Giknowbili
@giknowbili.bsky.social
he/him, teacher stuff, SATX
Today I took a couple of my small classes that are awaiting the start of their dual credit semester to the library and we just checked out books and read. I got Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" (paging @annieabrams.bsky.social).
January 10, 2026 at 2:20 AM
Today I took a couple of my small classes that are awaiting the start of their dual credit semester to the library and we just checked out books and read. I got Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" (paging @annieabrams.bsky.social).
I attribute two causes for why education suffers so in this department:
(1) semantic drift when words filter from academia to bureaucrats to district personnel and then to practitioners
(2) business school lingo infects the schoolhouse, a lexicon designed to obfuscate more than it instructs
(1) semantic drift when words filter from academia to bureaucrats to district personnel and then to practitioners
(2) business school lingo infects the schoolhouse, a lexicon designed to obfuscate more than it instructs
I'm also worried that we're on the precipice of some words I like becoming even "buzzier" (which means I might stop liking them):
agency
process
authentic
in other words (pardon the pun!) I'm worried
agency
process
authentic
in other words (pardon the pun!) I'm worried
December 31, 2025 at 1:03 AM
I attribute two causes for why education suffers so in this department:
(1) semantic drift when words filter from academia to bureaucrats to district personnel and then to practitioners
(2) business school lingo infects the schoolhouse, a lexicon designed to obfuscate more than it instructs
(1) semantic drift when words filter from academia to bureaucrats to district personnel and then to practitioners
(2) business school lingo infects the schoolhouse, a lexicon designed to obfuscate more than it instructs
I teach both Dual Credit and AP. It's not particularly close which one is better for equity in terms of college access.
December 29, 2025 at 7:41 PM
I teach both Dual Credit and AP. It's not particularly close which one is better for equity in terms of college access.
I'm reading two books over the holiday break:
1. The Impeachers by Brenda Wineapple
2. The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic by Manisha Sinha
I'm appreciating more deeply how revolutionary the Reconstructionists were, and how counter-revolutionary the Federalists were.
1. The Impeachers by Brenda Wineapple
2. The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic by Manisha Sinha
I'm appreciating more deeply how revolutionary the Reconstructionists were, and how counter-revolutionary the Federalists were.
I wrote about the conservative quest to restore the "true" Constitution, the Antebellum Constitution, shorn of the egalitarian nonsense in the Reconstruction Amendments, a document that replaces equality with a society of dominators and the dominated. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
December 21, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I'm reading two books over the holiday break:
1. The Impeachers by Brenda Wineapple
2. The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic by Manisha Sinha
I'm appreciating more deeply how revolutionary the Reconstructionists were, and how counter-revolutionary the Federalists were.
1. The Impeachers by Brenda Wineapple
2. The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic by Manisha Sinha
I'm appreciating more deeply how revolutionary the Reconstructionists were, and how counter-revolutionary the Federalists were.
We read Chapter 6 of West Side Rising this week in TX Government. There was a quote, said about the late Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, who understood that "everything was political." The ensuing discussion seemed to blow a few minds.
December 13, 2025 at 10:52 PM
We read Chapter 6 of West Side Rising this week in TX Government. There was a quote, said about the late Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, who understood that "everything was political." The ensuing discussion seemed to blow a few minds.
Stevie Wonder
Caribou (back when they were Manitoba)
Kraftwerk (well, Ralf Hutter and a few of his German friends)
George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars
Radiohead
Caribou (back when they were Manitoba)
Kraftwerk (well, Ralf Hutter and a few of his German friends)
George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars
Radiohead
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve been to:
The Cure
Prince
The Mountain Goats
Orbital
Chic
The Cure
Prince
The Mountain Goats
Orbital
Chic
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you've been to:
Cocteau Twins
The Blue Nile
Kate Bush
David Sylvian
Frazier Chorus
Cocteau Twins
The Blue Nile
Kate Bush
David Sylvian
Frazier Chorus
November 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Stevie Wonder
Caribou (back when they were Manitoba)
Kraftwerk (well, Ralf Hutter and a few of his German friends)
George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars
Radiohead
Caribou (back when they were Manitoba)
Kraftwerk (well, Ralf Hutter and a few of his German friends)
George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars
Radiohead
Watching both my favorite European teams simultaneously walking out of the tunnel on Thanksgiving to play in their respective continental tournaments (Rayo in Conference League, Celtic in Europa) is...something something American dream IDK.
November 27, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Watching both my favorite European teams simultaneously walking out of the tunnel on Thanksgiving to play in their respective continental tournaments (Rayo in Conference League, Celtic in Europa) is...something something American dream IDK.
Reposted by Giknowbili
Every year around this time, I ask folks to consider doing something in support of Native people. This year, please join me in supporting the Native Organizers Alliance as they build grassroots power, defend Native voting rights, and equip our people for collective struggle through skill-building.
Donate - Native Organizers Alliance
Supporting organizing and advocacy initiatives for Indigenous justice.
nativeorganizing.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Every year around this time, I ask folks to consider doing something in support of Native people. This year, please join me in supporting the Native Organizers Alliance as they build grassroots power, defend Native voting rights, and equip our people for collective struggle through skill-building.
Reposted by Giknowbili
And with perfect timing, @mpershan.bsky.social just dropped a new essay. I haven't read it yet but I'm confident it's better than other ones.
pershmail.substack.com/p/i-dont-kno...
pershmail.substack.com/p/i-dont-kno...
I Don't Know What to Think About America's Declining Test Scores and Neither Should You
The case for confusion
pershmail.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:51 PM
And with perfect timing, @mpershan.bsky.social just dropped a new essay. I haven't read it yet but I'm confident it's better than other ones.
pershmail.substack.com/p/i-dont-kno...
pershmail.substack.com/p/i-dont-kno...
Michael is right to eviscerate this take (as usual) and I have to roll my eyes whenever people decry how teachers unions hold back public ed.
I live in a right-to-work state where unions are defanged professional associations at best. Everything meaningful about schools is worse here.
I live in a right-to-work state where unions are defanged professional associations at best. Everything meaningful about schools is worse here.
And of course we get the brain-dead political analysis. The biggest crisis of public education (and the greatest threat to kids with mental illness) is the Republican Party's funding cuts. But guess who gets blamed in the conclusion of the article?
November 24, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Michael is right to eviscerate this take (as usual) and I have to roll my eyes whenever people decry how teachers unions hold back public ed.
I live in a right-to-work state where unions are defanged professional associations at best. Everything meaningful about schools is worse here.
I live in a right-to-work state where unions are defanged professional associations at best. Everything meaningful about schools is worse here.
My pet proposal is that we should have the whole six weeks from Thanksgiving to New Year period off, and I'd shave off a few weeks from summer break to make that happen.
I have, since childhood and onward through my teaching career, ALWAYS had the whole week off for Thanksgiving, and it always sets me off when people elsewhere in the US don't. Y'all are getting robbed!
November 23, 2025 at 11:31 PM
My pet proposal is that we should have the whole six weeks from Thanksgiving to New Year period off, and I'd shave off a few weeks from summer break to make that happen.
Chris Paul, among PGs:
*1st all-time in career win shares
*2nd all-time in assists
*2nd all-time in steals
*T-2nd all-time in All-NBA teams (behind Cousy; tied with Steph, Oscar, Stockton)
*T-2nd all-time in All-Star teams (behind Cousy; tied with Thomas, Oscar, Magic)
*1st all-time in career win shares
*2nd all-time in assists
*2nd all-time in steals
*T-2nd all-time in All-NBA teams (behind Cousy; tied with Steph, Oscar, Stockton)
*T-2nd all-time in All-Star teams (behind Cousy; tied with Thomas, Oscar, Magic)
One hell of a career for Chris Paul. One of the best PGs I ever watched. For a very, very long time, the game was played at whatever pace and style CP3 wanted it played at when he was on the floor. I don't know where he ranks all-time among PGs, but it's very high on the list.
November 22, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Chris Paul, among PGs:
*1st all-time in career win shares
*2nd all-time in assists
*2nd all-time in steals
*T-2nd all-time in All-NBA teams (behind Cousy; tied with Steph, Oscar, Stockton)
*T-2nd all-time in All-Star teams (behind Cousy; tied with Thomas, Oscar, Magic)
*1st all-time in career win shares
*2nd all-time in assists
*2nd all-time in steals
*T-2nd all-time in All-NBA teams (behind Cousy; tied with Steph, Oscar, Stockton)
*T-2nd all-time in All-Star teams (behind Cousy; tied with Thomas, Oscar, Magic)
Today one of my students asked how to make the prefect bun. It took me a second to realize she meant MINE. The hair is hairing now I guess.
November 22, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Today one of my students asked how to make the prefect bun. It took me a second to realize she meant MINE. The hair is hairing now I guess.
More like Scary Bummers, get this creep outta here yesterday.
November 18, 2025 at 4:00 AM
More like Scary Bummers, get this creep outta here yesterday.
Hey so did anyone else sob uncontrollably when they watched the del Toro "Frankenstein" movie or was it just me?
November 15, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Hey so did anyone else sob uncontrollably when they watched the del Toro "Frankenstein" movie or was it just me?
I write farewell letters for my graduating seniors that I hand to them at some point before they walk the stage. It's one of those gestures to let them know that your time together was meaningful. Would recommend if for no other reason than to preserve the art of letter writing.
Every year I write a letter of gratitude to each of my students. It’s nothing deep; I’ve been making little notes about beautiful sentences they write and smart things they say in discussions. Even my “tough” students get a “thank you for challenging me to see things differently!” 😂 +
November 12, 2025 at 12:08 AM
I write farewell letters for my graduating seniors that I hand to them at some point before they walk the stage. It's one of those gestures to let them know that your time together was meaningful. Would recommend if for no other reason than to preserve the art of letter writing.
I think an underrated part of why Dems have struggled to get anything substantive off the ground in the Trump era is how they've misidentified the Obama years as a triumph. He had 60 senators and the mantle for change, but he retreated into neoliberal technocracy.
44’s two terms changed my brain chemistry. Maybe I’m jaded, but comparing anyone to Barack makes me instantly think they’re a fraud.
November 3, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I think an underrated part of why Dems have struggled to get anything substantive off the ground in the Trump era is how they've misidentified the Obama years as a triumph. He had 60 senators and the mantle for change, but he retreated into neoliberal technocracy.
I'm glad I'm not the only one aggrieved by this! It's literally all the things that are intensely political, too!
"X shouldn't be political." OK but it is. Now what?
October 30, 2025 at 11:30 AM
I'm glad I'm not the only one aggrieved by this! It's literally all the things that are intensely political, too!
Had our first class discussion on this on Wednesday, and MAN am I stoked for this book. One of my students told me she was talking to her tia about it. Had another kid who has been really reluctant to read all semester tell me he didn't realize the West Side had a history.
I handed out copies of this to my juniors today since we're going to start reading it this week. I mentioned that the two TikTok videos I made about it were my most viewed/liked/commented.
tupress.org/978159534973...
tupress.org/978159534973...
October 25, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Had our first class discussion on this on Wednesday, and MAN am I stoked for this book. One of my students told me she was talking to her tia about it. Had another kid who has been really reluctant to read all semester tell me he didn't realize the West Side had a history.
I handed out copies of this to my juniors today since we're going to start reading it this week. I mentioned that the two TikTok videos I made about it were my most viewed/liked/commented.
tupress.org/978159534973...
tupress.org/978159534973...
October 20, 2025 at 11:31 PM
I handed out copies of this to my juniors today since we're going to start reading it this week. I mentioned that the two TikTok videos I made about it were my most viewed/liked/commented.
tupress.org/978159534973...
tupress.org/978159534973...
*deep breath, swallows bug, clears throat violently*
TEACHING IS CARE WORK
TEACHING IS CARE WORK
a thing about human teachers—it’s not just about having someone around who’s “nice” or “encouraging,” there’s no substitute for a teacher who likes ideas and enjoys being in a room full of thinking students
October 15, 2025 at 1:13 AM
*deep breath, swallows bug, clears throat violently*
TEACHING IS CARE WORK
TEACHING IS CARE WORK
LMAO AP US Gov has ONE Black person's writing as a "foundational document" (surprise, it's MLK Jr., and surprise, the guided reading exercise CB makes for it excludes the "white moderate" section). They axed Roe v. Wade as a required case the second the SCOTUS overturned it in Dobbs (2022).
"The College Board in particular sometimes appears lost in a progressive haze."
No, it's something else.
www.wsj.com/opinion/clas...
No, it's something else.
www.wsj.com/opinion/clas...
Opinion | An ‘Oorah!’ to the Classic Learning Test
U.S. service academies move to accept an SAT and ACT alternative.
www.wsj.com
October 13, 2025 at 8:02 PM
LMAO AP US Gov has ONE Black person's writing as a "foundational document" (surprise, it's MLK Jr., and surprise, the guided reading exercise CB makes for it excludes the "white moderate" section). They axed Roe v. Wade as a required case the second the SCOTUS overturned it in Dobbs (2022).
This rules. Being a teacher is so rad when you get to do it right.
I see the light in our teacher candidates' eyes when they speak about working with young people.
We are light workers. I don't want that light hidden under a proverbial bushel. I want it to shine. God knows we need all the candles we can get in these bleak times.
We are light workers. I don't want that light hidden under a proverbial bushel. I want it to shine. God knows we need all the candles we can get in these bleak times.
October 12, 2025 at 12:19 AM
This rules. Being a teacher is so rad when you get to do it right.
Accomplishment unlocked, slow burn edition: was told by a friend of mine that my one-teen protest in 2002 against the school prayer group doing a 9/11 anniversary event at the flag pole was a radicalizing event for their younger sister.
September 28, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Accomplishment unlocked, slow burn edition: was told by a friend of mine that my one-teen protest in 2002 against the school prayer group doing a 9/11 anniversary event at the flag pole was a radicalizing event for their younger sister.
Seven weeks into the school year and I feel like I'm having a mini-renaissance.
1. Year 2 of my school newspaper, got lots of kids who never signed up thrown in there. But they're working hard! We're getting everyone press badges this year, there's peer editing, more leadership from my returners...
1. Year 2 of my school newspaper, got lots of kids who never signed up thrown in there. But they're working hard! We're getting everyone press badges this year, there's peer editing, more leadership from my returners...
September 27, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Seven weeks into the school year and I feel like I'm having a mini-renaissance.
1. Year 2 of my school newspaper, got lots of kids who never signed up thrown in there. But they're working hard! We're getting everyone press badges this year, there's peer editing, more leadership from my returners...
1. Year 2 of my school newspaper, got lots of kids who never signed up thrown in there. But they're working hard! We're getting everyone press badges this year, there's peer editing, more leadership from my returners...