Two parapraghs about maps that can also neatly serve as an educational philosophy for the 21st century classroom (source cited in the thread)

The article itself is perfectly fine -- the arts editor and the book critic answering reader questions -- but had to cackle at the utterly joy-sucking headline, like summer reading is part of the grim march toward self-improvement that must be guided by trained professionals

Freo 111, Sydney 73 Freo with 11 points in the first half and -- 100 in the second 🤯 ...as I have seen a swan / With bootless labor swim against the tide / And spend her strength with over-matching waves. King Henry VI Part 3, 1.4.19-21 #AFL

Stunning -- thank you @debmaluk.bsky.social for always being a highlight of the timeline 🙏👏

The France / Morocco commentator basically calling the match with 25 minutes left is an interesting contrast to the typical North American sports commentator, who will pretzel themselves to convince you a comeback is possible so that you keep watching ⚽️

Obits for Bonnie Tyler will of course foreground "Total Eclipse of the Heart", but have always loved this tune that's completely driven by her distinctive vocal style. One of those great songs we took in as kids in the back seat while our parents were tuned in to "middle of the road" radio. RIP

Cycling and close reading: direct contact with the road makes me alive to every nuance -- slight inclines and declines, small bits of debris, ruts and patches in the pavement -- that would not register if I was in a car, cruising to a destination

Nothing like baseball on a warm summer night 😎⚾️

Noting the definitive, apocalyptic title followed by "seems" and "might" If I had kids read this in September and asked them to start their close reading here, I can guarantee they'd come up with great answers

I don't think reading and teaching reading have ever been easy. I don't think there was some lost golden era where people lapped up Dickens and Shakespeare like cold water on a summer's day. It's hard work, and we do it because reading enriches us, enlivens us. It matters.

Alas, he’s mad. Hamlet, 3.4.121

Magazines are free to ring the bells of doom to garner attention and revenue I will keep teaching and reading and fighting for both

Been wondering all day how Hamlet might have turned out differently if Laertes had convinced Osric to go to VAR after that second hit

Universal rule of team sports: the more you employ technology to reduce officiating controversy, the more controversy you create As with all tech, the promise of perfection and greater efficiency is a false one Few know this better than teachers

On AP exam scores: any narrow, one-shot data point needs to be treated very carefully and thoughtfully, in its full context, recognizing that its relationship to classroom practice is thorny, tentative, and often counter-intuitive in that test-prep practices are sometimes not best practices.

"Now what happens? The U.S. goes out, gets hammered and people don't just resent them, they're laughing at them. They are a punchline. All the goodwill they'd earned in the first few weeks of this tournament has evaporated. They aren't just cheaters. They're bad cheaters."

A parallel between Canadian and US soccer is that the women's national teams are far more accomplished and have a higher profile than the men's teams. It will be interesting in Canada to see if the progress the men's team has made and hosting the World Cup will balance that out over the long term.

It is telling and typical of the collective American psyche that the timeline is filling up with "hey remember we're the best at women's soccer" posts. The impulse to brush aside any threat to American exceptionalism, even in something as trivial as sports, runs deep.

On the pitch and otherwise: ...purposes mistook / Fall’n on th’ inventors’ heads. Hamlet, 5.2.426-27

Would dearly love to go, it kills me not to go, but it means crossing the border so I can't #NCTE26

The metaphor that unlocked my ability to really watch soccer is that you're watching live human chess: move and counter-move, scanning the landscape for vulnerabilities

A no-win scenario for the US. You lose, you're out; you win, it's tainted.

Feeling for all the US fans who just wanted to watch this and enjoy it, perhaps as a way to escape for a few hours from ... yeah, there is no escape, that's the point and the plan, isn't it

That lost scene in Macbeth where he calls the witches and asks them to rescind their prophecies before he encounters Macduff because he feels he's being treated very unfairly

Who knew that the World Cup would boil down to two of the hosts bowing out valiantly and the rest of the world aligning against the other in righteous indignation

Yes, it was a memorable World Cup viewing experience 😎⚽️

I see, as in a map, the end of all. Richard III, 2.4.59

O nation miserable, / With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptered, / When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again... Macbeth, 4.3.121-123

Recalling for no reason that there was a storm in King Lear

Amused by North American fans who scorn soccer players that go down when they're kicked or stepped on, as if working the refs and phantom dives aren't staples of the sports they know and love

They have brought the men's program to new and unprecedented heights, even without their best player on the pitch for all but a handful of minutes. Couldn't be prouder 🍁⚽️

America, things are different now. I avoid your products. I won't cross your border. But despite these sad, strange acts of self-defence, my admiration, affection, and gratitude for so many Americans, and thus America, remains unbowed. Thank you for enriching my life in so many ways. Happy 4th.

I'm not saying I'm middle-aged, I'm just saying that singing "Don't You Want Me" with a packed house of 80s kids at The Human League show is an exhilarating experience

I'm not saying I'm an 80s kid, I'm just saying that hearing Alison Moyet sing live last night meant a lot to my teenage self who listened to Upstairs at Eric's over and over

A guitar with a curling ring painted on it is the most ridiculously Canadian thing I've ever seen 🍁🥌

The English teacher on a working holiday is delighted to stumble upon a shout out to a 19th century Canadian poet on Canada Day

My love for my country is built on a love for the land. The land is so charged with beauty and quiet strength that love is unavoidable. For me, then, Canada Day is simply a day of gratitude, of wonder.

To all the teachers, best wishes for an amazing summer You all deserve it!

yesterday, finishing the school year today, a million miles away in mind and spirit

I did see the name and do a double-take -- wait a sec, do I play for the Knicks

End of year reflection: to be a teacher is to help, to serve others with humility, to immerse yourself in some of the noblest ways to be a human

Well, if you had told me a few weeks ago that Canada would outlast Germany at the World Cup ... ⚽ Sports never fail to dish up any bit of crazy you can imagine

This piece makes a point I hadn't really thought about: There has probably never been a day where the entire world was focused on Canadian sport, and by extension Canada, in quite this way. Remarkable. Startling.

O CANADAAAAAAAAAAA ⚽️🍁⚽️🍁⚽️🍁⚽️🍁⚽️🍁⚽️🍁⚽️🍁⚽️🍁⚽️

Geese, villain? Macbeth, 5.3.15 #ShakespeareSunday

Happy Summer to all the teachers out there -- as people who know all about running the bases without getting a lunch break, you've earned it 😎

My biggest takeaway from the World Cup thus far is simply how much we are yearning for collective experience. Is it hopelessly wrapped up in consumption and profit? Of course. But somehow, nonetheless, there is something winningly pure and enchanting about it all.

A critical turning point in the history of our nation, as this will surely lead to admission into the European Union

That lost scene in Macbeth where the newly crowned King downplays the previous Thane of Cawdor's crime, saying it would barely hit the news cycle in a Scotland freshly purged of deep state actors

Why do we skate past the relative corruption of the bodies that govern world sport? So we can restore our faith in miracles