This makes no sense. They claim they want #immigrants to assimilate to whatever their idea of #US #culture is & yet…

#Trump steps up a campaign against #teaching #English to immigrant kids

The administration plans to dissolve the office that supports English instruction.

#law #immigration #education #ESL #racism #WhiteSupremacy #DualState

#GiftArticle

https://wapo.st/4vP92Dh

Tues. April 21, 2026: Tired Brain

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Waxing Moon

Sunny and cold

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here.

Thursday, Bluesky had issues. Friday, Instagram wouldn’t let me post. Thank goodness I am old enough to have skills honed before social media. So it was basically frustrating, but nothing more. I could comment on posts on Instagram, I just couldn’t post anything from the computer (I can from my phone). With no explanation. It seemed to work again, somewhat, over the weekend, off and on.

By the time I’d posted the blog, it was bucketing down rain, so I postponed errands. I dealt with some admin work. There was a break in the weather, so I put on shoes, grabbed my bag, and trotted down to the post office. They’re putting in a new sidewalk in front of the post office, so I had to go around to the side door. But they’re doing a much better job than the Sidewalk Chewing Demons have been doing (the company working in front of the post office is a different one).

Got things mailed, headed to another nearby store to pick up some more notebooks for the workshop (I supply small notebooks that the participants can then take with them), swung by the liquor store, and headed home. Made it before the rain began again.

Worked on the handout. Changed things a half a dozen times, to find the right variety of exercises. Pulled some more books I want to take, for the participants to look at.

Did a nice chunk of work on the ghostwriting, getting to where I had hoped to be by end of day Thursday. So I was still behind, but not too far behind.

Cooked dinner, hung out on the front porch for a bit. Some of the seeds are coming up. The white bush (I don’t know what it is) out back exploded into bloom these past days. It usually lasts for a couple of weeks, before fading back to green.

Slept reasonably well, in spite of weird dreams and Charlotte fussing. I woke up at 4:30, refused to get up, dozed off, and got up around 6, which is fine. Fed everyone, the morning routine went well. It was so gorgeously quiet I didn’t want to break it by turning on the vacuum. I wanted to sit and enjoy the morning.

Did a whole lot of other housework before I used the vacuum, including throwing out a lot of instruction manuals for things we no longer have, and tidying up the rolltop desk in the sewing room, which turned into a catch-all. Now, it’s an actual functioning desk again. Did a medium-sized vacuum (a little over 90 minutes). I still need to do a deep clean in a few places. Did some planting.

In the afternoon, I headed down to the gallery to support my friend’s event. There were some other gallery members just hanging out, which was fun. It’s hard to really spend time with each other at openings, because they are so busy. I’m glad they’re busy, it’s great so many people are excited about our work, but I’m better one-on-one than in large groups.

On the way home, I picked up some peel and stick wallpaper that I plan to use on the back door. I can’t stand the raw press-wood door. It looks temporary, and I want something that looks like part of the house. Did a mockup (without peeling and sticking) and realized I’d gotten the math wrong, and needed more sheets.

Got some other work done, cooked dinner, got some planting done. One could feel the temperature dropping.

Did some re-reading of some material I needed for a project.

Slept reasonably well, up at the normal time on Sunday, morning routine. I polished and printed the handouts for the workshop, and did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. The weather was horrible, and I figured I’d have a low-to-no turnout. I certainly wouldn’t want to come out in the weather if I didn’t have to!

Packed up the remaining bits and bobs for the workshop. Stopped to pick up some more peel and stick wallpaper, headed for the gallery. I was there way too early, but got set up and chatted with the member assigned to sit that day. The weather was awful. We waited a reasonable amount of time, and then called it. I packed back up, and got in the car – and one of the windshield wiper blades snapped off. I should be able to snap it right back on, but it wouldn’t snap, so I had to drive without it.

Stopped at Big Y for coffee filters, tulips, and cilantro. Got home safely, hauled everything upstairs, put it away. I will have to either get the wiper snapped back in or get new wipers this week. Heard from some people apologizing for not coming to the workshop. Reassured them it was fine, I wouldn’t want to be out in the weather, either. It moved between rain, sleet, snow, back to rain, and so forth, with the temperatures dropping.

Set up some tables for the plants inside, and pulled the tender seedlings from the porch. They should be able to go back out by tomorrow, but I didn’t want to risk them in 20F degree temperatures.

Fixed myself a sidecar and read for a bit.

Made fish tacos for dinner, and they turned out well. Definitely much better than the last time I tried them.

Had a relaxing evening, trying to store up energy for the coming week. Slept reasonably well, and woke up to frost on Monday morning. Morning routine was fine, although the free write was more of a brain dump than anything creative. I have some decisions to make this week, so I’m spinning out possibilities.

Technically, in our state, yesterday was a holiday, so a bunch of stuff was closed. I hoped that meant I could have a quiet workday at home.

There were shootings all over the country over the weekend, the worst being the man in Louisiana who shot most of his family, including his kids, across multiple locations. This is escalating because these men are never held accountable, and it has to start from the top. There have to be consequences for the Epstein abusers, and then it has to spread to everyone. This regime, through policy, legislation, and coverup, including overturning Roe vs. Wade, has legalized violence against women. That has to change.

Did the rounds posting the intent for the week and the tarot reading, then checked the blogs I read daily. Went through a whole lot of email and dealt with it. Washed the inside of the back door to prep it for papering.

Got a little over 1200 words done on BETTING MAN, which was okay, but not as much as I hoped.

I ate an early lunch because the playwrights’ group met online from noon to 2, and I wanted to be ready for that. Did the marketing rounds for the day.

During the writing session, I completed the admin work for the reading in June (the contract and other materials had just come through, so I read through everything and turned it around). I also worked on the pitch for the upcoming deadline. I read through several of my scripts, trying to figure out which sample was best suited as attachment. I was very glad I had the notebook from the free write sessions handy, because I’d made a bunch of notes for the project in there. I’ll give it another look today, and get it out the door.

Took a quick break, and then went back to the ghostwriting.

Had a really good session, over 3K, although I’m still not where I wanted to be by today. I’m still a day behind. I hope I can catch up today and tomorrow, or I will end up working one of the weekend days. I looked up at one point, and large snowflakes were flying around. Sigh.

My brain hurt by the time I shut down for the day. Heated up some leftovers. Read a bit for pleasure at night. I’m savoring my friend’s book instead of rushing through it.

Woke up at 3 AM because of pain in my hip. Tried to get that settled down, and then some dingus started using a leaf blower at 3:30. I’m sorry, there is NO reason to use a leaf blower at 3:30 AM. It wasn’t in the immediate area, but sound carries here, especially between the mountains. I wasn’t about to get dressed and hunt it down, but I was annoyed. I started drifting off again just before 5, and Tessa started insisted on breakfast.

Today will be a long day.

I wanted to go to the mechanic about the windshield wiper, but I have to do it as they’re opening. There’s frost this morning, and, even if I scrape it down off the windshield, I can’t really drive without being able to wipe it off with the wipers (and a paper towel doesn’t work, I tried). So I will wait until it’s warmer, tomorrow, and give it ago.

I have to get in touch with maintenance today, too. The toilet’s running again. I don’t want to waste water. I’m not a data center.

In this morning’s free write, I came to a decision that changes a lot in BETTING MAN. I had to make the decision today, because it affects what I’m about to write as well as the rest of the book, and this change also has an effect on one of the series arcs.

Now, I have to see if I can pull it off.

Late yesterday, an opportunity landed on my desk. A place to which I’d applied for a grant and didn’t get it has an opportunity for people just in this area and got in contact with me, but I have to get the materials out the door today. I’m not sure I can do it. I’m not sure I can afford not to at least try. I have the materials. It would be a case of the cover letter, which shouldn’t be too hard.

After breakfast, I need to get the garbage out, and then put together the crockpot meal. And then, get started on the workday.

Yoga was cancelled due to a sewage pipe break at the studio. I was looking forward to getting back to class, but I guess I’ll wait until next week.

Have a good one!

Dan Meyer wrote a banger of a post on Sal Kahn still missing the entire point of teaching.

"Critics suggested that the difference between Khanmigo [Khan Academy's AI chatbot] and human tutors were vast, with the chatbot unable to draw on a relationship with students, unable to initiate or end conversations with the sensitivity possessed by even quite average human tutors."

The entire post is well worth your time to read.

https://danmeyer.substack.com/p/rip-khanmigo-and-edtech-industry

#teaching

Today in the classroom:

All classes are taking tests.

First year chem is testing on water, its chemical properties, and solutions. It's a little bit longer than normal because I added a section based on our big solubility lab.

Second year chem is testing on acid/base equilibrium. They'll calculate all the things and then do some short answer questions on buffers. Lots of equations and explaining where pH comes from in systems.

#chemistry #teaching 

RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/116397070356098122

Gen AI is changing the game for teachers!

A US college instructor shares a disheartening experience with LLMs in online courses and grading of homeworks. As a popular analogy: if bodybuilding was just about reps, athletes would use a forklift in the weight room!

It's time to rethink our approaches in education & find new proceedings for students & teachers!
#educators #AI #openeducation #teaching

Interpretation is the new right answer.

🖼️😐

https://eduhacking.com/nyt-whats-going-on-in-this-picture/

#Teaching #Education #TeacherLife

"The ruling expected in the coming months will have broad implications for #Quebec’s #secularism laws, including Quebec’s newer measures: #Bill9, which extends existing restrictions into publicly funded #daycare settings, limits public #prayer and #religious practices in public institutions and subsidized #religiousschools; and Bill 94 adopted late last year, which expands the symbols and face covering prohibitions into all #schools and public institutions.

What remains unclear is how the three pieces of #legislation will ultimately apply to #Jewish schools that receive public funding, particularly regarding #teaching practices and whether restrictions will effectively limit new hires who wear visible #religiousgarb, such as #kippot."

https://thecjn.ca/news/while-the-supreme-court-deliberates-on-quebecs-secularism-law-jewish-schools-and-hospitals-wait/

On February 20, 2026, I presented a paper at the Future of Writing symposium 2026, whose main theme was “adaptability”. The symposium was organized by Mark Marino and Z.D. Dochterman and it was presented by The Dornsife Writing Program at the University of Southern California, the Institute on Ethics & Trust in Computing, the Viterbi Engineering in Society program, the Ahmanson Lab, the Electronic Literature Organization, and the Humanities and Critical Code Studies Lab.

I do not actually teach writing, but digital writing is the focus of my academic research and I teach digital literacy workshops (with the Socialini collective). These two experiences led me to present a phenomenological approach to teaching writing, a method that is in debt to C.I.R.C.E.‘s “hacker pedagogy” and their interface analysis, which I apply to writing interfaces. The title of the paper is The Daimon of the Interface: an (Alien) Phenomenological Approach to Writing Technology.

The overall goal of this approach is to help students develop a deep awareness of the interconnection and interdependence of writing and thinking, and of the influence that the tools we use have on our cognitive and writing processes.

Since my academic career is likely coming to its end soon, I thought it was better to publish it as a working paper on my Zenodo profile instead of going through the everlasting and exhausting process of developing it as it should be done, then submitting it to an academic journal and going through the full loop. I know this is a shortcut, but I also think that in the paper there could be some interesting ideas and the method I propose could be of some use to teachers. So in a spirit of openness and sharing, I prefer to put it out in the world. Of course, I’ll be more than happy to receive comments, critics and feedback: if you want, get in touch!