how, and where and how it is used seems the pressing technical knowledge we avoid.

A student in my summer course (paraphrasing) “thanks for the video showing the organization of the course, I wish every instructor did that.” You and me both!

Listen to you instructional designers and learning experience designers… we know what we are doing.

“The statement you quote is absurd…” is my new favorite way to begin a reply.

I heard for decades “John Dewey’s brand of schooling takes so much energy. He couldn’t even run the lab school that long.” I’m now reading a biography and seeing the number of departments for which he had administrative oversight. I want to go back and set some folks straight.

When I was working in schools that “only supply Chromebooks,” I’d have to add a laptop or two of my own to my classroom as my students were working in projects that necessitated full applications.

Sometimes I look back on the day I did my "there are no learning styles rant" for students (explaining the experiments that have been designed to test for it) when the curriculum coordinator was there... she advocated that myth. It was great to see her scowling reaction.

Yeah,,,, there is a radio station that plays "classic rock" in my region... lots of tunes from my teen years. I can't listen to it for more than a few minutes.... 1970's-1980's music was tiresome.

I used to say, "when will we ever be without the internet, calculators, etc. in our packets," then I dropped my iPhone.

When you say “no” to narcissists, they become incredulous. I sometimes do it just for the entertainment.

How much of school is doing things to find out what they already know? -paraphrasing John Dewey when he saw his daughter in a classroom .

John Dewey said “a too consuming & insistent attitude of self-protection isn’t the most successful thing in the world.” I think he vastly understated how damaging this attitude is.

Yeah, so that technology… the really great technology… it is the result of lots of work. It literally looks like magic, but it is not.