This week we’ve been meeting with educational developers from all over Canada here in Calgary as part of the Educational Developers Caucus (EDC) 2014. We could have started with something like “Greetings, from sunny Calgary,” but that would have been misleading about the nature of winter here in cattle country. Metaphorically speaking, of course, the horizons seem bright in educational development. Perhaps the nicest thing about these meetings are the little oddities you pick up, like number two in the list below.

• Sesame Street Fighter has to be the most creative literacy building tool to come along since Hooked on Phonics. The video game appeals on a number of levels, from a scholarly interest in video game theory and design to a nostalgic affliction for all things Street Fighter. There’s also something to be said for the choice in subject matter and the way the game could give new life to topics such as “Russian Cities” and “German Scientists”.
• At one of the sessions here at EDC, @jaymiek alerted us to the existence of @Sweden, a national Twitter feed tied to the Curators of Sweden project. In the words of the project’s developers, “Every week, someone in Sweden is @Sweden: sole ruler of the world’s most democratic Twitter account.” Add this to the list of Swedish innovations, right after modular furniture and the zipper.
• Finally, because award season is gearing up, we thought we’d share CineFix’s clips that look at what this year’s Oscar-hopeful films would look like if they were cast with kids. Someone call the promotional team for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show and tell them someone’s stolen their bit.

We weren’t sure if we should point out that Reading Week is drawing to a close, as it seemed a little like salt in the wound (this doesn’t count as pointing it out). So in being thankful for this Friday, we thought we would remind those of you thinking about a career in academia that a week of respite is not a replacement for good work/life balance. With that in mind, we present duffymeg’s thoughts on why you do not need to work 80 hours a week. While the focus in the article is on faculty, the same principles could apply to GAs/TAs and the myths we perpetuate about “regular” work loads.