Accidental Side Effect of a Blank Canvas

The more I think about poetry and essays about poetry, the more connections I am drawing between them. When I first set out to write this post, I believed these activities were near polar opposites. The list of differences I had in mind shrank as I bulleted them , because writing them out required giving them a moment more of thought, causing me to logic them out. Poems and essays both, although in different ways, set out to prove something. Whether that something is an observation, theory, claim, or lived experience, the reader should come out on the other side with a new understanding or feeling. I think the only true differences I can stand by are the writing processes and authorial mindset. My process for writing the essay was far more structured — I did my research, created an outline, sorted my evidence in order of relevance, and wrote my paragraphs in order. Not everyone writes this way, I realize. This is just what works for me and my academic writing. Poetry I am much less ex...

My name is Evan Cave, and I am pursuing a career in education. With four younger siblings, I have been privy to countless public and private school failures (administrative, infrastructural, you name it). One such issue was the messy switch to online learning during the pandemic from which many have not recovered. In my opinion, technology and technological advancements are not inherently dangerous. The harm always, always comes from how and where it is used. Generative AI likely has demonstrable benefits — although I have not been privy to them — however, it has been opened to the public and is almost solely being used as a poor excuse for Photoshop. The catastrophic effects AI has on mental health, media literacy, and our environment could most probably be managed if  it were not being regularly used by billions of people (Cardillo). My point is, there are undoubtedly beneficial ways to utilize tech in the classroom. While observing schools in the LA Unified School District, I d...