I do lot of stuff on the stage, and if there was a tool that would allow me to bypass the rehearsal process and go straight to the performance, I wouldn't use it.
In fact, if I had to pick either no rehearsal or no performance, I'd pick no performance.
For some of us, the "rehearsal" is the point.
So that's the interesting thing. The person doing this? It's in a freshman seminar, and they're all doing REALLY WELL. That's why it's so captivating to me—it isn't supposed to work based on everything we know, and yet, it is . . . (but also, there are handouts, there are visuals, but on paper)
Totally. That's why I'm thinking of this experiment in a very specific, not large course. So I can start to figure out what the "active components" of something like this might be, and can then figure out what can or can't be scaled up (if I were to ever recommend it to anyone other than me).
...about the difference between a classroom that has a no-tech policy (not what I want) and a classroom where the instructor explains the experiment they want to attempt and then works with the students to build a world where this experiment could succeed (which may or may not bring back tech). 2/2
And that's what would have kept me from letting my brain even consider this in the past.
But I'm realizing that attempting to remove tech doesn't mean I have to forget everything I know about UDL or building classroom trust or pivoting mid-semester when something doesn't work. I'm wondering... 1/2
I can get on board with this.
And a no-tech classroom seems like it could be, at least at this moment, the experiment in compassionate subtraction I'm looking for. It would require so much cutting out. So much making space. So much doing together instead of at home. And maybe we'd lose a lot with that, but maybe we wouldn't?/end
And to clarify, I'm not anti-AI or anti-tech, but I am anti-too-much.
And that's what it feels like these days. There's just too much coming at us from every direction, so we can't ever really sit and listen and grapple. We're just managing the onslaught and hoping tech tools will help.
I'm noticing I'm very drawn to the idea of trying this.😳
Because I keep finding myself in these spaces (like AI panic spaces) where my unplanned but frequent refrain is that we have to find what's magical about what we do here—the thing robots can't do—and we have to do as much of that as possible.
It was someone who learned all the tech tools, happily used them, & is now getting rid of them. Including powerpoint. Including showing anything on a projector. Including typing anything in class. It's all dialogue & doing with hands.
She reports it's best *feeling* class ever. And I am CAPTIVATED.
I'm co-facilitating a learning community this year & one of the profs off-handedly mentioned how they've tried to make their course as tech-free as possible.
Which is not a new idea, but it's interesting because of WHO said it. It wasn't someone who never learned tech tools in the 1st place ...
OMG, this is so very great. You are so cool.
I also decided a while ago that I was done with academic writing. Which was tested when I got the first round of comments on an ungrading essay I wrote a year ago. But I said, "nope, every word in there is there on purpose." And it worked!
When my wife posts on Bluesky, she calls it “fluttering,” and I think we should all go with that.
Y'all, we need to work harder on including salary ranges in job posts.
And if you think there's a policy preventing that, ask questions of both HR & Finance to make sure that's really, really true. We used to not post them & now we do because questions were asked.
(And no, I'm not on the hunt. 😁)
Reminder that the Gmail Snooze button is a handy tool this time of year.
Some things are getting snoozed till December 16 for a deep work retreat but a lot are snoozing till January.
I used to keep things in the inbox till handled, but switching to snooze has been a great anxiety management tool!
As of now, I don't ever plan to leave academia BUT this piece still resonates cause I DID switch from full-time prof to full-time staff a few years ago, & at first, I was dazzled by all of the "pushes" I no longer dealt with. But you habituate to that, so you better have some "pulls" too!
Oh goodness, thanks for sharing!
Come work with me! And I mean really, really closely with me! 😁 Our team is the very best, and we'd love to have you join us. appstate.peopleadmin.com/postings/48673
Looks like I was right about the theme after all!!!
Tonight at the ARC bar, #POD24 friends! It's just a fun, clique-averse get-together to hang out and see each other. I'm just a bit too scattered to do all the PR for it. All are welcome!
And another thing I’m realizing is not only is shouting with your “loud voice” a problem for auditory accessibility, but my current, no -ideally-functioning nervous system is having an anxiety reaction to people who choose to yell instead of use the mic. Which obviously makes it harder to learn.
I was sitting with my colleague @bryandoppel.bsky.social and we’ve already planned to add it to our Course (Re)Design Institute—every day, starting with us as panelists and moving it to faculty as panelists!
Person who looks like a woman wearing a flowered jumpsuit. Long brown blonde hair. Standing awkwardly in front of the small kitchen in her hotel room.
Alright goofballs, here’s the POD Conference day 1 fit. Come find me! Even if we don’t know each other in real life! We can hug if you want! We are maximizing dopamine right now to prepare for whatever comes next in the fight.
Haha, absolutely not. I honestly expect to be teary-eyed with joy about seeing all of you make joy for us.
Hi #POD24 friends. Are you maybe a little tired this week (month..year..years) like I am?
If so, join me in making conference decisions that are about your joy/peace/other personally-meaningful noun. This is not a time to “get your money’s worth.”
Whatever comes next needs us rested and grounded.
I WILL BE THERE FRONT ROW.
Also, if you click the thing that says “in this session” beneath the top matter, the abstract will also open.
I got slammed with one last night. Still don't feel right, and of course, today was the day I reserved for accomplishing one of those really-don't-want-to-do-it-but-really-need to tasks that I've been kicking down the road for too long... and I'm now trying to decide whether to keep kicking...
So, I made it through the beginning of the school year as a new (unplanned) executive director, through a catastrophic hurricane and its lingering effects, and through my last conference directing, all without a migraine. It seems the election was the straw that broke the camel's back, though ...
Slow to respond here because I pretty much only use bsky for conferences now. 😆 And just now signed back in. BUT I WILL BE THERE. Saturday to Thursday.
