Kristen Holan

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

The current “reading crisis” is not a result of limited access to reading material (hello, internet), it’s a lack of interest in reading material due to a perception that the content is boring, watered down, and is therefore not relevant to students’ lives. #reading

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

@elonmusk It will go to your campus for other “teacher-retention programs.” Just like any other government-funded program, the funds need to go directly to the end recipient to avoid corruption!

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

@elonmusk Last year, it came in June as a reward for excellent teaching in the previous school year. This year, they pushed it to your August paycheck, 3 days after the next school year. If you resign beforehand, you don’t get your bonus.

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

@JDVanceNewsX Yes. Give an allulose version.

[Marianne Williamson @marwilliamson]

During the deepest darkest night, act as if morning has already come. (Wisdom from the Talmud)

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

@PicturesFoIder Everyone knows that the price of everything is going up and inflation is through the roof… it is ridiculous to hold small business owners accountable for something that is obviously an innocent mistake. Have an ounce of intelligence to be able to see the context.

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

@ElonMuskOde I’m sure you can fit at least one into your deck of cards. 🃏

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

So, it’s official… These kids are AcPent national champions!!! Congratulations to the students and their parents, #therealmvps, for all of their hard work and dedication that took them this far. @FISDAdvAcad @nelsonmiddlepta #academicpentathlon #usad

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

@friscoisd Well done! 👏

[Frisco ISD @friscoisd]

After 300 FISD students participated, students from Nelson Middle School and Fowler Middle School advanced to the National Academic Pentathlon!

Learn more: https://t.co/pMfdaCVkuG

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

@USAD_Main When will Pentathlon Nationals scores be released?

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

Irony at its finest

[Nathan Baugh @nathanbaugh27]

Christopher Nolan doesn’t write detailed outlines.

Instead, he “draws shapes and diagrams and other structural things” to keep the story on track.

Like this, the plot map Nolan used for Inception.

Let me explain...

In storytelling, the idea of structure is everywhere:

• 3 Act
• StoryGrid
• Hero’s Journey

But Nolan claims those restrict his creativity.

He prefers to think in ‘shapes’ rather than in hard rules.

It reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut, who taught about the “shapes of stories” at Harvard.

Kurt broke down all stories into 8 unique shapes.

The engineer in me loves this view of stories. Instead of vague, hard-to-explain ideas, narrative arcs become data points you can plot.

Nolan’s plot map resembles Vonnegut’s “Man In Hole” story shape.

The main character gets into trouble then gets out of it again and ends up better off for the experience.

But Nolan’s a genius — so he layers on even more.

***

As Cobb moves closer to Limbo, he travels “down” the plot map, closer and closer to disaster.

Then he fights his way back “up” to reality.

Nolan’s plot map isn’t just the shape of his story,

It’s also how he designed the world — dreams within dreams.

***

Inception is one of the most complex mainstream movies ever, runs 2.5 hours, and made ~$835M at the box office.

Yet Christopher Nolan fits the entire arc on a one page map.

That’s brilliant.

So, next time you tell a story, give the "shape" idea a try. It may come more naturally than you expect.

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

@NoContextHumans The internal combustion engine

[Frisco ISD @friscoisd]

Congratulations to Fowler Middle School, Nelson Middle School and Vandeventer Middle School for placing within the top 10 during the online National Academic Pentathlon! #OurFISDStory
https://t.co/AAmGDqWLns

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

The legit best. 😁
Nelson 7th grade team wins first overall, and our 8th grade team wins second! Go Nighthawks! 💚🦅

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

Congratulations! Students Named to All-State Bands, Orchestras and Choirs https://t.co/NnZsbntiFw

[Edward Tian @edward_the6]

I spent New Years building GPTZero — an app that can quickly and efficiently detect whether an essay is ChatGPT or human written

[Kristen Holan @mrsholan]

Shout-out to the sweet family who legally couldn't leave the airport to go home after their flight was canceled because @SouthwestAir shipped their children's car seats to Orlando.