4. After you have posted, read what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting a comment. Use the “Reply” button to address that student directly.
On Wednesday, Sept. 22, teachers from our collaborator, the American Statistical Association, will facilitate this discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time.
5. By Friday morning, Sept. 24, we will reveal more information about the graph, including a free link to the article that includes this graph, at the bottom of this post. We encourage you to post additional comments based on the article, possibly using statistical terms defined in the Stat Nuggets.
Reveal
We’ll post more information here on Thursday afternoon. Stay tuned!
• Learn more about the notice and wonder teaching strategy from this 5-minute video and how and why other teachers are using this strategy from our on-demand webinar.
• Sign up for our free weekly Learning Network newsletter so you never miss a graph. Graphs are always released by the Friday before the Wednesday live-moderation to give teachers time to plan ahead.
• Go to the American Statistical Association K-12 website, which includes teacher statistics resources, Census in the Schools student-generated data, professional development opportunities, and more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Use your imagination to write the opening of a short story or poem inspired by this illustration — or tell us about a memory from your own life that this image makes you think of. Another option? Write from the point of view of one of the people in the image. What might this person be thinking and feeling?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related piece — less a full article than a further invitation to the Times audience — to learn more.
Learn more about Picture Prompts here and find all of our prompts in this column.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Nantz has twice thought he had broadcast Brady’s last game — two years ago in a Super Bowl victory, last season in a playoff loss. Will this Super Bowl be the end? It does not seem so. Brady talks of playing to 45, maybe beyond.
His age is now his business. Brady has marketed his longevity, packaged it into something called the TB12 Method, and explained it in a 2017 book espousing muscle “pliability.” The goal is a spongy elasticity that can absorb all that life throws at a body, even that of an aging quarterback.
“Balderdash,” one physiology professor has said of the pliability theory.
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word balderdash in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how balderdash can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
Software Engineers make an average salary of around $108,232, but that figure is only half the story. While a check in the six-figure neighborhood is a reason to celebrate, in some cases, you could get even more if you know how to negotiate. And while more money is never a bad thing, more benefits can be better.
Read on to learn how to negotiate a job offer as a Software Engineer, which benefits you should consider, and how to practice for the negotiation session.
Make a list of your needs and wants
The first step is to make a list of what you absolutely need and a few other things that may be best categorized as “nice-to-haves.” For many Software Engineers, the needs include:
Enough annual pay to cover your:
Rent or Mortgage
Food
Clothing
Vehicle and transportation expenses
Insurance for your vehicles and home
Insurance for your computers, devices, and home network components
Basic utilities
High-speed internet
Child care expenses if you have children
Money for gifts for friends and family members
Vacation booking and spending money
Health insurance
Dental insurance
For the majority of Software Engineers, the above list should take care of what you need. And here are some things that are nice to have:
Paid time off
Flexible work hours
Work-from-home options
Student loan repayment
Childcare benefits
Maternity or paternity leave
Reimbursement for taking programming courses
Stock options
A bonus pay structure
Decide how flexible you want to be
Most companies will offer a combination of things on your “needs” and “nice-to-have” lists. They may even consider some things on your “nice-to-have” list as common and offer them to everybody, such as paid time off, extended parental leave, and work-from-home options. It’s best to decide ahead of time where you’re willing to be flexible.
For example, you may want to think about how you’d feel if they offered:
The option to work from home but with less pay than you expected
Student loan repayment but no stock options
Stock options but less pay than you expected
Flexible work hours but less paid time off
You can sit down with your significant other or anyone else who your decision may impact and sketch out a list. It’s a good idea to bring that list with you while negotiating your compensation. Having everything written down and well-organized shows you’re someone who knows what they want and has their priorities straight.
The most important benefits for Software Engineers
Along with health and dental insurance, there are some benefits that may carry more weight than others for Software Engineers. Here are some to consider:
Company stock
Stock refers to shares of the company you work for. Each share has value, and this value fluctuates based on a number of different factors. Shares of stock can offer a huge payout for a Software Engineer, particularly if the company is up-and-coming or already has a well-established value on the market.
Another thing in your favor when it comes to stock options is that, for some companies, stocks are like free money. The company can give you the stock without putting up a dime. Also, keep in mind that you may not have to accept the stock options they offer everyone else. Here are a few things you may be able to negotiate:
How long before you can sell your shares. Some companies require you to stay for quite a while before you can liquidate your shares. You may consider extending that time period in return for more shares. That shows you have a long-term dedication to the organization.
The number of shares you get. Shares are tangible representations of the company’s success. Negotiating for more shares conveys your interest in supporting the company’s wins and avoiding failures. Often, taking less pay upfront may be worth if it if you get more shares
Shares that are dependent on company performance. For some companies, earnings, figures, and projections are public knowledge. You can try asking for more shares of stock if the company exceeds earnings projections by a certain percentage, such as 5%.
Bonuses based on performance
For a Software Engineer, “performance” can mean several things, but to gain the ear of your employer, you may want to connect it to the successful deployment of a solution you help develop.
This scenario could break down like this:
3% bonus if the following happens:
The release is stable and effectively deployed, as measured by X, Y, Z variables, 10% faster than originally scheduled
User reviews average 4.5 out of 5 or higher over a six-month period
Organic downloads of the app (those that weren’t a result of paid, promotional links) exceed expected numbers by 12% or more
It may be beneficial to ask for one basic year-end bonus based on conditions outlined by your employer. If they’re asking for a lot from your performance, you can request the bonus amount be slightly higher than what they originally offer.
You can also outline similar conditions but ask to receive shares of stock instead.
How to approach the negotiation table
A Software Engineer can offer significant value to a company. Knowing this and preparing is key to capitalizing on it. Here are some ways to make sure you’re ready for negotiations:
Practice your negotiation skills
After outlining what you need and want, it’s a good idea to set up practice sessions. This will help ease your nerves and inspire new things to negotiate and ways of presenting them. Have a friend or family member pretend to be your employer. Ask them to play the following roles:
The hard-nosed, “no-to-everything” person
The passive-aggressive, “well that would be nice, but…” person
The staller, who “thinks” for a long time, then waits for you to cave to your requests
Practice presenting different elements of what you want, as well as supporting documentation. The way you present your salary figures, for example, can be justified with:
Average pay figures for people with your experience in that area of the country
Average bonus amounts for comparable Software Engineers
The amount you made in your last position
Figures representing how you’d like your pay to increase over time
It may also be beneficial to practice with multiple people. That may involve separate practice sessions or having more than one person in the room at a time. If you’re sitting down with your team lead and the head of HR during the actual negotiation, practicing with more than one face looking back at you can be helpful.
Qualify for better compensation
Using our diverse selection of courses, you can bring a lot more to the negotiating table. In the following courses, you’ll learn the skills employers need and may be eager to pay you for:
With our courses, you get the experience and knowledge needed to land the hefty salary you deserve. See the possibilities by signing up for free now.
User interfaces (UIs) allow users to control the programs and applications they’re using and operate software on a computer, smartphone, or tablet (to name a few).
So, what, then, is UI design? It’s the art and science that determines how people can use technology to accomplish their goals. This field is rapidly advancing — interfaces can now be operated by voice or even hand gestures. Capabilities once unimaginable have become a reality.
A computer or device’s UI is like the dashboard, steering wheel, gearshift, and pedals on a car, all put together. Like how drivers need to operate all of these components together in order to drive, users use a UI’s various buttons, gestures, and commands to operate software. UI’s also include readouts that show you what’s happening in the program, just like a car’s dashboard.
Just as automotive technology is constantly evolving, so is the UI for smart devices. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at UI design, how it works, characteristics of good UI design, and more.
What to expect from your UI
Users’ interactions can now go well beyond a click or swipe. People can gesture or speak to interact with devices. You can even unlock your phone with an iris scan or open apps on your smartwatch by moving your hand or arm.
Overall, users have less and less tolerance for a text-heavy UI — especially on smaller devices. Poor UI leads to a poor user experience (UX), and many people flee at the sight of a poorly designed screen. As a result, many sites and apps invest a lot of time and effort into making their UI responsive with visually appealing and easy-to-use functions.
So, as a Software Developer or Designer, what should you know about UI design to make sure your work will resonate and succeed with your users?
Designing UI for humans
UI design is a cutting-edge discipline, but it still has rules and principles. UI Designers strive to make it easier for users to interact with software, reducing the need for complicated thought and understanding. They also ensure all the interfaces within a system or technology are consistent.
To give users the feeling of control, Adobe recommends including these capabilities:
Make it easy for users to undo their actions.
Make the interface easy to navigate, which includes providing visual cues and making the outcomes of specific buttons, clicks, or gestures predictable.
Provide feedback for actions. For example, when a user presses a button, they should see a color change or hear a sound.
Show a system’s status clearly. If a process takes time to complete, the user should see a bar or percentage readout showing the remaining time.
Accommodate different skill levels. Your UI should be sophisticated enough to appeal to expert users, but you’ll still want to include help functions and guides for new users.
Along with the capabilities listed above, there are several other steps you can take to give your users a comfortable experience, such as:
Cutting out unnecessary elements.
Avoiding requiring re-entry of the same data.
Using general terms rather than jargon.
Making design elements equal in size to their importance in the application.
Bringing real-world elements into a design wherever possible (e.g., a picture of a credit card where payment information is entered).
Making error messages encouraging or pointing to helpful resources.
Creating good UI
Simplicity and consistency in UIs are also key to making a user experience comfortable. Apple products win praise for their ease of use because their UIs are often less complex than their competitors’. Consistency means that the UI should follow logical human assumptions. For example, you wouldn’t use a green stop button and a red go button for a timer.
UI elements also need to produce closure. When a button, gesture, or command starts a task, equivalent elements should finish or end that task. In other words, a task should produce an expected and desired result based on the expectations set by the command element.
For example, if you command Excel to add up all the numbers in a column, it should put the result in a cell at the bottom to complete the task.
When creating UIs, designers should be mindful of people’s capacities, such as how much information they can retain at a time. Taking “cognitive load” into account means:
Requiring fewer steps to complete a task.
Helping users operate systems by presenting a clear, uncluttered set of controls or buttons.
Keeping buttons and controls (and the way they operate) functionally consistent to avoid over-taxing user’s minds. Buttons and controls should all work the same way, as with pull-down menus throughout a program.
Designers should look for the correct programming language that can accomplish the desired UI elements — JavaScript might be better suited than Python, for example.
Accessibility features are another important part of UI design as they help ensure people with disabilities or impairments can use your software. You’ll want your program to be parsable by screen readers, and try using colors suitable for people with color blindness. Even font size can be a concern for some.
Learn more about user interface design
This article provides a solid foundation, but if you want to learn more about UI design, the best way is by creating your own. If you’re looking to improve your UI design abilities, check out any of the courses below:
Ruby on Rails (or “Rails”) is an open-source web application development framework written in the Ruby programming language. It’s one of the most popular Ruby libraries and one of the top reasons developers choose to learn Ruby.
Modern web applications can be very complex with many layers. Rails makes web development easier, providing a pre-built structure for development and everything you need to build a web app.
In this article, we’ll look at what Rails is used for, its advantages and disadvantages, and what jobs you can get if you know this framework. Then, we’ll show you how to get started using it to build your own web apps.
What is Ruby on Rails used for?
We explained that Ruby on Rails is a web framework, but it helps to know what a web framework is to know just how powerful a tool like Rails can be.
A framework simplifies the creation of web applications. It does this by providing default structures for your code, any databases you use, and the web pages the application will serve.
You can think of a framework almost like Legos. With a framework, you get pre-built “Legos” of code that you can mix, match, and modify to build a custom web application, which means you don’t have to create everything from scratch.
Ruby on Rails uses the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architectural pattern used by many other web frameworks — one of the most well-known patterns in development. The MVC pattern separates a web application’s code into three interconnected parts:
The Model, which holds the data structure of the application.
The View, which represents the visual part of the web app as web page templates.
The Controller, which connects the data to the View and contains the business logic of the application.
This pattern makes Rails very flexible and useful for all types of web applications.
Rails has been used for many types of web apps. You can use it to build complete web applications that span both the front end and the back end.
The Model and Controller would be considered the back-end part of the application. The View handles the front end by generating the actual web page that people see in the browser, along with included JavaScript and HTML. You can also use Rails to create web services or APIs that return JSON for use by other applications.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Ruby on Rails?
The biggest advantage to Rails is that it makes web development quick and easy. This means a small team of developers can create a web app and deploy it quickly.
The Ruby programming language ecosystem also provides libraries that can extend the Rails framework with even more pre-built features. It’s been a top choice of frameworks for many startups because of these reasons.
Ruby on Rails is one of the best choices of frameworks if:
You need to handle complex business logic
You need to find developers to build an application readily and quickly
You have a limited budget
You want to deliver a web app quickly
Many companies that start with Rails stick with it. But, there are a few disadvantages that make some companies choose other technologies.
Ruby doesn’t support many machine learning libraries, so Python could be the better choice for applications that require that type of data processing. Rails also isn’t the fastest, but it isn’t much slower than other frameworks. Still, if you need an ultra-lightweight application, Rails may not be the best choice.
What jobs do you need to know Ruby on Rails for?
There are a variety of jobs you can get if you know Ruby on Rails.
A junior or entry-level Web Developer job may require that you know Rails. Some of these jobs may be back-end web development jobs where you’ll spend most of your time writing code with Rails. In any of these positions, your duties might include:
Creating templates that generate web pages for the front end
Writing web services that return JSON for JavaScript-based front-end applications
Writing server-side code in Rails and front-end code using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS
Ruby on Rails is used in all types of industries to build web apps and services. This includes applications like marketing websites, CMSs, eCommerce sites, and custom web applications. It’s a popular web framework for startups because its ease of use makes for quick application development with small teams.
But, Rails has also been around for a while, so you’ll find it used in traditional companies as well. Some well-known companies that use Rails include Basecamp, Shopify, Airbnb, Crunchbase, Square, Soundcloud, Sendgrid, Pitchfork, Github, Yammer, ETC Slideshare, Scribd, Groupon, Hulu, Kickstarter, Zendesk, and Gumroad.
Getting started with Ruby on Rails
So, what do you think of Ruby on Rails? Want to check it out? If you have a Windows computer, the video below will walk you through the steps required to install Rails on your machine:
If you have a Mac OSX computer, then you can use this video:
Ready to get started? Our Learn Ruby course will teach you basic programming concepts and the fundamentals of programming with Ruby. Then, jump into Rails with the courses below:
The lavish Met Gala was held Monday evening in New York City. Guests wore a variety of eye-catching outfits — like the dress featuring a horse head you can see on Kim Petras, above.
Do you follow fashion trends? Have you ever been inspired by a celebrity’s style? Which of the outfits in the slide show below is your favorite? Why?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more about the 2021 event.
Learn more about Picture Prompts here and find all of our prompts in this column.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Joe Clark, the imperious disciplinarian principal of a troubled New Jersey high school in the 1980s who gained fame for restoring order as he roamed its hallways with a bullhorn and sometimes a baseball bat, died on Tuesday at his home in Gainesville, Fla. He was 82.
… And, in 1986, to keep thugs from entering the school, he ordered the entrance doors padlocked during school hours. Fire officials responded by having the locks removed, citing the safety of students and teachers. A year later, the city cited him for contempt for continuing to chain the doors.
“Instead of receiving applause and purple hearts for the resurgence of a school,” Mr. Clark said after a court hearing, “you find yourself maligned by a few feebleminded creeps.”
Though the padlocking episode put him in conflict with the Paterson school board, his no-nonsense style led to an interview for a White House job in early 1988. Before turning it down, he insisted that if he took the job it would not be because of any pressure from the board.
“I refuse to let a bunch of obdurate, rebellious board members run me out of this town that I’ve worked in so assiduously for 27 years,” he told The Washington Post in 1988. A Post headline called him “The Wyatt Earp of Eastside High.”
Daily Word Challenge
Can you correctly use the word obdurate in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how obdurate can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
How much money do you spend on arts and entertainment — books, movies, music or video games — each month?
If your government were to give you the equivalent of $350 to spend on culture, do you think you would buy more of what you know you like — or do you think you might use at least some of the money to try something new and outside your comfort zone?
PARIS — When the French government launched a smartphone app that gives 300 euros to every 18-year-old in the country for cultural purchases like books and music, or exhibition and performance tickets, most young people’s impulse wasn’t to buy Proust’s greatest works or to line up and see Molière.
Instead, France’s teenagers flocked to manga.
“It’s a really good initiative,” said Juliette Sega, who lives in a small town in southeastern France and has used €40 (about $47) to buy Japanese comic books and “The Maze Runner,” a dystopian novel. “I’m a steady consumer of novels and manga, and it helps pay for them.”
As of this month, books represented over 75 percent of all purchases made through the app since it was introduced nationwide in May — and roughly two-thirds of those books were manga, according to the organization that runs the app, called the Culture Pass.
The French news media has written of a “manga rush,” fueled by a “manga pass” — observations that came via a slightly distorted lens, since the app arrived just as theaters, cinemas and music festivals, emerging from pandemic-related restrictions, had less to offer. And manga were already wildly popular in France.
But the focus on comic books reveals a subtle tension at the heart of the Culture Pass’s design, between the almost total freedom it affords it young users — including to buy the mass media they already love — and its architects’ aim of guiding users toward lesser-known and more highbrow arts.
Every French 18-year-old can activate the pass and spend €300, about $350, for up to two years on the app, on which over 8,000 businesses and institutions have listed their offerings.
Teenagers can buy physical goods from bookstores, record shops and arts supply or instrument stores. They can purchase tickets to movie showings, plays, concerts or museum exhibits. And they can sign up for dance, painting or drawing classes.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
If your government tried a similar experiment, what do you think you would buy? Why?
Is it a problem that French teenagers spent so much money on manga, the mass media they already love, rather than on “more highbrow arts” like Molière? Why or why not?
In your opinion, do teenagers need to be pushed — by parents, teachers, the government or any other authority — to learn about new forms of art and culture? Or do you think it happens naturally?
How do you find new forms of art and culture? Are they usually introduced to you by friends? By older people, like teachers or family members? To what extent do you find them on your own? Jean-Michel Tobelem, a professor quoted in the article, describes the way “you can enter Korean culture through K-pop and then discover that there is a whole cinema, a literature, painters and composers that go with it.” Has anything similar ever happened to you?
The French app offers incentives to push teenagers toward new, more challenging art forms, including lists of recommendations curated by popular artists and celebrities. Would such lists be helpful to you in finding new arts and culture? If so, which artists or celebrities would you choose to make lists?
When was the last time you tried to enjoy or to explore an artistic or cultural work that you felt was “demanding” — whether it was a book, a concert, a painting, a sculpture, an album, a film or anything else? What happened?
Learn more about Student Opinion here and find all of our questions in this column. Teachers, see how you can incorporate this feature into your classroom routine here.
Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
