ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In the most crucial appointment of his new term, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday chose a relative outsider, Lt. Gen. Raheel Sharif, to lead Pakistan’s powerful army.
With the choice, the prime minister seemed to be skirting the line of confrontation with a military establishment that ousted him in 1999 but did not overtly cross it.
… Accordingly, some Pakistani analysts saw the choice as evidence that Mr. Sharif was looking for someone slightly more biddable. But that kind of gamesmanship has come back to bite him before. During Mr. Sharif’s previous stint in power in the late 1990s, he passed over more senior generals to choose Gen. Pervez Musharraf as army chief — the man who would later depose and replace him in the 1999 coup.
6. What is your reaction to the article? How does it change or reinforce your views from the warm-up activity on how one’s neighborhood and environment affect and shape your life?
7. Media Literacy. How would the article be different if it were a traditional, text-only piece on air pollution? What do the dynamic maps, graphics and visuals add to the story?
Going Further
Option 1: Create a one-pager.
Reflect on what you read, how it made you feel and what you are left thinking about by creating a one-pager. A one-pager is a way to visually share key ideas about a text using both words and images. At a minimum, your one-pager should include:
Three key takeaways from the article.
Two important quotations or statistics from the piece.
One word to capture the feeling or emotions that you are left with after reading the article.
One question you still have about air pollution or socioeconomic inequalities.
Visual elements that illustrate the essential points.
You can also include any other information you think is important to share.
Your one-pager can be arranged however you think makes the most sense. But, if you need inspiration, you can see examples of other students’ work here or find a template to print or copy here.
Afterward, you can go on an in-person or virtual gallery walk, spending about one minute with each one-pager in your class and writing down what you notice and wonder about each creation.
Option 2: Find Out About the Air Quality Where You Live.
The article describes the pollution in Delhi as “an almost physical presence”:
You can see it, a haze just up the street. You can smell it, like an acrid campfire, and you can taste it on your tongue. It can make your eyes burn, your throat itch and your head pound.
How would you describe the air quality where you live? How much pollution do you think you are exposed to each day?
Learn about the health of your air by looking up your town, city or ZIP code in this New York Times interactive or, if you can’t find it there, on the official website of AirNow, a partnership between the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and several other tribal, state and local air quality agencies.
“My name is Amgad Mohammed. I am forty years old and I am a chemist. Last summer, I found Alison by searching the internet for platforms I could use to improve my skills.”
What was your first course on Alison, and why did you choose it?
I don’t remember because I’ve studied a lot of Alison courses! Really, I found all of them to be interesting, especially the Diploma in Warehouse Management.
Good news! The Codecademy Curriculum team will be spending the next few months updating the Computer Science Path (and in the process, our Learn Python 3 course). 🏗
Computer Science has the fastest-growing interest among STEM majors.
A recent study shows that there has been a 9% increase in software engineering degrees and a 7.5% increase in computer science degrees in 2018-2019. This year alone the U.S. produced about 65,000 CS students. And there were even more CS grads in China (185,000 students) and India (215,000 students). That’s almost half a million new CS grads from these three countries in one year! 🤯
CS Lecture at UC Berkeley
But alarmingly, according to another study, 83% of Americans say they can’t afford college. Amid an ongoing pandemic and economic downturn, this number is simply not acceptable. Recently, the Curriculum team at Codecademy came together and brainstormed a few ways to tackle this problem.
“A modern CS program that’s credible and affordable.”
We took a hard look at our current Computer Science Path as well as the core courses offered at MIT and Stanford and identified numerous ways where we could transform the CS Path into an immersive classroom experience that teaches learners both theory of computation and practice of problem-solving.
Our 2021 north star is to bring a world-class CS curriculum that competes with the top CS departments in the world, right on the Codecademy platform and at a fraction of the cost for the learners.
Curriculum Updates
Our Computer Science Path and Python 3 content are some of the most popular content in our catalog. But we think we can do better.
Over the next six months, we’ll be adding several new courses, lessons, quizzes, projects, videos, articles, and curated resources — including textbooks and new open-sourced GitHub repos — to introduce and build upon foundational topics in Computer Science. We’re releasing a brand-new content type: the Portfolio Project, which can help you move off the Codecademy platform and develop a professional portfolio similar to college-level capstone projects. Additionally, we are rearranging some of the content so that it better reflects a traditional Computer Science program. We want to recreate a college lab experience right in your browser. Finally, we’ve integrated connective tissue to clarify what you’re covering in each course and how it relates to your overall Computer Science Path journey.
When?
New content will be added to the catalog starting Tuesday, January 12, 2021.
Take a look below to get an overview of the syllabus updates.
Computer Science Path Syllabus:
Current Changes:
CS101: Introduction to Programming (Part 1) – Today
Upcoming Changes:
CS101: Introduction to Programming (Part 2) – March 2021
CS102: Data Structures – Q2 2021
CS103: Algorithms – Q2 2021
CS104: Discrete Mathematics – Q3 2021
CS105: Databases – Q3 2021
The Team
To make sure we build top-notch content that marries modern classroom pedagogy and industry knowledge, we created a brand new Computer Science Domain team and assembled a group of educators that have taught Computer Science and programming at world-renowned CS departments, high schools, bootcamps, and fellow EdTech companies:
Sonny Li ………………………….. Senior Curriculum Developer
Alex Kuntz ….…………….…….. Senior Curriculum Developer
Note: This is not the sole project that the Curriculum team is taking on in 2021. There will be adjacent Curriculum teams working on a wide spectrum of content in our pipeline, including Web Development, Mobile Development, Data Science, and more. So stay tuned for those!
How does this impact you?
If you’ve already started or completed the Computer Science Path and/or Learn Python 3, you will see some new content added to the Path and course and changes to the syllabus.
You won’t lose progress on the coursework that you’ve already completed; however, you may notice that your overall progress percentage has decreased, as there is a greater amount of content included in the improved Path.
Recap
We will be continuously updating our Computer Science Path in 2021 Path to bring a modern university equivalent CS program that’s affordable and credible right on Codecademy. Our north star is to build a world-class curriculum that competes with the top CS departments around the world, right on Codecademy.
What message do you think this image is trying to convey? How does it relate to or comment on society or current events? Can you relate to it personally? What is your opinion of its message?
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.
Once the undisputed juggernaut of the late-night category, Mr. Fallon’s “Tonight Show,” a celebrity-friendly cavalcade of games and gags, has seen its ratings decline in recent months. Meanwhile, his politically pointed competitor Stephen Colbert, who hosts CBS’s “The Late Show,” has closed what was once a formidable gap of nearly one million viewers.
…. Friends who have known Mr. Fallon since his time at “S.N.L.,” where he was a cast member from 1998 to 2004, say he has a likability that is more durable than any fleeting cultural shift. At heart, as onscreen, they say, he is that wisenheimer with an arsenal of impressions who cracked up at his own sketches and “Weekend Update” one-liners.
We’re trying something new: occasional lesson plans that feature a fun New York Times column that we invite students to read closely and emulate.
First up: “My Ten.” In this monthly feature for the Arts section, Times writers interview famous artists, musicians, actors, dancers, chefs, authors and others about their top 10 cultural must-haves — the books, movies, songs, hobbies, clothes, art, people, places or cherished objects that they can’t live without.
In this lesson, we invite you to read several of these lists, then create your own “My Ten” of the cultural necessities that enhance your life.
Ideas for Teachers
This might make a fun get-to-know-you or community-building activity. After students have created their “My Ten” lists, you can hang them around the classroom or post them to a virtual bulletin board, like Padlet. Invite students to pair off and read each other’s lists and then share one new thing they learned about their classmates.
Warm Up
What are some of the cultural items that you can’t live without? The people, places or things that entertain you, teach you, comfort you or inspire you? The things that might have helped you through this tumultuous past year or have always been your favorites?
Brainstorm a list of as many as you can think of. They can be general (for example, hip-hop music; Nikes; cooking) or they can be specific (the song “Life Is Good” by Future; Air Force One shoes; making sourdough bread).
Here are some examples of categories you might include in your list.
Entertainment: movies, TV shows, songs, podcasts, radio stations, games, art, YouTube videos, comic books, magazines, performances, plays, musicals.
Cherished objects: your phone, family memorabilia, collections.
Questions for Writing and Discussion
First, choose at least TWO of the “My Ten” columns below to read.
If none of these inspire you, you can find many more here.
As you read, annotate and take notes about what you notice about the way these pieces are written. Here are some questions to consider:
1. How is this column structured and organized?
2. What do you think is the purpose of this feature? Who might be its audience?
3. What are some of the types of cultural must-haves these artists discuss in their interviews? How general or specific are their choices?
4. Focus on the explanations the speakers give for their choices. What kinds of information do they include? How long are their statements, generally?
5. How would you describe the tone of these articles? What are some words or lines from the pieces you read that demonstrate that tone?
6. Choose one of the cultural items that struck a chord with you. What did you find interesting, entertaining or memorable about this item and the speaker’s explanation of why it was important?
7. Take a close look at the headlines for the six articles above. What do they all have in common? How would you describe the “formula” for the headlines in this feature?
Going Further
It’s your turn: Write your own “My Ten” list that imitates the structure, content and tone of the Times feature.
First, go back to the list of cultural must-haves you made in the warm-up. Are there any others you want to add? Do that now.
Then, choose 10 from your list that you would like to include in your piece. Make sure that your list is diverse and interesting and, most important, that it represents you.
Now, create your “My Ten” column. Your piece should include:
A list of 10 things that you can’t live without.
An explanation for each choice that shares why this item is important to you, what role it plays in your life and any relevant personal anecdotes.
A tone similar to that of the “My Ten” column.
A brief introduction that tells your audience a little about you.
A headline that follows the formula of the other “My Ten” columns.
Bonus: Photos, videos or GIFs that illustrate some of your choices.
When you’re done, share your “My Ten” with us in the comments, if you like. Our system allows for only about 250 words, so you can post your list of 10 cultural must-haves along with an explanation for one of your choices. We can’t wait to see what you picked!
About Lesson of the Day
• Find all our Lessons of the Day in this column. • Teachers, watch our on-demand webinar to learn how to use this feature in your classroom.
A recent Times article detailed the merits of personal responsibility when it comes to making positive changes in your life and the importance of an “accountability buddy.”
The article explains:
Accountability works best when it comes from the outside. You can create accountability by checking in with a friend every day to talk about healthful eating. You’re more likely to exercise if you’ve made a plan to walk with a friend or scheduled a workout with a personal trainer. You can create public accountability by declaring your intention on social media.
How good at you at sticking to your goals, big or small? Have you ever asked a friend or family member to help you stay on track? Whom would you trust with such a task? Do you think scrutiny is helpful when trying to achieve ambitious goals — or does the added pressure hamper the chance of success?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn 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.
: an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control
_________
The word ambit has appeared in nine articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Dec. 22 in the Opinion essay “Fashion Will Not Disappear. It Will Transform” by Rhonda Garelick:
To navigate the world during Covid-19, everyday transactions such as travel, attending school and entering businesses may require temperature checks, health questionnaires and perhaps even lab tests. Private bodily information is becoming a new shared currency — tokens exchanged for small freedoms. While such sharing raises serious privacy concerns, it also reminds us of the deep, physical connection among us all.
Could this be a good thing? Yes, if we pay attention.
We are learning that our bodies extend beyond their physical borders, mingling with the biological ambit of those around us. I might imagine, for example, that my spoken words or shouted greeting belong solely to me, but the airborne transmissibility of this virus teaches me otherwise. We now keenly grasp that one person’s speech, song or exhaled sigh has physical substance — those invisible particles that travel from one body into another, potentially bringing illness, even death. Of course, we’ve long understood viral transmission. But we’ve never contemplated it as vividly before. We’ve never had a starker lesson in our shared physicality.
5. What effect did the friendship have on Eliana? What changes did her parents notice?
6. The adventure between the two neighbors has a “plot twist” when Ms. Pauls lets Ms. Kenney know that her family will be moving, leaving the fairy garden behind. To help Eliana cope, Ms. Kenney tells her in a letter:
“Sometimes, we outgrow homes because we have too much love and need a place we can hold it all. But it is so fun to find new trees and imagine what new adventures are in store for us!”
What do you think of Ms. Kenney’s advice? Has anyone ever given you meaningful advice on a big life change, like a move or a new school? Have you ever had a person in your life who mentored or nurtured your confidence and imagination, the way Ms. Kenney has for Eliana?
7. What is your reaction to the article? What moments, passages, images or tweets stand out? What does the story reveal about our need for connection at any age, our need to give to others and the importance of magical thinking — especially now?
Going Further
Option 1: Share Your Opinions and Experiences
What does friendship mean to you? How important are friends to you? How have friends helped you to cope during the coronavirus pandemic? Has the pandemic brought you closer to your friends, or separated you from them?
Who are your best friends? Are they mostly similar to you in terms of age and background, or do you have friends who are significantly different from you?
Have you ever had an unlikely friendship? If so, how did you meet and become friends? What difference has this relationship made in your life? How have you kept up your friendship over time? In what ways is this friendship similar to or different from the one between Eliana and Ms. Kenney? What do you think you can learn from being friends with someone who is different from you?
Did the article make you appreciate the value of friendship? If yes, explain why.
Option 2: Contribute to Eliana’s Fairy Garden
Imagine you were a neighbor of Eliana: What would you add to the garden, and why? How could you further the adventures of Sapphire, Nova and Koodie (or perhaps introduce new characters) and continue to inspire a 4-year-old, her imagination and well-being? How might you grow and benefit from the interaction?
Choose from one of the following three options, or come up with your own original idea:
Write a letter to Eliana from Sapphire.
Create something to put in Eliana’s fairy garden.
Write and illustrate a new book in the “Sapphire the Explorer” series.
The original note pinned to the tree above Eliana’s fairy garden read:
“Our 4-year-old girl made this to brighten your day / Please add to the magic, but don’t take away / These days can be hard, but we’re in this together.”
Now, it’s your turn to add a little magic to this world to brighten someone else’s day: Create a fairy garden. Write a short story. Send a letter of thanks.
Be creative. Be imaginative. Be inspired. It’s up to you — who are we to limit your magic?
You might begin by thinking of someone who has been struggling to cope during the pandemic: Who is this person, and what are his or her interests and passions? What has been particularly challenging for him or her? How might you cheer up, support or inspire this person? Like Ms. Kenney, draw upon your own experiences as well as what you think this person could really use.
If you’re having trouble coming up with something inspired and magical, then consider doing one or more of the three tasks from Sapphire’s first note for Eliana:
Say five nice things to people you love.
Do three helpful things for someone in need.
Promise to always be kind and brave, and to show love to those in need.
About Lesson of the Day
• Find all our Lessons of the Day in this column. • Teachers, watch our on-demand webinar to learn how to use this feature in your classroom.
