Technolandy

Day 186 (of 2025/26) year end Three favourites categories

1. News Stories from this final week of schooling..
   1. More final exams in Ontario – viva l’1987’s apex of education theory (I guess) https://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/ontario-reveals-new-high-school-exam-requirements-docked-marks-for-unexcused-absences/article_6b9e6ed7-7098-4b5a-a6cb-cce9d4bcb40e.html but why written exams, why not have everyone do an interpretive dance? Or draw a comic strip? Or some/any other ‘one tool for all irregardless if they are good at it or not’? And under the guise of ‘getting control of the classroom’ focusing on attendance/participation/and exams… wait, that didn’t work in 1987… I look forward to people coming in, throwing up, and staying in class so they don’t get marks deducted (even though it says ‘sickness doesn’t count’ – it’s pretty clear there isn’t trust for absentees…
   2. Yikes – NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training) – the unexpected pathway after, or avoiding the graduation stage… https://thewalrus.ca/meet-the-neets/  making me think about some uncomfortable thoughts…
   3. I still see tech (esp AI and screens) as a huge disruption to education – but it’s not just about providing the tool – it’s about the pedagogy and schema. Not just the finished product… but sometimes the finished product is very tempting: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/06/ai-tutor-education-human-investment/687678/ 
2. Education books
   1. Pedagogies of Voice Shane Safir et al
   2. A Year of Leading by Kevin Reimer
   3. Coffee with the Custodian
3. Small Format Readings:
   1. Vanessa Andreotti – are humans and I sharing the same hallucination: https://vanessaandreotti.substack.com/p/what-if-humans-and-ai-share-the-same
   2. Will Richardson Manifesto for the Future of Schooling https://futureserious.school/manifesto/ 
   3. Pedagogies of Collapse by Ginie Servant-Miklos https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350400528 
4. Graphic novels
   1. Opting out – my description: the more library/book fair friendly version of GenderQueer – Maia Kobabe and Lucky Srikumar have created a fabulous story (and again, if the gender identity is your focus, you’re missing the story)
   2. Kaboom! fabulous superhero origin story for a team of Indigenous superhero’s – love how Jay Odjick flips some conventions – such as twisting the Indiana Jones line “it belongs in a museum” to a much more appropriate “it belongs with the civilization to which it belongs” (sorry, not an exact quote – I’m away from my copy of the book just now)
   3. Lord of the Flies (seriously SO much better than the original with its private school dialect that makes it harder to translate than Chaucer!)
      1. Still shouting out: Be Yourself! Oh, not like that! I am such a fanboy of the work of EmiliaStrilchuk.com 
5. Comic books
   1. Fantagraphics Uncle Scrooge
   2. Groo Prophecy
   3. Superman/Spiderman crossover
      1. Honourable mention: Bizarro year none
6. Fiction books I’m late to the party for
   1. Dungeon Crawler Carl
   2. Andy Weir collection
   3. Liu Chiu series (3 Body Problem)
7. Math puzzles
   1. Engineering.com – so much good brain works that comes from these games… and the best way: starts easy and then gets complex (not just complicated… complexity mindsets!
   2. Oodle – one of my morning puzzles https://mathszone.co.uk/resources/grid/ooodle/
   3. Countdown – 8 out of 10 cats may do it better, but it’s a fun puzzle – both the maths and the letters: https://incoherency.co.uk/countdown/practice/
8. Small Screen
   1. Digital Circus
   2. GameChanger
   3. Taskmaster series 21
      1. Honourable Mention – Good Omens Series 3 “the finale” one-shot that does a fabulous job bringing closure to one of the best screen duos!
9. Movies
   1. Superman (I LOVE what James Gunn is doing for DC movies)
   2. Frankenstein (I’m a sucker for Guillermo del Toro)
   3. Project Hail Mary (glad I read the book first though)
      1. Honourable Mentions – F1 and Fantastic Four
10. Songs
    1. Opalite (and Fate of Ophelia) both continue as earworms for me!
    2. Drop Ded (Olivia Rodrigo)
    3. Dai Dai (Shakira – World Cup 2026!!)