Tom Hegen’s ‘The Mineral Age’ Documents the Indelible Effects of the Green Transition — from thisiscolossal.com by Tom Hegen and Grace Ebert
On 11/05/2026,
in corporate / business world, creativity, geography / geology, society,
by Daniel Christian
On 10/19/2026,
in adjunct faculty, adult learning, corporate / business world, creativity, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, education reform, expectations, faculty/staff, higher education, MBA, teaching & learning, UK, United States, universities,
by Daniel Christian
I Teach at a Business School. It’s Time to Shut Them Down. — from nytimes.com by Chris Marquis; this is a gifted article
Business schools have always struggled to justify their place in the university. A medical school’s core justification is health, and a law school’s is justice — undisputed public goods. Business schools are organized explicitly around a private good: the pursuit of profit. The American sociologist Thorstein Veblen identified this tension a century ago, criticizing university schools focused on commerce because they “need imply nothing in the way of serviceability to the common good.”
Corporate influence feeds a larger problem: The cases almost always feature winners, making it easy to mistake luck or timing for a proven strategy. Failures, dead ends and nonmarket solutions are rarely considered.
…
Furthermore, edits that push the case narratives away from reality are often meant to make it “work” in a classroom. Complexity is systematically shaved away, and dissenting voices often go unheard.
Business schools have a divided mission: They seek to legitimize an economic system focused on private gain while also developing guardrails to tame it. They found a remarkable way to manage this tension: the “win-win” story in which the conflict between private gain and public good simply evaporates.
Many of my students arrive on campus wanting to work on the crises that our economic system has created. What they lack is an institution that is worthy of their better impulses.
On 10/16/2026,
in art, creativity,
by Daniel Christian
Ann Toebbe’s Skewed Paintings Transform Architectural Spaces into Cherished Places — from thisiscolossal.com by Ann Toebbe and Grace Ebert
On 10/08/2026,
in art, creativity, culture, education, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, library / librarians, metacognition / metacognitive skills, pedagogy, reading, skills, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, United States, youth,
by Daniel Christian
How Book Cover Keychains Boosted Our School’s Culture of Reading — from edutopia.org by Carsyn Smothers
This clever idea, which came from a librarian’s TikTok, is easy to carry out and encourages lively conversations about books.
Last year, I came across a TikTok that instantly caught my attention. School librarian Lauren Mobley explained how she managed to insert specially designed book covers into keychains, which students could attach to their backpacks and show off to their friends. Mobley created the book cover designs in Canva, she said, and then purchased a batch of keychains.
I loved the idea. I also wondered whether the keychains could be more than a fun craft or a decoration. Could they additionally serve as a reader advisory tool?
How Good Teachers Get Even Better — from edutopia.org by Youki Terada
Like elite athletes and musicians, even outstanding teachers have room to grow. Here are 6 research-based ways to keep sharpening your skills.
Effective teaching, then, is less about executing a set of prescribed strategies and more about developing the “informed judgment” necessary to “engage in complex decision-making and practice,” the researchers note. For example, watching how a master teacher delivers a lesson or handles difficult moments in the classroom, and then rehearsing those moves while getting feedback from coaches, allows for authentic “feedback in the moment” along with quick hints on “how to elevate instruction.”
That kind of expertise doesn’t happen automatically; it develops when teachers take the long view and engage, over many years, in a disciplined course of deliberate practice, identifying a set of skills they want to improve and then making the time to reflect on and practice them.
Arts-Integrated Outdoor Lessons for Elementary Students — from edutopia.org by Charlene Lutz
A pumpkin can become an entire unit if you let it: These engaging fall activities encourage students to slow down and learn from what’s around them.
October is one of my favorite times to take learning outside.
There is so much already happening in the environment that we really do not need to create an elaborate setup. Leaves are changing, seed pods are drying out, sticks and pine cones are everywhere, and pumpkins are suddenly easy to find. I have found that these ordinary seasonal materials can lead to some of the richest learning experiences because students are able to observe, move, touch, collect, build, draw, measure, and ask questions all within the same lesson.
Here are three October investigations I have found especially easy to adapt across K–5.
A 4-Step Plan for Promoting Metacognition in Middle School — from edutopia.org by Kasey Short
Thinking about how they think helps students develop an essential skill that supports their academic success and independence.
In middle school, as students gain independence and are given increased responsibility, it’s an essential time to explicitly teach metacognitive skills. Middle school is often the first opportunity for students to move from one class to another and interact each period with a new teacher who has their own style and set of expectations. Students also move from concrete to abstract thinking while managing long-term assignments, preparing for assessments, revising writing, and solving increasingly complex problems. When students are instructed to study, revise, prepare, and more, they need tools to make effective decisions about those tasks and useful strategies to manage their additional responsibilities.
Metacognition is an essential part of providing students with the tools and strategies they need to be successful in middle school. Work with metacognition is best used as a regular classroom practice that can be implemented by naming it, modeling, providing students with language to discuss their thinking, and creating consistent opportunities for students to engage with this skill and see its impact on their learning.
Diverse and Dramatic Behaviors Top the 2026 Bird Photographer of the Year Contest — from thisiscolossal.com by Kate Mothes & various photographers
It’s all things avian at Bird Photographer of the Year, the world’s largest contest dedicated to images of feathered creatures planet-wide. This year, the program welcomed more than 24,000 entries from photographers around the globe, capturing diving penguins, urban denizens, mating rituals, dramatic flights, and more.
Highlighting birds of all kinds, the competition emphasizes the diverse appearances and behaviors of the animals and also raises awareness of the challenges they face due human-triggered habitat loss, poaching, pollution, and other factors. Categories include Best Portrait, Bird Behavior, Conservation, Urban Birds, and others, plus three youth categories for budding photographers aged 17 years and younger.
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Illustrator Spotlight: Musubu Hagi — from booooooom.com
On 08/19/2026,
in adjunct faculty, Africa, colleges, community colleges, creativity, education, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, faculty/staff, hearts -- matters of the heart, higher education, ideas, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, liberal arts, love of learning, participation, play, UK, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Bring playfulness into teaching for collaboration and creativity — from timeshighereducation.com by Isabel Taurel
In learning, playfulness is often overlooked. Yet it could be key to embedding the soft, ‘human’ skills students will need for the future. Isabel Taurel shows how
The same is true in higher education. Students who are able to rediscover a playful mindset leave the classroom with something far more valuable than a good grade. They develop confidence, are more willing to contribute unusual ideas and learn how to adapt when the unexpected happens. These are precisely the qualities employers increasingly tell us they need.
Yet the creative and cultural industries demonstrate their growing value. Success increasingly depends on collaboration, adaptability and creative confidence, all qualities that are fostered through arts-based learning and increasingly sought in every kind of workplace.
Playfulness isn’t a distraction from serious learning. It’s one of the most powerful ways we have of preparing students for a future in which the most valuable skills may be the most deeply human ones: listening, presence, responsiveness, imagination and a capacity to create meaning together.
On 07/31/2026,
in art, creativity,
by Daniel Christian
Lifelike Birds Emerge from Foliage in Painted Paper Reliefs by The Paper Ark — from thisiscolossal.com by Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird and Kate Mothes
On 07/22/2026,
in art, creativity, design, ideas, innovation, library / librarians, reading,
by Daniel Christian
Los Angeles Public Library Unveils the World’s Largest Pop-Up Book — from thisiscolossal.com by Kate Mothes and Daniel González
On 07/22/2026,
in art, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, creativity, design, digital video, emerging technologies, experimentation, Google, graphics, platforms, tools, United States, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
The image model race just split into four lanes –> find which model fits your work — from heatherbcooper.substack.com by Heather B. Cooper
In today’s edition:
- Stop asking which image model is “best” – the top 4
- Seedream 5.0 Pro’s layer trick
- Image & Video Prompts
On 07/15/2026,
in art, creativity,
by Daniel Christian
Artist Spotlight: Sara Suppan — from booooooom.com
On 07/14/2026,
in art, creativity,
by Daniel Christian
Veks Van Hillik Suspends Fish, Insects, and Other Objects in Surreal Murals — from thisiscolossal.com by Veks Van Hillik and Kate Mothes
On 06/29/2026,
in art, communications, creativity, society, United States, youth,
by Daniel Christian
23,000-Square-Foot Clasping Arms Celebrate Community Resilience in Minneapolis — from thisiscolossal.com by Saype and Kate Mothes
“The Shape of Memories” by Photographer Riccardo Magherini — from booooooom.com
