Anna Smith

Anchor your interests & lines of inquiry in broader, field-specific problem-spaces, but also help the committee understand how you will contribute to its many programs, initiatives, & offerings! Always ask the following: "What would a successful first year look like for this position" #literacies

This becomes most important at the point of campus visits. Start your talk w/ a brief introduction to who you are. Not only in terms of your research & scholarship, but in regards to what you value, your axiological commitments. For some, this is the only time they'll interface w/ you #literacies

I have been of the opinion for about five years now that we are all mostly clinging to the *idea* of social media. But that it has not existed, as we mean it, since Jack sold Twitter. The minute capital lined up to fold social media into its technocratic political consolidation, it stopped existing.

Flyer: Are you seeking a postdoc position? Help make high school science more accessible to blind and low-vision students. Join Dr. Shaheen's lab at Illinois State University as a Postdoctoral Scholar starting Fall 2026. nlshahe@ilstu.edu https://jobsearch.illinoisstate.edu/cw/en-us/job/521173?lApplicationSubSourceID=

Are you seeking a postdoc position? Help make high school science more accessible to blind and low-vision students. Join Dr. Shaheen's lab at @illinoisstateu.bsky.social (also affiliated with @edunowlab.bsky.social --see above) as a Postdoctoral Scholar starting Fall 2026.

Act II is horrific, but can we go back to Act I? Do I have to do LinkedIn? Is that really where I need to be? I keep hearing it is 😭

Education Now Lab receives ARCS Tier II grant to build an inclusive future for teaching and learning A team with the Education Now Lab is exploring how emerging technologies can be used to better understand and address longstanding educational dilemmas.

Need a little bright spot in your doomscrolling? Thanks to the team in the School of Teaching & Learning at @illinoisstateu.bsky.social for this story about our @edunowlab.bsky.social's ARCs grant! news.illinoisstate.edu/2026/01/educ...

Our SIG is still accepting nominations for the Steve Witte Lifetime Achievement Award! Nominations are due Jan 23rd. 👇

Good morning. I'd like to invite anyone who is interested to make a small gesture of kindness today. It's up to you to decide what that can be. The key is for you to act on the idea. With so much out of our control, we can choose how to be with each other today and every day.

4 letters!?! Last thing I want on a committee with 100 applicants is another predictable letter (probably written by Ai).

I've watched thousands of videos from the Jan. 6 riot as part of NPR's reporting and archive project on that day.

Here are some of the lesser known videos that have really stuck with me.

🧵

Screenshot of class website, a grid with an image embodying the theme of each week.

Seeing lots of folks incorporating "critical university studies" lessons into their spring classes. For what it's worth, my 2022 Redesigning the Academy class site is totally open, and I've got a bunch of relevant (open) Arena channels, too... [1/2]

redesigningacademy.wordsinspace.net/spring2022/

We're hiring! Senior position in the learning sciences.

"We seek a scholar whose research has focused on the development & application of learning technologies to achieve just & equitable educational learning opportunities, teaching practices, policies, & systems."
careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...

OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Make ChatGPT "Prioritize" Advertisers in Conversation OpenAI employees working on ChatGPT report plans to unleash sponsored advertisements above organic results.

“This could look like a user asking how much ibuprofen to take for a headache receiving a promoted ad for Advil in the chatbot’s response. Meanwhile, actual results on correct dosage may be brushed to the side, or buried under a mountain of ad text…”

please stop with the ai images to put your head on some other body. i refuse to rip poorly photoshopped pics. they were lovely in their jaggedness. long live poorly photoshopped pics!

almost nothing more satisfying than the end-of-semester closing-of-264-tabs ritual

It's not that "no one was ready" it's that literacy efforts don't get funded, fact-checking is now "censorship", grants got killed, taxing companies to mitigate social impact =nonstarter in the US, politicians focused on the wrong things. Trust & social norm breakdown the are major non-tech issues.

I spent all day repeatedly needing to be told it wasn’t Wednesday. What is with this week!?

I was just thinking about this series (and you) the other day! Glad it is still going and thank you for giving me a good excuse to stop doomscrolling!

truer words have never been spoken

Many congrats to Dr. @philnichols.bsky.social and team for receiving the 2025 Arthur Applebee Award at the Literacy Research Association conference! You can read the winning article here (ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....) #literacies

✈️ Heading to the Literacy Research Association annual conference? 💡 Here are LR:TMP co-editor, @anna-phd.bsky.social 5 Ideas for Turning LRA Presentations into LR:TMP Papers! 💻

Submission to LR:TMP are open to LRA presenters and are due February 6, 2026 at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/lrtmp

I paid for H+ for the next month to catch up too!

Flyer for new chapter with my profile pic and in the background brightly colored woven blanket. It says CHAPTER 10: Positioning Youth: Contemporary Waves of Theory Building in Writing and Writing Development Anna Smith Theories, Models, and Practices of Literacy 8th Edition Edited By: Misty Sailors, Idalia Nuñez, Vaughn W. M. Watson, James V. Hoffman, Donna E. Alvermann To order a copy of the book:

The editors set such a beautiful & vital vision for vol 8. Highly recommend checking out the whole handbook! Such an honor to be invited back for Theories, Models, & Practices of #Literacies, Vol 8.

I think there's an interesting study of media to be done looking at who gets labeled an "expert" and who gets labeled a "skeptic". Certainly for coverage of "AI", but I wonder if there are other topics that would make interesting comparisons.

Can someone point me to the official list of degrees no longer deemed professional? I am only seeing news reports and social media posts and want to see the full list. Thanks!

a man wearing glasses and a suit is making a funny face and says wibbly . Alt: The Doctor saying “wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff” while moving his hands around

I’m participating non-linearly in tonight’s #literacies chat and this is reminding me that we (maybe it was just me 🤓) wanted to do a temporalities conf sesh at some point. Gotta make that happen! (And speaking of fandoms…)

A3: I asked folks in my English Ed methods class to speculate on the future of literacy education and their role in that future via story. I noticed how the speculative gave them space to really consider not just what they perceive as wrong in the field but also how they challenge them. #literacies

Join us for our December slow chat! This will be an informal #literacies touchpoint before the start of the holidays. Let's continue the conversation!

A1 so many favorites! This semester I taught a critical issues PhD course and I got to fangirl by reading some pf my favorite scholars @deroomat.bsky.social @karismjones.bsky.social @wargojon.bsky.social @joshcoleman.bsky.social @scottstorm.bsky.social @amystorn.bsky.social @srtoliver.bsky.social