
Precarious Academic Employment and Material Goods Do Not Mix
This week is Fair Employment Week in Canada. It’s an annual event put on by the Canadian Association of University Teachers and their provincial counterparts to raise awareness of the precarious work conditions of adjunct employees. The week is usually marked by sad stories of the economic difficulties faced by …

Flags down at Ole Miss, social media diversity, learning software, teachers and librarians, new UNC system leader, and #icanhazpdf: Required Readings, 10.25.15
Filed under “Things I Never Thought I’d See”: student senators at the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., “Ole Miss”) voted last week to remove the state flag from campus because it incorporates the Confederate battle flag. In an era where what you see in your search results and your Facebook feed …

McCollum anniversary, Common Core, library grants, opting out of homework, and more: Required Readings, 03.08.15
Yesterday marked 67 years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McCollum v. Board of Education, which found that “the use of public school facilities by religious organizations to give religious instruction to school children violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.” The documentary The Lord Is Not on Trial …

School shooting fiction, librarians leaving, STEM education, universal pre-K, and more: Required Readings, 9.2.14
A Maryland teacher has been placed on leave and “taken in for an emergency medical evaluation” for a book he wrote prior to his hiring about a school shooting…900 years in the future. I wonder what these folks would have thought about the stories Stephen King published while still working …

Pop Quiz: Anyone else have trouble with libraries?
I really don’t like my home institution’s library. Even writing those words feels like some kind of blasphemy. Our library is an object of basically universal admiration in my department, with glowing praise from faculty and students alike. I can just picture the scandalised reactions of my colleagues should they ever …

Required Readings, 18 April 2013
Good morning teachers and learners! I’ve gathered your required readings for today. There won’t be a quiz, but I’ll give extra credit those who meaningfully participate in the discussion. West Virginia High School student asks for injunction against principle after abstinence speaker – Article on entire situation at the West …