MATH BOOK (ACTUALLY FUN): I just finished Matt Parker's excellent book Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World, and I'm certain I'll be pulling chunks of it into my math class. The math is all very accessible, and Parker (who sidelines as a standup comedian) has a gift for talking about extremely nerdy content in accessible story form. Copy available in library if you'd like to check it out.
NIFTY IDEAS: Laura Ferlazzo grabs free paint swatches from Lowe's and has developed several different ways to turn them into writing assignments. You love to see it.
CAREERS: I really appreciated this piece that digs into the exposure gap: students have innate abilities and interests that align with potentially rewarding careers, but simply don't have enough exposure to the types of jobs that exist to understand their options.
It reminds me of a former student (now a very good friend) who once told me he thought the only "real" jobs you could get rich doing were own a business, be a doctor, or be a lawyer. He didn't know other interesting, lucrative jobs existed until he started dating someone who handled logistics for a national retailer, a job whose existence had never even occurred to him.
AI AND PLAGIARISM: It's pretty ironic that Larry Ferlazzo used AI to generate this list of writing assignments that it would be hard to use AI to cheat on. Still, it's a pretty good list, and indicative of the creativity that may be required in the future as AI changes (maybe? maybe not?) everything (nothing?) about education.
PLAYING WITH WORDS: Fascinated by the many ways this video could be used in a writing class. British comedian Michael McIntyre claims in this bit that any word in the English language can be converted to mean "drunk," which could lead naturally to a discussion of:
Can the meaning of a word be changed? Who decides? When should it go in the dictionary?
How should we decide what expressions mean when we haven't heard them before?
Are there other ways students can play with language to invent new expressions for things they experience that are somehow still immediately recognizable to their peers?
Almost anything else in linguistics / vocab...
DIY ON STEROIDS: Oh, just a guy talking to an astronaut. In orbit. From his backyard. Using an antenna he built himself.
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