Annie Forest

Listened to “Sold a Story” season 2 first 2 episodes. See takes on social media by teachers conflating Direct Instruction, direct instruction, lecture, explicit instruction, rote memorization. Wild. Confirmation bias working overtime as people listen to those episodes and hear what they want to.

My morning walk with a friend had sun streaming through the trees and it stopped us both in our tracks. So beautiful.

No matter how many different schools I go to, different grades, different communities, there is one universal truth: *Everything in a lesson stops when a bug is in the classroom.* Today I witnessed a spider and a bee in 2 different classroom. 🕷️ 🐝 Always chaos! 😂

That moment when an educator reflects on what happened in a class and goes, “is there a full moon? I’m looking it up. What? No full moon?! Well then What. Is. Going. On???” 😳🤪😂🌝

Working in a school & doing math PD for teachers. Apparently some teachers (that weren’t included) heard about the PD from their colleagues and asked the math coach if they could come next time. The math coach was like, “this *never* happens. No one asks to come to PD!” Her flabbers were gasted! 😂

I miss the math Twitter days. Over on LinkedIn sharing- not the same. But I shared a coaching thing I did this week. Thanks @ddmeyer.bsky.social for reposting & friends for liking. That gave me a little of the old days feeling! 😊 @jennalaib.bsky.social @kathyhen.bsky.social @nolanfossum.bsky.social

Soul filling to see my garden full of these cute pollinators! 🐝🦋

If getting an A becomes a zero sum calculation in which harming another student’s grade will necessarily improve your own chances, I can’t imagine the emergent classroom dynamics.

Me recharging after a math conference.

Woo-hoo! My first word was the word! Wordle 1,750 1/6 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

"We are at war, and thousands of people are dead. We are at war, and we are complaining about high gas prices and long lines at the airport. We are at war, and running late for our next appointment." organizingmythoughts.org/the-zombie-d...

It's a clear and sunny day in Chicago. ICE is out and about, with vehicles sighted across the city and suburbs. Berwyn Cicero Rapid Response just confirmed feds took two people from Cicero shortly after 8am.

I had the opportunity to share some mathy ideas as a keynote speaker yesterday. 🎤 Shared a favorite quote from @mburnsmath.bsky.social. Also shared @tracyzager.bsky.social’s book, Slow Reveal Graphs @jennalaib.bsky.social, Open Middle @robertkaplinsky.com & @mathematize4all.bsky.social’s book ✨🥰

Getting word of federal immigration agents operating in multiple areas around Chicagoland this morning. Rapid responders report agents took at least one person around 7 a.m. from Chicago's Hermosa neighborhood; agents were also seen in the suburb of Berwyn, though it's not clear if anyone was taken.

Reading American history will break your heart a thousand times but it will also fill you with such admiration and awe for all the people who were excluded from the protection of America’s founding principles and fought to promote, protect and expand them anyways

Like Kendrick, political as hell precisely because it doesn't bother to acknowledge the haters. They're irrelevant, beneath attention. And nothing is more intolerable to fascists than the thought that their enemies are cool, enjoying themselves, and not thinking about them.

Don't know where to start with all the things I loved about this halftime show but it was brilliant. The staging, the sugar cane, the representation, the dancing, the JOY. Yes, yes, yes.

Relentless 🤩

Joy!

Omg. I’m snort laughing. I can’t love this more @pbs.org

14 year old me: I love Green Day! Billie Joe is so cute. *hangs posters in room* 20’s me: still love! Views align. 30’s me: yep, 💚 40’s me: *whew! Of course views align. People angry that Green Day is political? Haha* Yesss, go Green Day!

67 and 69 are examples of the twin laughs conjecture

Good afternoon from downtown Chicago, where despite heavy snowfall, thousands have gathered for an anti-ICE/CBP demonstration in solidarity with the Twin Cities. More are still streaming in. Lt. Illinois Gov. Juliana Stratton just addressed the crowd, and called for ICE to be abolished.

One of the best organizers I know in the Twin Cities has a great line, "We can't always take away the hurt, but we can take away the alone."

The "pedagogy of poverty" revisited: Recent nationwide evidence confirms once again that low-income and minority students are far more likely to get the least beneficial kind of teaching (viz., teacher-centered direct instruction) - in this case, in 8th/9th grade math classes: tinyurl.com/jufem2mu

The U.S. officially exits the World Health Organization. I know we are beyond asking why the Regime does the awful things they do because the answer is always greed, hatefulness or stupidity but sometimes I just can’t help wondering WTF is wrong with these people. abcnews.go.com/Health/us-of...

I’m teaching math methods for special education preservice teachers this semester. Saving this article to share when we talk about data and statistics! Also, I feel like my data and graph-loving pal, @jennalaib.bsky.social would like this!

Weekend under siege: ICE intensifies Twin Cities operation after killing of Renee Good, protests minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/12/i...

I wrote up a bit about Minneapolis right now, mostly to share with my coworkers and family, but if it works for you, you can share it, too. arbitrarilyclosecom.wordpress.com/2026/01/11/o...

Do it!

As an adjunct professor in my 3rd semester teaching, my new mantra is: “I don’t need to redo slides in a new cohesive theme this semester. What I have is fine.” 🫤

It is very very dark right now. But hold on, dawn is coming. You see its light reflected in the eyes of tens of thousands across this country when they tumble out into the streets in below freezing weather for vigils and marches.

My kids have been begging for me to buy “those cherries that come on ice cream” 🍒 So, I did. 5 year old: can I have a *Thursday* tonight? Me: a “Thursday”??? 5 yo: yeah! It’s like a sundae but it’s not Sunday, it’s Thursday! 😂 Sure, *Thursdays* for dessert! 🍨🍒

Hot take: don’t play a movie for students before break. It’s boring to watch a movie in every class and you will just be annoyed that kids don’t seem interested/excited to watch it! Do something fun but structured instead. I promise, it will be easier to manage before break behavior!

This isn’t enforcement. This is harassment. They’ve grabbed people off the street for how they look, separated families, and scarred communities with masked agents with guns. I encourage everyone to do as they have — peacefully protect your neighborhoods and neighbors.

Exactly. 🙌🏻

This game looks fun. Going to try with my kids! Learning coins is tough in the world where we don’t use coins much anymore! (Gentle reminder: let’s not blame the children for struggling to learn coins. They are living in the world *adults* made!) Thanks @denisegaskins.com for your game idea! 😀