Conditions for Learning

Newsletter

This week we observe the environments and conditions for optimal learning.

1. “Speaking, listening skills have fresh importance.” I wrote this post for Middleweb in light of our new learning environments.

2. I’m currently reading How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by artist Jenny Odell. A critique of our always-on world, in the same vein as Hamlet’s Blackberry by William Powers, Reclaiming Conversation by Sherry Turkle, Magic and Loss by Virginia Heffernan, and Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.

3. We may need to rethink productivity during the literacy block if we want deep engagement for readers and writers.

4. I enjoyed this GQ profile of one of my favorite actors: “The Making of Steve Buscemi”.

5. Four Conditions for Writing (and creating and learning in general)

For the months of June and July, 90% of proceeds from new subscriptions will be donated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. (Note: Starting June 15 through July 17, there will be no original content posted on the newsletter due to the summer book study; subscriptions will be paused.)