Elisa Litvin
@elisalitvin.bsky.social
History teacher, historian, Australian, Victorian, interested in living and learning
Living on unceded Wurundjeri land
Living on unceded Wurundjeri land
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
It's Tuesday. It's November. And it's been awhile. So lets tell the story about the eel, the scheming wife who ate it, and the talking magpie that ratted her out!
That's right! It's time for the eel tale from the 1370s blockbuster hit, "The Book of the Knight of the Tower." 1/5
🗃️🧪
That's right! It's time for the eel tale from the 1370s blockbuster hit, "The Book of the Knight of the Tower." 1/5
🗃️🧪
November 11, 2025 at 6:05 PM
It's Tuesday. It's November. And it's been awhile. So lets tell the story about the eel, the scheming wife who ate it, and the talking magpie that ratted her out!
That's right! It's time for the eel tale from the 1370s blockbuster hit, "The Book of the Knight of the Tower." 1/5
🗃️🧪
That's right! It's time for the eel tale from the 1370s blockbuster hit, "The Book of the Knight of the Tower." 1/5
🗃️🧪
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
The Complex Role of Slavery in Building America’s Wealth
The world’s largest slave society was a crucial factor in the country’s economic takeoff beyond what’s commonly assumed
www.wsj.com/economy/slav... | @wsj.com
The world’s largest slave society was a crucial factor in the country’s economic takeoff beyond what’s commonly assumed
www.wsj.com/economy/slav... | @wsj.com
The Complex Role of Slavery in Building America’s Wealth
It was a crucial factor in the country’s economic takeoff well beyond what’s commonly assumed.
www.wsj.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:48 AM
The Complex Role of Slavery in Building America’s Wealth
The world’s largest slave society was a crucial factor in the country’s economic takeoff beyond what’s commonly assumed
www.wsj.com/economy/slav... | @wsj.com
The world’s largest slave society was a crucial factor in the country’s economic takeoff beyond what’s commonly assumed
www.wsj.com/economy/slav... | @wsj.com
I hope the following story puts a little smile on your face:
I was walking home, and I heard a massive, "Hey, Ms Litvin!" from across the street. It's 3 teenage boys I had in a class last year. I shouted back, "Do I know those monsters?" They met me in the median strip to show off their candy haul.
I was walking home, and I heard a massive, "Hey, Ms Litvin!" from across the street. It's 3 teenage boys I had in a class last year. I shouted back, "Do I know those monsters?" They met me in the median strip to show off their candy haul.
a cartoon of a boy with a backpack holding a piece of cloth surrounded by candy and nick written on the bottom
Alt: a cartoon of a boy with a backpack holding a piece of cloth surrounded by candy and nick written on the bottom
media.tenor.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:11 AM
I hope the following story puts a little smile on your face:
I was walking home, and I heard a massive, "Hey, Ms Litvin!" from across the street. It's 3 teenage boys I had in a class last year. I shouted back, "Do I know those monsters?" They met me in the median strip to show off their candy haul.
I was walking home, and I heard a massive, "Hey, Ms Litvin!" from across the street. It's 3 teenage boys I had in a class last year. I shouted back, "Do I know those monsters?" They met me in the median strip to show off their candy haul.
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
Happy Halloween! 👻
Time to reshare an Ancient Ghost Story: the story of Athenodorus’ Ghost, recorded in Pliny the Younger’s letters… (and the inspiration for Marley in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’)
Time to reshare an Ancient Ghost Story: the story of Athenodorus’ Ghost, recorded in Pliny the Younger’s letters… (and the inspiration for Marley in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’)
October 31, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Happy Halloween! 👻
Time to reshare an Ancient Ghost Story: the story of Athenodorus’ Ghost, recorded in Pliny the Younger’s letters… (and the inspiration for Marley in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’)
Time to reshare an Ancient Ghost Story: the story of Athenodorus’ Ghost, recorded in Pliny the Younger’s letters… (and the inspiration for Marley in Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’)
Historic legislation has passed that will see the creation of an Indigenous council that will be consulted on laws and policies affecting Indigenous communities.
Australian-first treaty legislation passes in Victorian parliament
Historic legislation has passed that will see the creation of an Indigenous council that will be consulted on laws and policies affecting Indigenous communities.
www.abc.net.au
October 30, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
Austen’s cities, seaside resorts, country estates and naval towns remind us that geography is never neutral.
How Jane Austen’s landscapes mapped women’s lives
Austen’s cities, seaside resorts, country estates and naval towns remind us that geography is never neutral.
tcnv.link
October 21, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Austen’s cities, seaside resorts, country estates and naval towns remind us that geography is never neutral.
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
'In his new book, Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found, Graham-Dixon puts forward a revolutionary theory about the work of an artist whose genius is rarely disputed. Right or wrong, it is a theory that will change the way people look at that famous pearl earring'.
Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring finally gets a name
Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon has a radical new theory about the life and beliefs of the Dutch master
observer.co.uk
October 17, 2025 at 6:38 AM
'In his new book, Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found, Graham-Dixon puts forward a revolutionary theory about the work of an artist whose genius is rarely disputed. Right or wrong, it is a theory that will change the way people look at that famous pearl earring'.
@mrsthorne.bsky.social Thanks for getting up early to talk to Australian history teachers about assessment. It was very informative. #HTAA
October 1, 2025 at 6:29 AM
@mrsthorne.bsky.social Thanks for getting up early to talk to Australian history teachers about assessment. It was very informative. #HTAA
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
Many of us involved in #historyteacher #TeacherEducation have been keen to see subject, & distinctive nature of our discipline, re-centred in the recent focus on instructional coaching & core-practices in schools. It was brilliant, therefore, to read 'Secondary History in Action'. 1/
September 4, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Many of us involved in #historyteacher #TeacherEducation have been keen to see subject, & distinctive nature of our discipline, re-centred in the recent focus on instructional coaching & core-practices in schools. It was brilliant, therefore, to read 'Secondary History in Action'. 1/
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
OK AI in education seems to be taking hold - policy making, planning, research, resource creation... But do we understand AI’s relationship with truth… and how can we help children to grasp that what AI tends to do is to manipulate us rather than inform us?
Some thoughts for #historyteacher s 🧵🪡
Some thoughts for #historyteacher s 🧵🪡
a penguin wearing a wizard hat sits at a desk with a computer and the words let chatgpt do it
ALT: a penguin wearing a wizard hat sits at a desk with a computer and the words let chatgpt do it
media.tenor.com
August 15, 2025 at 1:32 PM
OK AI in education seems to be taking hold - policy making, planning, research, resource creation... But do we understand AI’s relationship with truth… and how can we help children to grasp that what AI tends to do is to manipulate us rather than inform us?
Some thoughts for #historyteacher s 🧵🪡
Some thoughts for #historyteacher s 🧵🪡
This! 👇
"As the basis of their analysis, the authors relied on a 1932 book by French historian Georges Lefebvre"
But sure, come and rescue us with "real science", computer scientists and economists, because us poor historians haven't ever developed grounded methods to analysis the spread of misinformation.
But sure, come and rescue us with "real science", computer scientists and economists, because us poor historians haven't ever developed grounded methods to analysis the spread of misinformation.
Historians may have words to say about this.
August 28, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This! 👇
So nice of the scientists to come in and mansplain for the poor historians 🙃
August 28, 2025 at 10:42 AM
So nice of the scientists to come in and mansplain for the poor historians 🙃
I am gutted that I can't join in on the #HATM watch party for #PriscillaQueenOfTheDesert tonight/today (I'm teaching all day). My contribution to the chat is this: the hotel/pub in Broken Hill NSW, where it was filmed, still has a Priscilla suite.
www.thepalacehotelbrokenhill.com.au/accommodation
www.thepalacehotelbrokenhill.com.au/accommodation
Accommodation — The Palace Hotel Broken Hill
Accommodation
www.thepalacehotelbrokenhill.com.au
August 25, 2025 at 12:33 AM
I am gutted that I can't join in on the #HATM watch party for #PriscillaQueenOfTheDesert tonight/today (I'm teaching all day). My contribution to the chat is this: the hotel/pub in Broken Hill NSW, where it was filmed, still has a Priscilla suite.
www.thepalacehotelbrokenhill.com.au/accommodation
www.thepalacehotelbrokenhill.com.au/accommodation
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
A poem from this morning.
August 14, 2025 at 6:53 PM
A poem from this morning.
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
August 13, 2025 at 6:06 AM
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
The earliest archival evidence of the use of the f-word
The earliest use of the F-word www.medievalists.net/2023/08/earl... #medievalhistory
The earliest use of the F-word - Medievalists.net
An English historian has come across the word 'fuck' in a court case dating to the year 1310, making it the earliest known reference to the swear word.
www.medievalists.net
August 13, 2025 at 8:50 PM
The earliest archival evidence of the use of the f-word
Removing negative gearing would be a better place to start in reforming tax treatment of housing in Australia.
Australia is now a "home owner's welfare state", leading economists argue, and if the tax treatment of housing were reformed, the nation as a whole would benefit.
Taxing the family home could help more people become home owners
Australia is now a "home owner's welfare state", leading economists argue, and if the tax treatment of housing were reformed, the nation as a whole would benefit.
www.abc.net.au
August 13, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Removing negative gearing would be a better place to start in reforming tax treatment of housing in Australia.
Reposted by Elisa Litvin
The witch hunts of 1400-1780 and today's misinformation crisis have striking parallels.
Both were fueled by new media technologies that allowed false information to spread rapidly and widely. buff.ly/KzabXlL By Julie Walsh @wellesley.edu
Both were fueled by new media technologies that allowed false information to spread rapidly and widely. buff.ly/KzabXlL By Julie Walsh @wellesley.edu
From printing presses to Facebook feeds: What yesterday’s witch hunts have in common with today’s misinformation crisis
Who bears responsibility when false information leads to real harm?
buff.ly
August 4, 2025 at 6:48 AM
The witch hunts of 1400-1780 and today's misinformation crisis have striking parallels.
Both were fueled by new media technologies that allowed false information to spread rapidly and widely. buff.ly/KzabXlL By Julie Walsh @wellesley.edu
Both were fueled by new media technologies that allowed false information to spread rapidly and widely. buff.ly/KzabXlL By Julie Walsh @wellesley.edu