A thinking activity I like to use is to give an answer and then come up with the question. This month it feels like I have been the answer for far too many questions. Whether it be calling out problematic workflows, sorting out integration concerns, identifying access issues, fixing up spreadsheets, the answer for each seems to be me. In part it it has left me feeling like a failure in that I have not adequately built the capacity of others to sort things out, but sometimes in life when we find someone who can get things done we just go to them.

Sadly, as I started back at work in the second week of January, I did not have a much a break over Christmas. Just enough time to get a few things done around the house, such as fixing the shower. As well as catching up with a some friends. I had forgotten how much I missed in catch up with people in person. The mixed blessing is that my family and I subsequently stayed around home for much of the school holidays even though we were not in lockdown.

Personally, I have continued reading Proust’s Rembrance of Things Past, while I have been listening to The Weeknd and The Wombats. I have also been watching a lot, including Eternals, Tolkien, The Punisher and various documentaries on WWII and tanks.

Here then are some of the posts that have had me thinking:

Education Why Wordle Works, According to Desmos Lesson Developers Approaching Wordle from the perspective of learning and teaching, Dan Meyer summarises the ingredients that have helped make it work so well.

5 strategies for reading complex texts Rather than simply relying on simpler texts, Alex Quigley discusses some strategies for supporting students with grappling with more difficult texts.

How to Build the Perfect Castle Epic History TV walks through many of the different variables in the process of building the perfect castle.

Technology The History of the School Bell Audrey Watters pushes back on the idea of the factory model in regards to the history of the school bell.

AI Won’t Steal Your Job, But It’ll Sure Make It Suck Whether it be food delivery drivers working for a phantom boss or Amazon workers unable to stop for the toilet, Clive Thompson provides examples of the way in which AI has made some jobs suck.

General The Fellowship of the Rockers Ann Powers uses Get Back to reflect upon the myth of ‘band guys’.

On Songwriting Through a series of posts, Kevin Hodgson explores his process of songwriting.

Monks, a polymath and an invention made by two people at the same time. It’s all in the history of the index Anna Kelsey-Sugg and Julie Street discuss Dennis Duncan research into the index.

The Problem With ‘No Regrets’ Arthur Brooks explains that the challenge with regret is to acknowledge the past and use it for learning and improvement.

Read Write Respond #072 So that was January for me, how about you? As always, hope you are safe and well, especially during this latest wave.

Image by Bryan Mathers Inspired by the eruption of the volcano in Tonga, cover image via “Sheffield LEGO fest 2006: Volcano” by aldisley is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

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