Michelle Kraft
banner
mnkraft.bsky.social
Michelle Kraft
@mnkraft.bsky.social
I spent 25 years teaching high school English and am currently an ELA Instructional Coach.

Violist, Cellist, Coffee Drinker, Crocheter, Reader

Writings & Reflections: http://www.goingslightlymad.com/

#iteachEnglish #NCTE
Time to start reading Macbeth (which I haven't read since high school)! I'm flashing back to the two Shakespeare courses I took in college. Carrying this around campus was a workout.

#SundayMacbethChat
November 23, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
This time of year especially, it is critical to hold a lens of generosity as much as you can as a teacher towards those around you—kids (always) but also adults.

Start with their strengths. Your appreciations. Their potential.

(Because we need others to do that for us, too.)
November 16, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Teaching in Truth: How to Stay Centered and Culturally Sustaining in a Climate of Censorship

A FREE LIVE masterclass for educators who are ready to teach with courage, integrity, and community — even when the climate makes it hard to tell the truth.

www.multiculturalclassroom.com/masterclass
Masterclass
www.multiculturalclassroom.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
A nice obituary for Alice, who was going to be recognized as one of The Post 50.

I hate that we now have to live without this phenomenal woman.

#GiftLink

wapo.st/49WOdx1
Alice Wong, disability rights advocate and wordsmith, dies at 51
Alice Wong, a transformational leader for disability rights and justice, who founded the Disability Visibility project to magnify disabled culture, died Nov. 14.
wapo.st
November 16, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
You were incredible, Alice Wong, and it was a blessing to have collaborated with you on projects, to have read your words and to have heard your voice, as full of life and passion and joy and rage as it was.

You made a difference—so much of a difference.

Rest always in peace, and always in power.
November 15, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
Okay, so let's do officially do this! a slow-read of Macbeth with Sunday discussion threads starting November 23rd! #SundayMacbethChat

Everyone's welcome! And just like Beloved, I am definitely going to be looking at this with very-fresh (i.e. humble) eyes!

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
November 15, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
🌱All week on Moving Writers: Poetry Pauses for Hope.
It's a series of tiny lessons, easy to integrate, that get students contemplating and writing about hope.

The first poem? Emily Dickinson, of course, with a twist you may not have tried before.

#poetrypauses

movingwriters.org/2025/10/27/p...
Poetry Pauses for Hope: Day 1
A fresh approach to Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the thing with feathers
movingwriters.org
October 27, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
If you have it please donate cash to the food banks. $10 in their hands will feed more people than the $10 worth of canned goods you can buy for retail prices. Also check on your elders. Many of them will not admit they rely on these programs so grocery gift cards or a surprise bag of staples
October 26, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
Register for this Thursday's #OnLeadership: Promises and Pitfalls of Text Selection event, featuring members of @ncte.org's Conference on English Leadership ( #CEL ).

We'll look at policies & practices in supporting teams when selecting texts in English classrooms.

bit.ly/CELVirtual
#OnLeadership: Promises and Pitfalls of Text Selection

Tune into our panel discussion around @ncte.org's report on secondary text selection, where we will focus on how leaders facilitate text selection processes. Then, stay to join a breakout room to troubleshoot and brainstorm.

bit.ly/CELVirtual
October 20, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
The over-reliance on standardization as the mechanism for writing instruction really was a pretty unbeatable context to produce de-professionalized teachers okay with using AI to grade
October 12, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
For Indigenous People's Day, I'd like to encourage fellow #Trekkies (and everyone else!) to read Black and Choctaw commentator @law-writes.bsky.social on one example of Native representation in #StarTrek.

www.startrek.com/news/star-tr...
How Star Trek: The Next Generation Took On Indigenous American Representation
A member of the Choctaw Nation parses through TNG's 'Journey's End.'
www.startrek.com
October 13, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
Using Google's Notebook LM, I explored the intersection of the BC Ministry of Education's "Considerations for Using AI Tools in K-12 Schools," the OECD's AI Literacy Framework, and UNESCO's "AI Competency Framework for Students" to create this list of ten essential AI competencies for our students.
October 13, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
For Indigenous Peoples' Day I wanted to highlight a sampling of recent(ish) work that has really shaped my understandings and informed my practice as an ELA educator. First is Daniel Heath Justice's Why Indigenous Literatures Matter:

www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Books/W/Why-...
Why Indigenous Literatures Matter
Wilfrid Laurier University Press - Transforming Ideas
www.wlupress.wlu.ca
October 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
My Banned Books Week plan is to make sure I've read all of these. As an ELA Instructional Coach, I'm seeing that I'm in a position to speak out against challenges if they occur in my district. We haven't had any major challenges, but teachers have concerns.
October 5, 2025 at 2:13 PM
The owners of this bookstore are living my dream. It's seven miles from my house!!!

undergroundyarnandbooks.com
The Underground Yarn & Books
Yarn. Books. Coffee. Community.
undergroundyarnandbooks.com
October 4, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
“There is artificial intelligence, and then there’s actual intelligence.”

A+ no notes ⬇️⬇️⬇️
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 1, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Agree 100%. I'd say more, but I don't want to give away the lie.
October 2, 2025 at 8:18 PM
This is bringing me so much joy!
🎶 Take a look, it's in a book 🎶

🥹 After nearly 20 years... Reading Rainbow is returning to motivate, help, and encourage kids to become avid readers with new episodes, new friends, new projects, and of course... new books! Make sure to follow the rainbow 📚🌈

#FollowTheRainbow
September 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Oh look! I TikTok trend I can love.

I love annotating in my books, especially nonfiction. Annotation was nearly an constant practice in my classroom. If annotation was possible, we annotated.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/go-a...
The TikTok Trend of Writing in Margins Is Based on Real Neuroscience
Annotating the margins of books is an important part of deep reading and has a long legacy of merit in both science and literature
www.scientificamerican.com
September 27, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
#OnLeadership: Promises and Pitfalls of Text Selection

Tune into our panel discussion around @ncte.org's report on secondary text selection, where we will focus on how leaders facilitate text selection processes. Then, stay to join a breakout room to troubleshoot and brainstorm.

bit.ly/CELVirtual
September 23, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."

www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 21, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
Insightful, well written read….

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
I’m a High Schooler. AI Is Demolishing My Education.
The end of critical thinking in the classroom
www.theatlantic.com
September 3, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
Calling ELA department chairs, supervisors, & literacy leaders!

The Conference on English Leadership hosts virtual social hours to connect, troubleshoot, & share ideas through relaxed, casual discussions. Register today & pop in on 9/9/25! Free to all @ncte.org members.

ncte.org/groups/cel/v...
Virtual Events
CEL Virtual Events
ncte.org
September 1, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Reposted by Michelle Kraft
"It has never been more important to ask myself, How am I making writing meaningful in my classroom?"

There's a lot of things (more than ever) that I'm unsure about—but one thing I am sure of?

The value of uplifting student writing in the classroom.

www.cultofpedagogy.com/student-exem...
The Power of Centering Student Exemplars | Cult of Pedagogy
Sometimes the best instructional materials are sitting right in our classrooms. Learn four ways to use students' own work in your teaching.
www.cultofpedagogy.com
August 31, 2025 at 2:17 PM