How Facebook’s newest teen engineer supported his family with apps until cashing in There’s nothing that highlights the fact that Silicon Valley is the new Wall Street, gold rush, colonial settlement — insert your American Dream rags-to-riches historical moniker here — quite like the story of 18-year-old Miami resident Michael Sayman. This week, Facebook hired Sayman as one of its youngest full-time engineers in history. He wouldn’t tell me his salary, but admitted his friends are already pressuring him to “buy a Tesla,” which he won’t do because he’d “rather save the money.” I met Sayman four months ago, when the then 17-year-old developer caught Mark Zuckerberg’s eye. He had poured the last year of his life into building the game, which was a version of charades. “I’m beating Starbucks, Luminosity, Fitbit, Lyft… oh my gosh, it’s number 123 in the overall app store ratings!” But getting to the top of the app store wasn’t just a fun goal for Sayman. Since the age of 13, Sayman had been supporting his parents and his sister with profits he made from prior apps.
The Best Resources For Doing A “One-Sentence Project” One of the many great ideas that Daniel Pink has shared is having people come up with one sentence that they hope other people will use to describe them in the future. He writes about it in his books and in other writings, and I also discuss it in my new book. Students in two of my classes — one an ESL class and the other a mainstream ninth-grade English class — are doing it now and it’s going well. Here’s the student hand-out I used: ONE SENTENCE PROJECT (part of it was adapted from the third video in the next part of this post). Here are the three videos I showed prior to students working on their one-sentence: Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo. What’s Your Sentence? Here’s a video a few of my ESL students made: Mrs. Video: My English Language Learners Did A “One-Sentence Project” Let me know if you have resources to share on One-Sentence Project’s you’ve done with your class.
Casual (subculture) In the mid-1990s, the casual subculture experienced a revival, but emphasis on style had changed slightly. Many football fans adopted the casual look as a kind of uniform, identifying them as different from the ordinary club supporters. In the late 1990s, many football supporters began to move away from the brands that were considered the casual uniform, because of the police attention that these brands attracted. Casual fashion experienced an increase in popularity in the 2000s, with British music acts such as The Streets and The Mitchell Brothers sporting casual outfits in their music videos. Casuals United, also known as UK Casuals United,[7] is a British anti-Islamic protest group that formed in 2009.[8] It is closely affiliated with the English Defence League,[9] a far right[10][11][12][13][14] street protest movement which opposes what it sees as the spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in England.[15][16]
Why 'Digital Literacy' Can't Replace The Traditional Kind Have you heard about the octopus who lives in a tree? In 2005, researchers at the University of Connecticut asked a group of seventh graders to read a website full of information about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, or Octopus paxarbolis. The Web page described the creature’s mating rituals, preferred diet, and leafy habitat in precise detail. There’s something wrong with this picture, and it’s not just that the arboreal octopus is, of course, a fiction, presented by Leu and his colleagues to probe their subjects’ Internet savvy. (MORE: In Praise of Tinkering) There is a flaw in this popular account. Indeed, evidence from cognitive science challenges the notion that skills can exist independent of factual knowledge. (MORE: Should Your 2-Year-Old Be Using an iPad?) There is no doubt that the students of today, and the workers of tomorrow, will need to innovate, collaborate and evaluate, to name three of the “21st century skills” so dear to digital literacy enthusiasts.
5 Reasons To Write A Letter To Your Future Self | This Is QuarterLife In March, I turned twenty-five years old, and on that most dreaded day I received a letter from my twelve year-old-self. At twelve, I distinctly remember listening to Britney Spears’ “Ooops I did it Again,” consuming Fruit by the Foot, surviving Y2K, and wearing checkered school jumpers that came down to my knees. It was that magical time right before pimples started growing uncontrollably and watching Saturday morning cartoons was still acceptable. Oh how much has changed since those simple times. Reading my letter evoked a lot of emotions in the span of two minutes. Aside from the obvious hilarity that comes out of a twelve year-olds mind, it amazed me how much my twelve year old self seemed to know about life. 1) It reminds you of who you once were We’re always growing and changing — you’re not the same person now that you were at 15, and at 35 who knows what new interests, goals, and people will be a part of your life. 2) Writing a letter helps you reflect
Duolingo For Schools Opened Today – Here’s How It Works As I posted earlier this week (see Duolingo Takes Next Step To Conquer Language Learning World & Lets Teachers Create Virtual Classrooms), the super-popular Duolingo language-learning app unveiled its free Duolingo For Schools feature today. It looks impressive. It’s very easy to register as a teacher and create a class — in fact, it just took a few seconds. The only minor annoyance is that it appears you have to create a new username as a teacher — in other words, if you presently are registered on Duolingo, they won’t let you use that same username. It’s not that big of a deal, but it is just one more username to have to remember After registering, you’re given a link to send to students or, as I have done, post in our class blog. It will show the name of their teacher and class. Once that’s done, the student can go to work and his/her word completed will show-up on the teacher’s dashboard, which looks like this: All in all, it looks pretty darn easy. Related January 10, 2015
String Tripod This is an old photographers trick - here is my design. Sometimes referred to as a string tripod or string bipod or string monopod. Also known as a chain tripod, bipod, etc... This device is used to stabilize a camera in order to get clearer pictures at a slow shutter speed. Since image stabilization systems work best with rotational vibration, translational vibration can still create blurry pictures. More on VR here Advantages:-Cheap-Easy to make-No special tools needed (or really any at all)-Hard to break-Small-You can use this where tripods are disallowed (such as museums)-If the "tripod" gets dirty you can throw it in the wash-If you misplace it, you can make another-Rotational movement still available for panning and recomposition Disadvantages:-Does not hold as steady as a real tripod-You can get some looks while using it
Your Words Matter Your Words Matter. I had a teacher who once told me I would most likely be a college dropout. Her words mattered. When I told my wife I wanted to write a book and she said without blinking an eye, “Do it.” I told my daughter the other day how proud I was of her for writing a full sentence! My words mattered. And when I hear back from the teachers and parents that read this blog, I know my words matter. “Learning how to use language effectively will be the most valuable skill you will have to use for the rest of your life.” Woah. Want to get a job? Want to get married? Want to sell something? What Are We Teaching Our Children About Their Words? The problem I see across the board in schools and in the workplace, is that most people rarely think about the power their words have to make a positive impact. DON’T use your words to bully another person (important). or DON’T use contractions (not that important). Your Words Matter To matter means to be of consequence or importance to others.
QR Codes in Education ? An innovative way The main purpose of this blog is to share how technology can be integrated with teaching and learning , making students more active in the process. Well, something which has been going on for a lot of mostly commercial and marketing uses is the QR code. The video below illustrates the QR Code experience : Have you ever heard about it ? Nowadays the Smartphone essential use is a reality. For instance, a practical example: Teacher divides the class into two groups and share part of the teaching point of the day , whatever it is with 50% of a group and 50% with another via the qr code. How does that work ? Rach
[link] This Chelsea restaurant has gone from brasserie to brassiere. Chef Daniel Angerer is letting diners at Klee Brasserie munch on cheese made from his wife’s breast milk. “It tastes like cow’s-milk cheese, kind of sweet,” he told The Post. The flavor depends on what the cheese is served with — Angerer recommends a Riesling — and “what the mother eats,” said Angerer, who once bested Bobby Flay on TV’s “Iron Chef.” Breast milk doesn’t curdle well due to its low protein content, so a little moo juice has to be added to round out the texture, Angerer said. After blogging about his efforts with the human cheese, customers started demanding a sample, he said. “The phone was ringing off the hook,” the chef said. The response has been generally positive from those who’ve tried the cheese, although many customers are too squeamish to attempt it. “I think a lot of the criticism has to do with the combination of sex and cheese, but . . . the breast is there to make food,” said Lori Mason, the chef’s wife.
What it’s like to grow old, in different parts of the world At TED2013, Jared Diamond shares some of his research on how different societies treat the elderly. Photo: James Duncan Davidson The world’s population is getting older. Across the globe, people are living longer thanks to improvements in healthcare, nutrition and technology. Jared Diamond: How societies can grow old better In today’s talk, Jared Diamond examines the vast differences in how societies across the globe view and treat their senior citizens. The Western system for elder care is far from perfect, notes Diamond, and everyone stands to learn something from how different societies care for their seniors. Who is considered old? As Diamond mentions in his talk, the perceived value of the elderly is an important factor in determining whether seniors are respected or not. The United Nations recently turned its attention to developing policy to support aging populations around the world — and their line for elderly begins at 60. Where do the elderly live?
Facebook and social networking Introduction How many friends have you got on Facebook? What’s the friend limit on Facebook? This lesson takes a look at trends in online social networking. It gives students chance to create an imaginary online 'wall' where they can interact with each other. Topic Social networking websites Age Teenage/adult Level Time 60-90 mins Aims To help students talk about Facebook and other social networking websites To develop students’ reading skills To develop students’ question formation skills To develop students’ communication skills Materials Lesson plan: guide for teacher on procedure. Download lesson plan Worksheets: can be printed out for use in class. worksheet - seven tasks Download worksheet The plans and worksheets are downloadable and in pdf format - right click on the attachment below and save it on your computer. Copyright - please read All the materials on these pages are free for you to download and copy for educational use only.