What does cognitive writing look like in 3rd grade math?

Not only does current research show that handwriting leads to greater brain activity than typing, but we can see it firsthand in our classrooms. When the screens are taken away… kids are more engaged, more regulated, and more available to learn.

“It’s not best practice if it’s not sustainable.” — @sustainteaching.bsky.social #EduSky

Sometimes making change requires speaking up even when it’s difficult. There are so many things that we do in our jobs that help neither teachers nor their students. If we are going to #MakeTeachingSustainable, then we have to stop being people pleasers, and say what needs to be said.

It’s OK to make mistakes, but we have to correct them. The writing we model for our kids is the writing that will end up in their journals. #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #maketeachingsustainable #principalsofinstagram #structuredliteracy #scienceofreading

Dare you to disagree.

If we know our students are going to be using AI, we must adapt to them. It might even give us an opportunity to raise the rigor of our assignments, specifically by giving them on demand writing tasks in class where they cannot use generative AI tools. What do you think?

FYI if you are using web-based, adaptive technologies to (ie, screen-based programs that “level” kids and send them content “at their own pace”), AI is already replacing you.

To put it simply, no, they should not. So tired of the tech babble. Let’s just invest in teachers, and divest from edtech that dehumanizes learners and learning.

— @sustainteaching.bsky.social #EduSky

Do kids always know what’s best for their learning? I don’t think they do.

The irony of professional learning is that we tell teachers to make learning experiences interactive, and engaging for kids. We tell them it’s bad for kids to just “sit and get,” but then that is exactly how we deliver PD. We need to practice what we preach so teachers are engaged. #backtoschool

If you are not familiar with A Nation at Risk, I suggest you get to know better. It is responsible for so much of what is wrong with our profession. I write more about this in “Reclaiming Personalized Learning.” Why do you think the education system is so *fun* to work in? #MakeTeachingSustainable

YES

Our kids cannot write because they cannot think. And they cannot think because they cannot write. What do YOU think? #MakeTeachingSustainable #backtoschool2025 #scienceofreading #structuredliteracy

Let’s teach teachers how to teach sustainably.

School choice is a divisive policy that undermines the very idea of a shared public good. It's bad for society.

The ECCA allows private schools to escape accountability for student outcomes, yet they receive public funds. It's a loophole. Shocking but not surprising from a Republican-controlled government.

We need to fight for equitable, well-funded public schools for every child, not fragmented systems that exacerbate inequality.

Don't be fooled: "Educational Choice for Children Act" sounds nice, but it's fundamentally about defunding public schools.

The ECCA isn't a solution to educational challenges; it's a symptom of a broader agenda to privatize public services.

School choice policies often prioritize religious schools, raising serious constitutional questions about the separation of church and state.

Here in Ohio, Dewine’s budget failed to fully fund public education. The district I teach I is losing 3 million over two years. Some districts are losing much more.

We should be strengthening public schools, not weakening them through policies like the ECCA that drain vital resources.

“Teachers cannot sustain learning on their own.” — @sustainteaching.bsky.social #EduSky #teachers

The ECCA fuels a cycle of underfunding public schools, then using their struggles as justification for further privatization.

The true cost of school choice is the erosion of public education for the majority. We can't afford this "choice."

When private schools receive public funds, they should be held to public standards. The ECCA ensures they are not.

It's not "choice" if it's based on who can afford to supplement a voucher or who lives near a private school. That's privilege.

The ECCA is a betrayal of the public trust, diverting taxpayer money from schools that serve everyone to those that serve a select few.

Before you subscribe to the assertion that charter schools get better results, remember that many of them are able to handpick their students. Who do you think they are picking?

School choice siphons off motivated students, leaving public schools with fewer resources and a more concentrated population of high-need students.

The argument that private schools are inherently better is often based on cherry-picked data and lacks independent, rigorous evidence.

Have you ever used the stop-and-jot technique? In the recent Edutopia article, Corwin author @sustainteaching.bsky.social‬ describes how to implement this method when mentoring your students in cognitive writing. Read more here: www.edutopia.org/art...

"School choice" isn't about parental rights; it's about dismantling the public sector and handing it over to private interests.

The ECCA is designed to benefit private school operators and wealthy donors, not the vast majority of students or the public good.

Why are we subsidizing private schools that aren't required to meet the same standards or serve the same diverse populations as public schools? Oh, bigotry, that's right.

The "choice" offered by vouchers often isn't enough to cover tuition, leaving low-income families with no real options.

The ECCA is a direct threat to the core mission of public schools: educating all children, regardless of background or ability.

School choice programs have consistently been found to increase racial and socioeconomic segregation in schools. This isn't equity, it's re-segregation.

ECCA is a massive federal overreach into state and local education systems, dictating funding without democratic input.

The narrative of failing public schools often precedes and justifies these privatization efforts. It's a convenient fiction.

Trump and the Republicans want to defund public education because they want an electorate that doesn't know any better. They want an electorate that doesn't know how to think on their own.

When public dollars go to private schools, there's no public accountability for how that money is spent or what outcomes are achieved. Zero transparency.

Education should be a right, not a commodity. The ECCA moves us closer to a market-driven, inequitable system.

School choice, particularly through tax credits like ECCA, incentivizes tax avoidance for the wealthy, not genuine charitable giving.

We may not be able to control the fact that AI is present in our daily lives, but we CAN control what happens in our classrooms. That said, this requires adapting our curriculum and changing how we do things, which unfortunately, many teachers are reluctant to do.

If teachers are so worried about AI writing for students, I have a suggestion: stop assigning essays for them to write outside of class, put the laptops away, and start having kids do on-demand writing assignments in class with paper and pencil. Thoughts?