Marginalia
All these old songs are like your kids … They all get you to where you are at.
What can I bring to amplify this person’s superpower.
via Virginia Trioli
🎧 Mark Ronson’s Songs of Pop Perfection (Take 5)
Where do you begin with Mark Ronson? 7 Grammys, an Oscar, and so many hit records over 15 years of writing and producing music. He may not sing, but he’s topped the charts in every other way; crafting ‘Uptown Funk’, co-writing ‘Shallow’ with Lady Gaga, and collaborating with musicians from right across the genre map. Ever since that debut album back in 2003, I’ve been a fan. The way he scooped up hip-hop, soul, and funk into perfect pop packages grabbed my attention and kept it. Over the years Mark and I have crossed paths a few times but he’s never done a Take 5. And the opportunity to get inside the musical mind of Mark Ronson is something I’ve been hankering to do for a long time. From OutKast to The Smiths, King Princess to Kacey Musgraves to Prince, hear one of the world’s great producers explore how their songs define pop perfection for him. King Princess – ‘1950’ The Smiths – ‘Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’ Outkast – ‘Ms. Jackson’ Kacey Musgraves – ‘Slow Burn Prince – ‘Pop Life’
Mark Ronson gives insight into what defines a perfect pop tune. For Ronson, the best pop songs have a tinge of melancholy, with the push pull of melody and sadness. This reminds me of his discussion of music collection for Crate Diggers. The thing I love most about listening to Ronson speak about music is his breadth of knowledge and experience.
Welcome to another month of Read Write Respond, a newsletter of ideas and information associated with all things in and out of education, mined and curated for me and shared with you.
Although July started slowly with the mid-year break, it certainly made up for this at the end with everything seemingly happening at once.
On the family front, Ms 3 has taken to letter and number recognition with gusto. There has been a lot of eye spy this letter or that. She then scowls all the visible words for traces. Ms 8 on the other hand has been asking a million questions about rocks. This has stemmed from her fascination with Minecraft. She is also translating this into the physical world, with an interest in getting outdoors to explore.
At work, I was inundated after the break with schools inquiring about attendance and reporting. Although it would be nice if they asked earlier, it is still good that they are asking.
Personally, I was inspired by Future Tense to read Brave New World. I listened to Thelma Plum’s debut, Beyonce’s Lion King inspired album, Of Monster and Men’s return and Bank’s continued brooding.
In regards to my writing, I posted a reflection on what constitutes ‘real’ work:
I also documented a recent exercise using Google Sheets to collate and curate data across teams:
Here then are some of the links collected from around the traps:
Learning and Teaching
What does success look like? card-playing edition
Dave Cormier asks the question, what constitutes success in education and how does this relate to intrinsic motivation?
Reading Lessons
Irina Dumitrescu reflects on her experiences with reading overtime. She explores how it has developed and changed based on different situations and circumstances.
Island Survival: A Cooperative Game
Emily Fintelman shares an activity around survival designed to help students work collaboratively.
Expand Your Horizons
David Truss celebrates the world of anywhere, anytime learning and what impact this has both in and out of education.
What Marathons and School Have in Common: repeated choices
Joel Speranza explains how larger choices are in fact a series of smaller choices combined. He provides a number of strategies to support learners with appreciating this.
Education is not broken. Teachers do not need fixing.
Deborah Netolicky pushes back on Mark Latham’s call for performance-based pay for teachers, arguing that what we should focus on trusting and empowering the profession.
Technology
Building trust helps the most in keeping our kids safe online
Dan Donahoo argues that rather than focusing on safety designs and managing screen time, we need to build trusting relationships with our children.
TADA – A New Look At ‘DATA’
John Philpin takes a dive into the world of data. He discusses some of the dangers, articulates some of the complexities, pushes back on various analogies, and argues that data is best understood as a form of energy.
The Internet’s Carbon Footprint
Manoush Zomorodi explores the environmental impact of the internet.
On TikTok, Teens Meme the Safety App Ruining Their Summer
Louise Matgakig looks into the work of Life360 and the culture of surveillance that it supports.
Interoperability: Fix the internet, not the tech companies
Cory Doctorow makes the case for interoperability as a solution for fixing the internet. Rather than focusing on breaking up the platform capitalism, Doctorow argues that we need to open up applications to more engagement from the outside.
Reflection
In Patriarchy No One Can Hear You Scream: Rebecca Solnit on Jeffrey Epstein and the Silencing Machine
Rebecca Solnit discusses the culture that often surrounds and supports rape.
The Invention of Money
John Lancaster looks at the invention of money and its influence on today’s economy through two historical figures: John Law and Walter Bagehot.
50 years after Apollo 11: what will we do in space for the next 50 years?
Bryan Alexander celebrates fifty years of since man first landed on the moon by wondering what the next fifty years might bring.
The art of noticing: five ways to experience a city differently
Rob Walker shares five strategies for noticing more in the city.
Tell the World
Sophie McNeill reports on the rise of the surveillance state in China to suppress the Uyghur people in western China.
Mark Ronson’s Songs of Pop Perfection (Take 5)
Mark Ronson gives insight into what defines a perfect pop tune.
Read Write Respond #043
So that is July for me, how about you? As always, happy to hear. Also interested if anyone has any thoughts on the changes I made. Rather than including a range lengthy elaborations, I have taken to providing a short summary and links to my bookmarks. Does this work? Feel free to let me know.
Cover Image via JustLego101
Also on:
NPR shares Carly Rae Jepsen summer playlist. It goes with a previous playlist of 102 summer tracks. I am always interested in what artists listen to and recommend. That is why I have been enjoying the Take5 podcast lately. I also like Spotify’s ability to share playlists. Although there are many things I like about Google Music, the ability to share is missing. I have yet to try YouTube Music. I am not sure if this is available there.