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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 9h

Trying something new out! A series of mini-episodes on actual problems in the classroom this year—and not necessarily "solutions" but rather reflections on what I realized after the fact.

First one: that tricky balance of challenging students to go above + beyond

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o...

On Challenging Students

Podcast Episode · The Broken Copier · 10/08/2025 · 13m

podcasts.apple.com

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 21h

Watching a student who very much had a roller-coaster experience last year in your classroom then step back into the classroom this year and absolutely THRIVE?

This job is really cool sometimes. (Lots of times.)

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 22h

"5 is giving myself quite some grace but it feels deserved"

When you ask students to reflect on how they are doing, they share some really cool things that help you—I know this seems obvious but it's important!—understand how students see themselves as learners.

student self-reflection at the end of the unit

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 22h

omg I've taught one of their poems, too! cannot wait to read

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 1d

Same reason we cannot keep piling homework + extracurriculars on students and expect them to then do all of that and THEN open up a book for enjoyment...

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 1d

I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections

After Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 2d

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 1d

Open invite, as always! would love to have a High-Quality conversation talking HQIM with you, haha—along with all other things!

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Reposted by Marcus Luther

Chanea Bond @heymrsbond.com · 1d

Two of my favorite teachers!

While I think they should have invited me, I am digging this conversation SO MUCH because I just adore both of them.

Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 11d

"But at the same time the stakes feel higher, I feel like the solutions feel smaller."

One of the places @mrneibauer.bsky.social and I arrived in our conversation: we don't think adults are meeting the moment with their "solutions" right now.

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 1d

Literally had the whole class gesture as if they were putting on different eyeglasses as we moved through the different lenses throughout the activity 🥸 no regrets!

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 1d

Did this today and it was a 10/10—could not have gone better, could not be more excited to lean into it for our upcoming unit!

🙏 @mraleosays.bsky.social

Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 4d

Okay @mraleosays.bsky.social, diving into literary theory on Monday and have absolutely no clue how it will go!

(That said: it is really, really fun as a teacher sometimes to try something 100% new and outside of your wheelhouse)

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 2d

This is Week 6 for me, so at the end of the week I've got some check-in boxes to fill out for these beginning-of-year goals.

(A lot to say so far, too!)

My "new-better-stronger" goals for the school year

empty boxes for a 6-week check-in for each

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Reposted by Marcus Luther

Brett Vogelsinger @thevogelman.bsky.social · 2d

I had a strong opinion on this but it’s getting stronger as I learn from my own sons’ experiences:

If fear of AI cheating means all major graded writing in high is completed in class, we deprive students of so much opportunity for students to develop as writers.

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Reposted by Marcus Luther

Adrian Neibauer @mrneibauer.bsky.social · 2d

What are your thoughts #TeacherSky? Anyone have a good recommendation for a collaborative book study?

Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 3d

Wondering aloud this afternoon: what would be a good education text for a collaborative book study later this school year?

Had such an incredible experience last year with @asv.bsky.social's Becoming an Everyday Changemaker—ruminating on what could be this year's version of that journey?

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 3d

Wondering aloud this afternoon: what would be a good education text for a collaborative book study later this school year?

Had such an incredible experience last year with @asv.bsky.social's Becoming an Everyday Changemaker—ruminating on what could be this year's version of that journey?

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 3d

Your conversation with @humanrestorationproject.org is peak "positive influence," in my opinion, and without question showcases so many of your strengths!

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Reposted by Marcus Luther

Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net · 3d

The Trump administration has cancelled 4,304 deliveries to food banks so far this year, refusing to deliver 94 million pounds of contracted-for food. Food banks simply can’t feed people enough anymore. Millions of Americans are going hungry as a result.

Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived.

ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the administration’s cut...

projects.propublica.org

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 3d

Links here if you want to try out your own, btw

thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/4-classroo...

4 Classroom Set-up "Hacks" I Love

(even if I hate the word "hacks" when it comes to teaching)

thebrokencopier.substack.com

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 3d

Having this ongoing "course update" slide deck that I just duplicate/edit weekly (moving newest slide to the top) has saved me hours upon hours of time over the last few years—especially since I've embedded it on our LMS home page, too.

Could not recommend more.

weekly update slide deck for my classroom

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 3d

Late to this, but oh man I wish education writing was much more about this: teachers taking a swing, documenting their process, and reflecting on their results.

Imagine what it would be like if that was the norm?

🙏 @mrneibauer.bsky.social

adrianneibauer.substack.com/p/our-socrat...

Our Socratic Seminar

A Week-long Learning Experience

adrianneibauer.substack.com

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Reposted by Marcus Luther

Ruth Zakarin @ruthz.bsky.social · 3d

It’s time to post this quote again…

“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.”

― James Baldwin

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 4d

Yep, that's 100% the goal. Giving them different lenses to explore and "try on"—and we'll end the unit with a fishbowl seminar to debrief what they saw + why they think it matters!

Lots of end-of-reading debriefs like this along the way, too:

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Reposted by Marcus Luther

Adrian Neibauer @mrneibauer.bsky.social · 4d

Agreed! When designing a new learning experience, I’m also reminded of how much time it takes, especially when being intentional about how students will move through it.

It’s unfortunate that teachers don’t get adequate time for this type of intentional designing/planning.
#TeacherSky

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 4d

I'm reminded today that a) I really love designing a brand-new unit and also that b) doing the actual work of designing it without question makes me better at guiding students through it.

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 4d

I feel like in the same way fantasy football changes how you watch the games themselves, standardized testing data changes how you see the classroom.

And we have way too many "fantasy football managers" making decisions in education.

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 4d

This is why we need to keep telling the good story about what traditional public schools are doing.

Yes, we need to get better—but that "getting better" cannot be the entire story.

There is good already happening that deserves to be uplifted.

Jennifer Berkshire @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social · 4d

The fact that Democrats have a 10 point advantage over the GOP in Virginia on education shows just how wrong the national party/pundit takes on this issue have turned out to be. Virginia, of course, is where the narrative about the electoral power of school culture wars began

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 4d

HS juniors—though I think you could definitely find ways to tailor it to younger ages!

Here's one of the starting points I leaned on:

trevoraleo.substack.com/p/how-i-teac...

How I Teach Literary Theory to High Schoolers (and you can too!)

A scalable approach from secondary classrooms to seminar courses

trevoraleo.substack.com

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