Do you think schools are "missing the point" when it comes to technology education? Do you agree with Sayman that teachers "don't want to embrace the technology because of the fear that...one day the student might outsmart the teacher"? Did you know you could earn real money developing apps? Would you want to develop your own app if you could learn the basics of coding?
Michael Sayman, a 17-year-old game developer who taught himself how to code, was recognized by Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook's development conference last week. After he graduates from high school next month, Sayman will intern at Facebook over the summer. In this story from NPR, he discusses the app he created (4 Snaps), how he used the money earned from the app to help support his family, and how he thinks many schools overlook the value of technology education. Learn more here.
Do you think schools are "missing the point" when it comes to technology education? Do you agree with Sayman that teachers "don't want to embrace the technology because of the fear that...one day the student might outsmart the teacher"? Did you know you could earn real money developing apps? Would you want to develop your own app if you could learn the basics of coding?
0 Comments
"Where's the African-American Harry Potter or the Mexican Katniss?" -YA author Matt de la Peña Authors and publishers agree: stories with non-white protagonists are shamefully rare in books written for teens. The lack of diversity in YA fiction is not just about a lack of multicultural characters and books, but also reflected in the dearth of writers of color. So what can be done to ensure the publication of more diverse stories? In this article from CNN, Matt de la Peña, a Mexican-American author and teacher, discusses how the lack of characters that looked like him in books he read as a teenager made it seem like publishing his own stories was not a possibility--and how that all changed. Read more here. Check out one of these great books from the WRHS Library Media Center! Cover art via publishers.
Check out this month's newsletter for information about new books, USBs, Google Drive tips, and more! The film of John Green's popular novel The Fault in Our Stars hasn't even been released yet, and already plans are in the works to make another of his popular books, Paper Towns, into a movie . Actor Nat Wolff, who plays Isaac in the TFiOS adaptation, will return as the main character of Paper Towns, Quentin (Q), a boy in search of the mysterious (and mysteriously missing) Margo. Read more here. Has a sentence in a book ever grabbed you? Or changed the way you think about something? Ot even just made you think, "Wow, that's a really great sentence!" Well, The American Scholar has recently published a list entitled The Ten Best Sentences from literature. Authors include Jane Austen, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Toni Morrison, and more.
What would you include? What is your own personal best sentence? Yesterday, I posted a story about the Oxford Comma that utilized an infographic to illustrate the controversy surrounding the punctuation mark and its history. Infographics are a fantastic medium to visually present data, facts, and other information on any topic. While infographics look complicated to make, they don't need to be! If you've ever wanted to try making your own infographic, check out easel.ly and use one of their templates (called "vhemes" for "visual themes") to present your info!
The "Oxford Comma," also known as the "serial comma," is quite the controversial punctuation mark. Where do you stand? Is it a helpful clarification tool or redundant space hog? Don't even know what an Oxford Comma is? Click the infographic below to learn more!
Big changes are coming to the SAT ! Back in 2005, the College Board, creators of the SAT, updated the test to better reflect current standards in education. These changes included eliminating the analogy portion of the test, updating the math portion, and adding an essay. Well, those changes may not have been as effective as planned, as a major overhaul is scheduled for Spring 2016. Learn more by clicking the links below: Learn more about the changes made to the test here. Learn more about the reasoning for the overhaul here. This month, we are excited to announce the first issue of our monthly newsletter! Inside, you will find information about important dates, new technology tools, special events, and more. Be sure to check back next month for our new issue! How private are our activities on the Internet? According to Julia Angwin, not very. In her new book, Dragnet Nation, Angwin discusses the increasingly pervasive culture of surveillance and data-gathering online, as well as why Internet anonymity is a myth. To learn more about Angwin's book, and to listen to her interview on NPR's Fresh Air, click here. Angwin on the "illusion of anonymity" on the Internet: "A lot of the online tracking was originally justified as being completely anonymous and so we shouldn't worry about it because our names weren't in those databases — it's just cookie number "123456" went to these websites. But there's been a lot of research that shows that basically people's traces and actions are very unique and when you get a large set of data that has all these varied specific actions taken by people, that you can re-identify them. ... |
About Mrs. SternWRHS Library Director Archives
August 2017
Categories
All
Websites |