#coding for 2nd graders

[dedalvs]

Hey! I'm David Peterson, and a few years ago, I wrote a book called Create Your Own Secret Language. It's a book that introduces middle grade readers to codes, ciphers, and elementary language creation. The age range is like 10-14, but skews a little bit older, as the work gets pretty complicated pretty quick. I think 12-13 is the best age range.

Anyway, I decided to look at the Amazon page for it a bit ago, and it's rated fairly well (4.5 at the moment), but there are some 1 star reviews, and I'm always curious about those. Usually they're way off, or thought the book was going to be something different (e.g. "This book doesn't teach you a thing about computer coding!"), but every so often there's some truth in there. (Oh, one not 1 star but lower rated review said they gave it to their 2nd grader, but they found it too complicated. I appreciate a review like that, because I am not at all surprised—I think it is too complicated for a 2nd grader—and I think a review like that is much more effective than a simple 10+ age range on the book.) The first 1 star rating I came to, though, was this:

Now calling a completely mild description of a teenage girl who has a crush on another girl controversial is something I take exception to, but I don't want to pile on this person. Instead I wanted to share how this section came to be in the book.

The book is essentially divided into four parts. The first three parts deal with different ciphers or codes that become more complicated, while the last part describes elementary language creation. The first three sections are each built around a message that the reader can decode, but with language creation, the possibilities are too numerous and too complicated, so there isn't an example to decode, or anything. It would've been too difficult.

For what the messages to decode are about, though, I could do, potentially, anything, so at first I thought to tie them into a world of anthropomorphic animals (an ongoing series of battles between cats and mice), with messages that are being intercepted and decoded. My editor rejected that. Then I redid it so that each section had an individual story that had to do with some famous work of literature. My editor rejected that as well. He explained that it needed to be something that was relevant to kids of the target age range. I was kind of at a loss, for a bit, but then I thought of a story of kids sending secret messages about their uncle who eats too many onions. I shared that, my editor loved it, and I was like, all right. I can do this.

The tough part for me in coming up with mini-stories to plan these coded messages around was coming up with a reason for them to be secret. That's the whole point of a code/cipher: A message you want to be sure no one else but the intended recipient can read in case the message is intercepted. With the first one, two kids are poking gentle fun at a family member, so they want to be sure no one else can read what they're writing. For the last one, a boy is confessing to a diary, because he feels bad that he allowed his cat to escape, but no one knows he did it (he does find the cat again). For the other, I was trying to think of plausible message-sending scenarios for a preteen/teen, and I thought of how we used to write notes in, honestly, 4th and 5th grade, but I aged it up a bit, and decided to have a story about a girl writing a note to her friend because she has a crush on another girl, and wants her friend's opinion/help.

Here's where the point of sharing this comes in. As I had originally written it, the girl's note to her friend was not just telling her friend about her crush, it was also a coming out note, and she was concerned what her parents would react poorly.

Anyway, I sent that off with the rest of my draft, and I got a bunch of comments back on the whole draft (as expected), but my editor also commented on that story, in particular. Specifically, he noted that not every LGBTQ+ story has to be a coming out story, the part about potential friction between her and her parents because of it was a little heavy for the book, and, in general, not every coming out story has to be traumatic.

That was all he said, but I immediately recognized the, in hindsight, obvious truth of all three points, and I was completely embarrassed. I changed it immediately, so that the story beats are that it's a crush, she's not sure if it'll be reciprocated, and she's also very busy with school and band and feels like this will be adding even more busy-ness to her daily life as a student/teen. Then I apologized for making such a blunder. My editor was very good about it—after all, that's what drafts and editors are for—and that was a relief, but I'm still embarrassed that I didn't think of it first.

But, of course, this is not my lived experience, not being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. This is the very reason why you have sensitivity readers—to provide a vantage point you're blind to. In this case, I was very fortunate to have an editor who was thinking ahead, and I'm very grateful that he was there to catch it. That editor, by the way, is Justin Krasner.

One reason I wanted to share this, though, is that while it always is a bit of a difficult thing to speak up, because there might be a negative reaction, sometimes there is no pushback at all. Indeed, sometimes the one being called out is grateful, because we all have blindspots due to our own lived experiences. You can't live every life. For that reason, your own experience will end up being valuable to someone at some point in time for no other reason than that you lived it and they didn't. And, by the by, this is also true for the present, because the lives we've lived cause us to see what's going on right before our eyes in different lights.

Anyway, this is a story that wouldn't have come out otherwise, so I wanted to be sure to let everyone know that Justin Krasner ensured that my book was a better book. An editor's job is often silent and thankless, so on Thanksgiving, I wanted to say thank you, Justin. <3

[ourolite2]

　　　　　　 ༅ 𝒞irce 𝒴ué'li 𐙚 ˙

♱ all sobriquets + pseudonyms. ࿓ fang/master yuè’li ( legendary title + formal title ), circo/mr. circo ( playful + respectful, via yashmi ), sir ( his dogs + formal others ), sir circe/ sir yuè’li ( formalities/commonly respectful ).

ᰍ overall notables. plays an electric guitar (named it delune). has a bloodhound named babydoll and a doberman named yìzé. works as a part-time music teacher for 2nd - 3rd graders. asanbosam’s (the type of vampire he is) are more agile in trees and high places, so he’s kind of clumsy otherwise. often recommends products (notably the brand anzhong, originated by an upcoming oc of neso’s), random cleaning tips, or even seasonings. considers calling off of work a lot, though he knows if he does they’re bound to fire him this time. circe also doesn’t socialize too much, and he’s very territorial about his cottage (and so is yìzé— wonder where he gets that from). he’s a little too territorial actually, seeing as circe usually sucks the blood of/eats any trespassers that ignore his precaution signs. he does so by jumping down from the roof of the cottage or a tree and pinning them. (even friends get tackled if they don’t give him a heads up that they’re on the way!) ᰍ standard physical facts. 6'3. retractable wings with a 20 foot span, which are black and grey with red, pink and silver undertones, and retractable iron hooks for feet. tips of his hair turn auburn when he’s experiencing intense emotions. always smells like anzhong products- particularly colognes. has a chinese tattoo on his inner forearm that translates to damu héxián qín. his nails are painted black, but they get chipped easily because he’s really hands-on daily. lastly, he has a deep, relaxed and very distinctive voice which can be heard here!

დ genshin au notables! n/a ( temporarily ). დ spider-verse au notables! n/a ( temporarily ). დ jujutsu kaisen au notables! n/a ( temporarily ).

ᰍ age appearance. twenty-five ( 25 ). ᰍ birthday. may 9th. ᰍ nationality, race, + ethnicity. ( varies per au ), asanbosam, + senegalese and chinese. ᰍ gender, prns, + sexuality. male (amab), he/him, + omnisexual.

ᰍ sun sign. taurus. ᰍ MBTI. istp-a, the assertive virtuoso.

ᰍ likes. his electric guitar (delune— yes, he named her); playing the guitar is considered his biggest hobby, adoration and talent. his old doberman, yìzé, and his bloodhound babydoll. his cottage. alone time. blood oranges. ironically, loves garlic bread + garlic based dishes (especially pasta). scaring trespassers, or making his friends jump with jump-scares and shoulder-taps for a good laugh. coal black, wine red, and sometimes pink! strawberry icecream. philosophy and sacred music, especially within the selenian race. feminism. boots. silver jewelry. having his hands in aesthetically pleasing positions (pockets, behind his head while laying down,arms crossed, etc). anzhong products. people who use manners. sweethearts, but especially male sweeties (he just wants to pinch their cheeks ugh). MOTHAFUCKING INDIGO! <;3 ᰍ dislikes. random space invaders/leeches. too many home guests (or any really). yellow. stalkers/yanderes/yandere-coded people (specifically when targeted at him). pushy people. paranoia, pessimism + assumptions. difficult/slow learners (as a music teacher he struggles with younger kids that don’t process so easily). jellies and jams. the taste of vanilla. misogyny and misandry. bad hair days. getting stuff under his nails, especially when freshly done. vengeance, gossip + untrustworthiness. cooking for people, especially when there’s a lot of em’— no, even worse if they’re too picky.. bicycling. hot, summer days. being caught in the rain without a stylish umbrella. loud noises. dogs that bark too much.

･ﾟﾟ❥ quotes.

After It Rains ୨୧ “Jeez, what a mud bath. *Looks at his dogs.* Glad you two are out of your piglet puppy days heh heh. Guys? *Theyre walking away from him and he’s holding back laughter.* Was it something I said? Come ahhnn! I’m saying you liked the mud!”

About Jihane ୨୧ “The last time we spoke she foretold that my aura was yellow indefinitely. She was wrong. .. It’s red. *Looks off at something in the distance and pauses.* I’m not delusional.”

About Circe: Signature Dish ୨୧ “Nah. That’s a myth, just a little misconception. I use garlic in a lot of my dishes, especially pasta. The best kind I’ve tried thus far? Cherub Sin, easily. It’s a faultless dish. I personally believe the best noodle for any garlic and parmesan pasta is angel hair, and that dish recognizes it perfectly.”

Good Night ୨୧ “Hm.. Remember the night routine I showed you. Ice. Your. Face. Top priority, right? Alright then, and I bid you goodnight. *Nods off salute-like with two fingers and walks away.*”

oc masterlist. extended details. visualizer.

⑅ leman productions. all rights fucking reserved, do not plagiarize.

[doin-just-fine]

What the brain doin?? PT. 2 of a questioning median system's journey

TW: This post may be triggering for systems who are prone to denial spirals.

"Plural vs Neurodivergent"

Am I a system or just neurodivergent

As I continue my potential system journey I want to make sure that I am open to other non-options as being answers to my situation. I don't wanna jump blindly into "I'm a system". I need to keep in mind that I am neurodivergent and just so happen to have a hyper-fixation on plurality. I need to remember that some symptoms may be confused with symptoms of my ADHD. I also need to make sure that I'm not just running into this because its one of my hyper-fixations. So...

Comparing masking and code switching to my experiences

Background

I was never really told about my ADHD beyond it makes it harder for you to control impulses, sit still, and focus. When I was diagnosed at age 8 there wasn't really enough information out there anyway. I started medication immediately and have been taking in every single day of my life since. I am now 22.

What handling my ADHD like this means:

Developing a tolerance to a dosages happened faster because I never took a break so I was on a really strong dosages really fast.

I grew up really distant from my ADHD symptoms (and other things) beyond the ones that broke through the medicated barrier.

When I take breaks from my meds now, I have the coping skills of a 2nd grader.

I am almost 100% certain that all my system questioning started when I ran out of meds and couldn't get more for several weeks back in April. The other things I grew up distant from were my emotions. I can feel the highs and lows but I can't feel the in-betweens. If you ask how I'm doing at any given moment I'll usually answer "idk" cus I genuinely don't know. I don't know how to answer that question.

My working theory as to why we might be a system is that we are a Neurogenic system. That our neurodivergency and how we coped with it is why we split off but in a "not-really" way.

Since I grew up with little information about what ADHD was and how distant I grew up from my own symptoms means that I am less familiar with the definitions of masking and code-switching than your average ADHD haver. I understand what they are and when I do them but I am fuzzy on how far those coping techniques go for me.

Comparing masking/code-switching to a plural experience.

Masking is typically defined as a technique used by neurodivergent people to hide their symptoms in an attempt to blend in with neurotypicals. Examples of this that I know I do are forcing eye contact, adding fill words when listening to someone to show you are actively listening ("right", "uh-huh", "totally", etc) usually paired with non-stop head nodding, not stimming or relying of little subtle stims, putting up with sensory nightmare environments, etc. When I find that when I'm adding things to my mask I have to actively remind myself while masking to do the thing but overtime it becomes habit.

Code-switching is typically associated with linguistics but is also used to describe the neurodivergent technique of context masking. From what I can tell, code-switching is what happens if you have two different friend groups with two very different vibes. When you hang out with one group you're going to mask and present yourself differently to fit in better than you would with the other group. Another popular example is theres you when you're with your friends and you're when you work in costumer service. Typically, those are two different ways of behaving. Code-switching and masking tend to over lap. Code-switching is like being able to pick the mask you put on.

I've read that typically, masking is unconsciously executed and code-switching is consciously executed.

Switching/Fronting can definitely fall into a similar pattern. If an alter is fronting and need to interact with someone they may mask to appear like the host OR if the host is co-con they may take control for a moment when interacting with someone. Similarly, some systems may have a member who's role is to go to work and so they may appear as the "work persona". I'm also sure there are systems who have members that are drawn out while around certain friends or friend groups, or even other system's alters!

You can start to see why this can get really confusing!!

Comparing my experience

It's so hard to draw the line on what is or isn't a "typical" experience anymore.

I disagree with the idea that masking is typically unconsciously utilized for me at least. I feel like my mask is always evolving and being improved upon, as a result I am constantly thinking about it and how well it's working. Yes, a lot of the mask becomes habit but on days where masking is hard I have to actively think about keeping up the mask.

As for code switching I feel like that can also become more unconscious over time. I worked in customer service for 4 years, I only had to actively think about code-switching for the first month really then it just became habit. In my first post, when describing what it's like to exist in my brain, one way I described it was:

"The way people describe masking but for me it feel like a more extreme level, where I’m not TRYING to change my behavior, it just sorta happens and I’m 'someone else'. What I called masking felt more like skipping songs in a playlist to get to the right one instead of putting on a mask."

I think this is actually me describing code switching. The other descriptions I listed in that post still stand.

I have never experienced someone else fronting (to my knowledge). As far as I'm aware I'm always in the front. I have no amnesia except for emotional amnesia where I am emotionally detached from certain memories. I'm going to make a separate post about dissociation because that's another confusing one. To really simplify, The closest I get to evidence of others in my mind are thoughts that don't feel like mine, and feelings that don't feel like mine.

I don't want to reflect on past times where I think someone may have been co-con and compare that to how I experience masking/code-switching because I can easily insert things that never happened into that reflection. Mayhaps I will wait until a moment like that happens after I post this and I'll make an edit to the post and reblog it.

Until then don't know what to conclude from all of this. Hopefully it helps someone else compare their experiences. If I am wrong about thing stated here please let me know. As always if you want me to expand upon something mentioned or have any questions, comments, or comparisons my asks are open please feel free to put it all there!!!

[openstorygames]

Don't miss your chance on this sale! Grab a game or two, or save any more by picking up all 5! This won't last long, so catch it now!

Educational Games

Whither & Whence is a mapmaking game to help kids practice their measuring skills without even realizing it. Play in the classroom or at home to strengthen beginning math skills with kids in K-2nd. Encode is a ELA language-building game for kids who want to be spies. There's a certain amount of spelling and phonics that will make this game easier, but 3rd graders playing in teams had a blast playtesting! Older kids will love creating their own secret code, but the secret's on them: they're practicing language skills as they play! Intended for 4th-8th grade. Lil Gremlins is a journaling game for any age! Focus on emotional reactions and build those SEL skills, or use the fill-in-the-blank journal pages for kids who are working on handwriting. Use this game to help students learn to write stories and build a narrative with just a few minutes a day.

After-Bedtime Games

These games are for grownups once the kids are in bed. Whether you're a busy parent, a worn-out teacher, or any adult looking for a good game, these are for you! The Elders is a GMless roleplay-heavy game for 3-6 players. Retire a party of adventurers as they choose the next generation of heroes. Dolorine is a solo journaling game where you play as a deity who undergoes suffering to store up power. The Dolorine seeks to destroy the Bringer of Death and free mortals from their curse.

[tsumeinuzuka--callme]

i wanna hear the stories from work

there was a week a few months a ago where a child was writing on the wall of the bathroom with their poop every day i had a month where there was a 2nd grader that was writing on the walls with sharpie, but every time i washed it off, the next set would get more and more aggressive and code like? also the kid's like, 4'5 and managed to write "bitch" on the ceiling tile lmao some fun ones! i was getting trash from a 1st grade class and one of the girls was like, "HEY. Whats your name.." so i told her my name and she replied "HEY.. that's my Aunt's name" there's another 1st grader who snuck enough dirt to fill a small pot into her class and put it all around her desk, and when i asked her why she did that the next day she grinned and said "..you weren't supposed to see that" ( this 1st grade is wild and feral and i have a few stories abt her) also a 1st grader gave me a pokemon coloring book page with only pikachu colored in

[lovethesagefan]

FOR THE CHILDREN!!!

I think I, and so many teachers, put up with all the crap from the bureaucrats and the low pay is for only one reason...the children. Teachers love what they do so much that they are wiling to be denigrated by society when athletes, and many of them do deserved it, get a boatload of money and are celebrated for their skills. Yet, teachers do the hard work day in and day out of trying educate the masses.

Today in my journey, the one thing on my mind was...the children. I soften my anger with the school because of the children. They are doing something that is old. They are putting glue on their hands to only peel it off. I told them that is so 1970s. I actually did that in 5th grade at Park Street Elementary School! For whatever reason, putting these pimple medication "stars" on their face. I thought they were regular stars I would put on students' paper. If you look at the picture, one student gave me a "star" to put on my face. I wore that star on my nose all day. I think I am on the downhill slide of being accepted by the children.

I have forgotten how dramatic 7th graders can be. It is days like to day makes me wish that I was in a classroom filled with high schoolers. They engaged in a lot of back and forth nonsense. I had a child who was just talking out during the lesson which was going over the code of conduct. I had to have a conversation about his behavior. Then a child who has given me the most trouble came to me....ME because she didn't like one of her teachers. Child, you don't even like me! She had a change of heart because after our row, I told her the next day we would start out fresh. You see, as a person of faith, I believe in 2nd chances. My problem is I may give too many chances for change. And now that I am where I am supposed to be, she is better. Maybe it's because I am not the main teacher. Anyway, she not as abrasive as she was when I was teaching ELA.

My work with the children has expanded to children who I do not come in contact on a regular basis. I saw a child sitting outside the classroom. A child needs to be in the classroom. There had been some type of altercation with teacher and he got put out. Now I could and should have ignored him because it wasn't my business, but I spoke to him. I found out the reason. Part of the problem was the teacher was calling him by his last name! Lord! Help me!! So I spoke with him. Then I had him to follow me to the office while we talk. By the time we got back, he realized that he should apologize and that being called by his last name isn't that disrespectful. I told him when I started teaching 7th grade I called all my student by their last name with Mr. or Ms. in front. The teacher wouldn't let him back in which bothers me, but I can't do adults, though I have been in that situation. LOL! So the students came into my class and sat at my desk. When the day ended, we went to speak to the teacher and he apologized. He promised to start fresh on Monday. I hope the teacher will do the same.

When I get some money I am supposed to go out to find a medium upper hoodie for a student who says he does have one. I am supposed to be trying to get something for some other student. I can't remember. The need is so great. It always has been.

This last story is last because it is so sad. We were going over the Student handbook and we were discussing gangs. Without being prompt, this young man asked to be recognized and he stood up in front of the class and made an impassionate plea for his classmates to not join gangs. He kept repeating his message. He talked about rappers and their "gang" signs. "Don't do it!, he said. I was almost in tears. This young man has seen some stuff. I could tell. I wanted to give him a hug. This is why teachers deserve NBA or NFL pay. We are tasked with not only teaching ABCs, Algebra, good health, writing paragraphs, what the insides of a frog look like, or even what is the capital of Alberta. We are tasked with molding and shaping a new generation. We can't solve all their problems. We can't solve even half of them.

Teachers are burning out faster than a raging forest fire in July in California. Some of the teachers who are coming into the profession are not the best because the best are choosing other paths. The ones who are coming in are not staying. Technology is here to stay but we are losing that "personal" touch.

I can be made at coworkers, but I can't be mad, for an extended time, at students. We are living at a time where you would think children are living lives that are great, but that isn't true. Homelessness and hunger are rampant. School is the only place they can get two free meals 5 days week. School is the only place where hopefully they feel safe. School is the only place where they can see Mr. Norah put a star on his nose. Why? The answer is...FOR THE CHILDREN!

[looksforleaders]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: 🔹️NWT "Summer Jackson Grown Up" Paperback Book.

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Other things they've done I've complained about before:

-They called me on the phone after work hours and talked for an hour about how unprofessional our boss is.

All our boss did was send an email to everyone about the dress code reminder. There was no specific incident. It was just a little reminder.

She took this personally and called me, thinking it was about her or me.

-Five seconds of meeting her she told me "I was worried about having to work with another person but you seem like a good person"

.... I barely talked to her, and she didn't know me at all.

-Same conversation when we first met. I accidentally admitted I have autism but wasn't diagnosed until my late twenties. mostly cause I did well in school and didn't really struggle with school work, was a good kid and wasn't disruptive.

Her response was: "so then...what's wrong with you?"

-Complains constantly behind another coworkers back about how their pronouns aren't "grammar accurate" when I keep explaining to her, that my Bachelor's was in English and using "they" to refer to a person isn't inaccurate at all.

- Our Boss will tell her to do things. If I'm working in the same building with her at the same time... She'll turn around seconds after asked to do something, and then asks me to do it.

-Constantly asks for me to give her the books I have for the Elementary school library and give them to the Middle/Highschool library.

I can't do that. That decision falls on my Boss.

-We were hired for the same job at the same time. She just works in the highschool and I work in the elementary school. Yet she treats me like I'm her boss and superior, and comes to me with lots of questions that I can't really answer.

-She legit once told me that an idea I had for a storytime was "stupid" ...... The idea was reading a book about sharks for shark week and maybe making paper shark crafts.

-once when we were pre-cutting strips of paper for a craft. She exploded at me for them not being perfectly even and that the 2nd graders will fight over length.

....when the craft actually happened. None of the kids noticed or cared and actually preferred ones of different lengths to be unique.

-I once set up a carnival game for a community event the library was hosting for the kids. That "hit the cans with a ball and win a prize" game. Just a mini carnival for them to win cheap prizes.

She asked me "what's the point of this?"

....to win prizes? For fun? Because it's a carival?

I explained all this and she didn't understand.

-kids having fun is a foreign concept to her and she has three teenagers..... I worry about how those kids might have been brought up....

-Due to conflicting information received from my other coworkers.... When we first met she lied about her age. About seven years younger difference.

.....

I always try to give her the benefit of the doubt.

But she tests my patience in the worst way.

I'm going to kill my coworker for CALLING me at nine in the morning to ask me what her password is.

[skoolofcode1]

Benefits of coding for 1st graders

Whenever most guardians begin planning extracurricular for their children, they start with the basics like soccer, dance, and many more. Their first thought for engaging their kids most likely does exclude programming.

While such an early presentation could appear to be odd from the start, coding for 1st graders is undeniably more normal than you could naturally suspect. Almost nine percent of engineers surveyed in the Stack Overflow study started coding before their 10th birthday celebration. In addition, it appears to be probable that reasoning for why children should code will grow as advanced proficiency concretes itself as a basic precept of current teaching.

Supporting critical thinking abilities

Coding for 1st graders is, doubtlessly, perhaps the clearest way for the youngster to help their critical thinking abilities. However, before we get into that, how about we make a stride back and explain the term. At its least difficult definition, critical thinking alludes to an individual's capacity to handle complicated or novel circumstances proficiently. Somebody with all-around sharpened critical thinking abilities winds around divergent ranges of abilities like innovativeness, the capacity to understand individuals on a deeper level, research abilities, coordinated effort, and decision-production into a firm and viable reaction.

Creating imagination

Imagination, innovativeness, inventiveness; it's something each early instructor and parent is completely worried about, but then it's anything but a quality valued by most working grown-ups. Inventive individuals have fast and viable reactions that assist them with accomplishing their life objectives and permit them to partake in the excursion. It is both a range of abilities and one-of-a-kind and individual character structure that is created all through youth and calibrated in pre-adulthood.

Being persistent

Software engineering is one of a handful of the expert disciplines where it's adequate to approach continually fizzle. Not exclusively is disappointment quickly unmistakable - i.e., a program "breaks," and doesn't fill in as expected - yet achievement in a real sense can't be accomplished until all blunders are taken care of. Indeed, even the most direct projects require a coder to get a bunch of issues and tackle them; any other way, the code won't run as expected.

Schools today play an exceptional time in a kid's life that is ready for presenting another area of information that will be critical to their prospects. Whether they become PC researchers, the abilities they gain from CS and coding will apply to the other lives.

At the point coding for 1st graders is initiated, they come to discover that disappointment is transient and doesn't need to be baffling or an advancement plug. Indeed, even little victories can give the support kids need to push through issues in their programming. After some time, this persistence can reinforce a kid's coarseness - and fill in as one of the main signs of their future instructive and vocation achievement.

[greencherryblossoms]

So I'm rereading Eli Jang's backstory and now that I think about it, Heather is kind of wrong.

I know that they were both 15, but Eli had the education of a 2nd grader, he was mentally and emotionally stunted as well. Instead of mentally being 15 it was more like he was stuck at being 7 or perhaps 10 at best.

Heather, though just being 15, emotionally and mentally was a healthy teenager. I know she was a child as well, but it seems predatory now looking back that she had sex with him. She was old enough to know what the act was and what it entailed. She was old enough to know how it worked and that a baby could be produced. Plus she had access to a cell phone and a school library. Probably a laptop as well to do whatever research she wanted.

Eli had no idea. He didn't know what it was. He didn't know how to do it. Going back to him mentally and emotionally being 7-10, he thought that holding a girls hand would make him pregnant. I don't think someone in his situation could've properly consented to doing the act honestly.

He was delayed emotionally and mentally due to trauma and abuse... if they were both on the same level mentally and he was a normal kid then it just would've been an oopsie, but him being in the state he was makes it seem like he was taken advantage of to me. Even Sally herself recognized that something wasn't right with Eli in her words he "didn't know any better" and was "slow," so code words for delayed essentially. Just words for thought. She didn't technically do anything illegal but I think that it was morally wrong. Though because she was 15 she probably didn't think that deeply into it aside from "he's handsome" and "I like him."

[grrrlsoverdramas]

I’ve been scrolling through responses to the most recent EAW ep throughout the day because I couldn’t watch the ep right away, and now I think I need to word vomit some thoughts so that they’re not all I’m thinking about when I DO watch the episode.  Please keep in mind that I haven’t watched the ep yet!

I see a lot of responses to this ep which touch on students’ lives in South Korea and I want to speak to it because it’s a ~cultural~ thing that leads to a lot of stereotypes, even for expats who live there.  As someone who studied abroad there in university, taught students there, know hagwon teachers, and has taught students in my home country (the US) I feel somewhat qualified to speak on student experience -- of course not as qualified as a parent or someone who grew up there.

Some reactions that seem to be coming from this episode:

Young children in Korea spend too much time studying

Young children in Korea spend too much time in Hagwons (after/before school academies

Young children in Korea don’t have enough freedom

In many ways these are true, particularly the first two.  And I am sure the show is being honest/accurate about these ideas. However, I do think there are some grey areas that a non-Korean person may not be as aware of.

For context, I haven’t taught in Korea in 5 years, so of course some things will have changed (esp. in a post-Covid world), and I taught in Gwangju, which is going to be MUCH less cutthroat academically than Seoul.

Some things I know based on my experience:

If your parents make enough money you will attend hagwons as a kid. By the time my students were in 5-6 grade, they often went to sleep incredibly late because they were at Hagwons until late at night, then had dinner and did homework and relaxed for a couple hours after. This was a big problem!

However, many of these “Hagwons” were not different from after school programs elsewhere.  Students would practice instruments, take taekwondo classes (these were often the ones that most tired kids out), go to soccer, learn coding, etc... I have LOTS of kids in the U.S. who are overwhelmed by afterschool activities, especially sports, and come to school exhausted and stressed because of games and meets.

I’ve found that my American students who do long after school sports are usually short-tempered and poorly socialized.  They yell to resolve fights, create cliques, and compare student based on physical ability, in a way my Korean students did NOT.  This is because my American students in those sorts of afterschool activities are being constantly monitored by adults, and often that behavior is encouraged or modeled.

American students are also constantly monitored at school (duh!) -- a teacher must ALWAYS be in the room and outside and usually micromanage behaviors (this is expected).

In contrast, Korean students have way more free time, are largely unmonitored during recesses, and usually in the time between when school ends and hagwons start (most of my students had about an hour or so break in between), or between hagwons, students spend time only vaguely monitored at school or under the care of older kids.  It was normal to see groups of 2nd-6th graders walk to the snack shop to buy snacks, then walk to the taekwondo gyms down the street. This is a pro and con.  In general I found that my Korean students were better at resolving conflicts on their own, expressing themselves, and being responsible.  On the other hand, it leaves a lot of time and space for the excessive/extreme bullying that we see IRL and in kdramas, especially as kids move into middle school.

Another reason why elementary schoolers in Korea are well-socialized is that at Hagwons, they interact with new/different kids and do creative activities. At language hagwons this often means playing games, writing stories, singing songs, or putting on plays. Don’t get me wrong, the mental load of “learning” for so long throughout the day is exhausting and kids should have more time to take breaks -- but it’s not just because kids need to “have fun” but they also need to just lay down, rest, etc. And not all hagwons are like that.  I think math hagwons and Korean or Chinese hagwons usually seemed like the most boring or rote-memorization type learning (but kids usually didn’t got to those multiple times a day).

In the U.S. I usually have three types of kids: (1)  the overscheduled kid who is ultimately just like a Korean kiddo, except way more micromanaged and less independent, who does multiple sports, plays an instrument and does extra study work or works with a tutor. They are exhausted and intense. (2) the underscheduled kid who goes home and is largely unsupervised.  they watch tv and play video games for most of the afternoon. At best, they eat dinner with their parents. If they’re on the extreme end of the low interaction scale, they probably don’t even gethelp with their homework. They are either shy or have incredibly difficulty socializing nicely with peers. (3) the kid who is in aftercare or standard daycare. Their parent might not be able to afford to stay home or pay a nanny. They do structured activities for most of the evening, but most of them are a form of play.

Most Korean kids are 1 and 3, the main difference is that some of the kids are in classes way longer, but this is often because many Korean adults work until 9 or 10 pm.

ANYWAY that’s my infodump for everything I know about Korean childcare!! Even though it’s probably irrelevent lmao

[lostjulys]

!! my knowledge of ace attorney isnt as great as it used to be BUT i recently rewatched legally blonde and i can tell u without a shadow of a doubt phoenix wright would love elle woods. anyway! whos ur fav aa character so far?

!!! jay!!!!! hiii!!!!!!!!!!!! :DD & oh my god. yeahg he WOULD. they would be such good friends.

i'm not very far yet sdfgdkgf i just finished day 2 trial for turnabout samurai so i don't know very many characters yet 😔 they r all so fucking delightful though..... i really like maya. i really really like maya & phoenix's dynamic i think it's really fucking funny. for a long while i was the high schooler hanging around and messing with my mid 20s older brother figures myself so i feel SO much solidarity with her<333

also i REALLY like edgeworth. hhe's so fucking angry wet cat coded what is his deal (affectionate)!!! "demon prosecutor" he tried to bargain with a 2nd grader and failed. he has to deal with the most useless suspicious recalcitrant witnesses ever. fucking awful fashion sense. i like him :)

[girl-with-cat-eyes]

Wait what's the lunch lady story you mentioned

So glad you asked. The lunch lady story: or the time I tried to hunger strike in school. For those who say it's fake, I wish it was. The people mentioned in this story were incredibly abusive and shouldn't have been around kids and I'm super dramatic. Now with that, on to the story.

For backstory, in elementary school I went to a k-8. For those of you who don't know what a k-8 is, a k-8 is a school that goes from kindergarten to the 8th grade. Meaning the range of kids there was from 5-14 give or take. The other odd thing is my aunt taught at my school. Not only did she teach there, she taught my grade. This happened for several years and actually led to multiple fights between her and my mom.

Now, at the time of this story, I was in 2nd grade. So about 6 or 7. It was lunch time and I got school lunch. Due to the size of our school the line for lunch could get pretty long and you could be in line for upwards of 10 minutes. This day my class was at the end of the line with myself and a friend were at the very end. Until a class of 8th graders came.

2 boys in particular decided they didn't want to be at the end and decided to cut ahead. Which wouldn't have been an issue if they'd chosen another method of doing so. But the method they'd chosen went as follows: grab myself and my friend by the armpits and physically move us behind them.

Naturally we both panicked.

I ends up screaming and kicking the kid who grabbed me in the shin to get away, my friend doing something similar. Next thing I knew several cafeteria workers were there yelling at us for kicking another student.

For reference all the cafeteria workers at my school were middle aged women who liked to take their frustrations out on children. There'd been multiple incidents with them being bullies.

They said we had to apologize for kicking them as putting hands on students wasn't allowed. My friend did. I refused and argued that they put their hands on us first and should have to apologize. I was told if I didn't I'd have to be punished.

The punishment in question: I wasn't allowed to get lunch until I apologized.

They dragged me to a table and said I couldn't get up unless I apologized and that this would go on every day until I did. Unfortunately for them I was considered a gifted child (code clearly neurodivergent) and had quite the vocabulary. I was also filled with righteous fury.

So I did what any kid in my position would do.

I told her that this went against civil liberties. I'm pretty sure I also said unconstitutional (I'd just come from social studies and had heard the term). Seeing as I wouldn't apologize they left me.

Now at the time it was righteous. I was like all the activists I'd heard about. I was sending a message that this unjustice wouldn't go unnoticed. In reality I sat there stewing silently for 10 minutes until my aunt came to drop her class off for lunch.

She saw me and asked why I didn't have lunch. Upon getting an answer, she took me back to her classroom and fed me peanutbutter crackers and canceled classes for the day while she got ahold of my mom.

As soon as my mom found out she was furious. My aunt had to stop her from calling the news. Instead she came up, took me to get McDonald's and called a meeting with the superintendent and principal.

During said meeting my mom pointed out that regardless of what I'd done, taking away food is never an appropriate punishment because you don't know if that is a kids only meal for a day. One of the lunch ladies in question was brought in to give her side of the story.

She spun some sad tale about their being too many kids to deal with and it was what they thought was best. At this point I was angry. And not just angry. I was filled with righteous anger at what was clearly an injustice.

"Maybe people would respect you if you weren't a tyrant."

They tried to say I was out of line but my mom pointed out denying someone food as punishment is pretty tyrannical. So those in question were put on extreme probation and I was let off Scott free. They'd later be fired for multiple incidents (of which I was a common target) and the school shut down 2 years later.

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Dangerous Minds

Those of my readers who haven’t known me long may not know that I was once a corps member of Teach for America. I taught 10th and 11th grade English for about 5 weeks, then I was told on a Friday about my “involuntary transfer” to another school in the district, where I’d be teaching 7th and 8th grade English instead. I went from having about 110 students to about 190. My classroom had no books (textbook or otherwise), no pencils, no paper, no markers or chalk, but it DID have one of those folding lamps that come out of the ceiling at the dentist’s office. The kids had been in there for 5 weeks with a rotating roster of subs; they’d done no schoolwork of any kind. I was teaching in a very poor area of the city, and my students were predominantly Black and Hispanic. One of my 10th graders wrote his first personal essay about getting shot the previous year. I say all this to tell you that when Chad asked that I review Dangerous Minds, the 1995 adaptation starring Michelle Pfeiffer of the true story of Louanne Johnson’s experience teaching in inner city schools in California, I was prepared to laugh it off as a cringey, Lifetime-movie representation of my experience. Is that what I got? Well...

For the most part, what I got was a ball of anxiety in my chest. It’s well-worn territory, obviously. A teacher bonds with their students from the wrong side of the tracks, and ends up learning just as much from them as they learn from him/her. Usually poetry or music features heavily as a tool that can set the students free from the depressing circumstances of their lives. Depending on the rating, usually a student dies, and the teacher learns just how Important their job is, so they commit to it even harder even though it pays no money and garners no respect from the administration who just doesn’t “get it.” But these cliches and stereotypes and broad strokes exist because at their core, they’re true, and they make me anxious and uncomfortable and I can’t laugh at them or Michelle Pfeiffer being a Nice White Lady because I’m too busy being angry about the systems we put in place that straight up abandon so many kids, all in the name of white supremacy.

Some thoughts:

Oh we’re starting right off the BAT with “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Fantastic news. Two things I associate so strongly with this song is skating around the skating rink in 2nd grade and buying the Weird Al cassingle of “Amish Paradise” and wearing it out. 

Ooh, the score was composed and performed by Wendy & Lisa! Love that, you don’t see nearly as many film scores as you should composed by women.

God, the salary is $24,700 a year and Louanne acts as though that is appealing - I can’t tell if that’s because it was 1995 or because teacher salaries are so dismally low that this feels like a good salary?

This scene in which Louanne goes into her classroom for the first time and the kids are all shouting at her and getting in her face and sexually harassing her and throwing paper balls at her is giving me stress hives. 

Also her friend Griffith (George Dzundza) saying, “You wanna teach, so teach! All you gotta do is get their attention” is rather disingenuous. Trust me, you can have their attention, and still not be able to teach. 

I’m excited to see Sally-Can’t-Dance from Con Air as Raul (Renoly Santiago). He’s honestly fantastic in this, with a tough exterior but a sensitive and gooey inner sweet boy. All of the teens give pretty solid performances, but he’s a real standout.

I recognize this is based on a true story and Louanne Johnson’s lived experience, but I am not sure it’s wise for any teacher, regardless of grade or subject, to be teaching her students how to fight each other. Or taking them to dinner on what looks to outsiders like a date. I know some people have a problem with the bribery (giving her students candy for speaking up in class) but I have no problem with it - you get paid to do all the dumb stuff you don’t want to do at work, why shouldn’t kids be compensated for going to school if they don’t want to be there? External motivation goes a long way to building up internal motivation.

Mm I do love me some Courtney B. Vance, but he’s such a quiet, condescending ass in this. It’s a different vibe than I’m used to seeing in a principal in a movie like this. 

Ooh, Griffith grading papers and saying “What a fuckin’ idiot” is a real mood. 

“Since when has the Board of Education done anything for us? We barely get fuckin lunch” is legit. The lunches my students were served in summer school were some of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen. One day it was spoiled milk, white bread, and pickles. And one of my students put his in a microwave that was hidden in the back of my classroom behind some dividers and left it for a week. And just so you know, as stomach-churningly awful as that sounds, the day I found “pickle man” as my student called him, isn’t even in my top 5 worst days teaching list. 

I like Griffith, and I’m glad Louanne has a friend, but frankly I’m not that interested in these interludes between them - they really feel like they slow down the momentum from the scenes of her in the classroom slowly earning the kids’ trust. The pacing is kind of a mess, because the most dynamic sections all revolve around the kids in the classroom, and I feel like that only makes up about a third of the movie. 

One thing I know for sure is you do not get in the middle of a fight between students. I have a friend who worked in the same district I did who interrupted a fight and got punched in the face because of it. And her principal blamed her. 

Oh wow the way the soundtrack picks up when Emilio finally engages in the class is some kinda cheesy. And it continues through the rest of the scene to a distracting degree. Oh Wendy and Lisa, I hoped for better. 

Can I just emphasize that to reach these kids, Louanne uses her experience as a LITERAL MARINE by demonstrating she can kick all their asses, and then she bribes them by paying for 25 kids to go to an amusement park for the entire day with her?

Also, even if they like and respect her now, I call bullshit at any scene in which ALL of  the kids are A) sitting in their seats or B) silent, and especially C) both. 

Um suddenly feeling some weird vibes with Louanne and Raul having a dinner date at this fancy restaurant by themselves. Also, the double standard here is pretty telling - there’s no way this scene makes the movie if Louanne had been a male teacher and Raul was a female student.

Wait wait wait, she’s also loaning Raul $200? Like, is this why I didn’t make it as a teacher? Because I wasn’t a former Marine taking students to amusement parks and fancy dinners and lending them money? I was 25 and could barely afford rent. Maybe teachers who have enough money to take care of themselves are better equipped to take care of others. Idk, I’m just spitballin here.

Oh “Gangsta’s Paradise” is happening again! We already heard the whole song over the opening credits but now it’s happening again about 3/4 way through. I mean this song is definitely the best thing about the film, so I get it, but it feels weird that they think we wouldn’t notice it playing to completion twice.

Michelle Pfeiffer is doing everything she can to make this movie feel less cheesy and more real. Like, you can tell she’s really trying with her performance. Of course, it’s not like the character is a huge challenge acting-wise, but she is definitely committed to the part and can walk the line of both accessible and tough. 

This scene where Louanne tells her class she is not going to be there next year, that what happened to Durell and Lionel and Callie and Emilio made her too sad to stay has not aged well at all. And it’s certainly true to life, and I say that as someone who did the same thing. It’s not something I’m proud of, but it’s a reality - the fact that I’m a nice white lady is exactly the reason that I can choose to leave when things get too hard. Just because the kids convince her to stay at the end in this very rushed “all’s well that ends well” way doesn’t sweep this scene under the rug, and it shouldn’t. 

Ope, “Gangsta’s Paradise” shows up one last time in the credits for good measure. 

Side note: after the film, I researched Louanne, and she’s still teaching, which honestly made me emotional (in a good way). And I’d like to point out the racist ass bullshit the studio and screenwriter Ronald Bass pulled by changing the poems the students read to Bob Dylan lyrics when Louanne originally used rap lyrics from popular artists in ‘89-’90 to teach the kids about poetry. 

Did I Cry? No, but I did get heartburn from anxiety flashbacks.

This genre of film is easy to mock and parody because it tells the same story and hits the same beats to the point that they’ve become cliche. Ultimately, the truth at the heart of the movie (which is the un-nuanced and candy-coated depiction of Johnson’s real memoir, My Posse Don’t Do Homework) is that high schoolers crave someone who will see them and validate them, someone who is willing to put in the effort. The quality of the package that truth is wrapped in varies, and this one certainly leans in hard on stereotypes that feel like cheat codes rather than any real illuminating depictions of living teenagers. But as cringey as it is to watch, maybe it’s not a bad thing to remember that all people - including those who are trapped in poverty and all the cruel injustices that entails - want to be seen and valued for who they really are. 

If you liked this review, please consider reblogging or subscribing to my Patreon! For as low as $1, you can access bonus content and movie reviews, or even request that I review any movie of your choice.

[realwizardshit]

me: *googles how to solve a basic mathematical problem because i need to do it for a programming assignment and im not sure how to put it into code*

google: Multiplication For 2nd Graders :)

[henningnygaard]

Brief 9: Interactive learning

Day 8: Interview, demonstration and feedback heading into next week.

The user interview.

After showing the prototype to a user who is a teacher in 2nd grade  we received some useful feedback.

She really liked the idea of using coding in math. She said that many students get bored really quickly when it comes to solving math problems and understanding numbers. She was excited about the idea of using music because “all children like music”.

A key finding was something she mentioned when we asked her how her students comprehend numbers. She told us that a lot of them make a lot of simple mistakes. Like getting the numbers 3 and 8 confused. And if she asks them what 1 plus 6 is they might write down the number 16. You can see their logic, but it is obvious they need to understand what values are and that numbers are symbols that represent these values. This is a core problem for our project.

When asked about what she thought about how we should tackle this problem. She told us that it has to be more fun and meaningful than just writing down the number 1 to 10. They have to understand the numbers and how they interact with one another.

We also asked a part time teacher some questions. She has also experienced that the students don't understand values and numbers like I’ve explained above. But she pointed out that a few students manage to learn how to subtract and add numbers as early as kindergarten.

She also pointed out that games on an iPad tend to be a bit distracting and that the students may just click and click until they get somewhere.

If we are to make a good math game for the iPad we have to keep this in mind.

The demonstration. Friday 20/11/20

Today we presented our prototype and our small user test in order to receive some feedback on where we should focus our attention heading into next week.

It was clear that the relationship between the physical blocks and the character moving on the screen was a bit foggy. The whole experience needs to be a lot more smooth and understandable.

An important feedback we received was regarding the whole concept of having physical parts in our concept. You can easily argue that the physical blocks changing color and connecting to each other may sound good in theory, but be very troublesome in practice. The batteries, electricity and general system may be difficult to incorporate into a direct, understandable and easy to learn experience for 2nd graders. We may have to look deeply into the possibility of having it all digital. The blocks can easily be created digitally and create the same experience. Having it digitally will not present any problems in having them change shape, color or sound. We will have to look deeply into that next week.

If we manage to concretize the bricks, the navigation and the gameplay. And in addition, use visual tools to make the relationship between the bricks and the platforms or the values and numbers be more clear, we might end up with a concept that is overall way more direct and simple to grasp.

We also need to be more clear using the term “underbevisst læring” as our concept may not fit that particular expression

However, they did like the way we demonstrated a clear learning curve. Where the levels can increase in difficulty using platforms you may not land on, or not having all the numbers be displayed on the platforms and so on.

So in conclusion, the gameplay has to be easier and more direct. The relationship between the blocks and the character moving needs to be clearer and simpler. And finally, we need to make sure the features don't become overwhelming and confusing for the student.

We also need to take what we learned from the interviews into account. The 2nd graders may struggle with values, 1+6=16 and confusing 3 for 8 and so on. As I’ve said, that problem is key to our project. The students struggling with this have to see numbers as symbols for values and not just something you write down 1 to 10. Another important thing is that we have to make sure we create a game where the students don’t become distracted and that they stick to solving the puzzles.

I am very much looking forward to improving the project further next week.