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Annotated by the Author: Writing Reader Responses

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Annotated by the Author: Writing Reader Responses

In our “Annotated by the Author” series, we invite New York Times journalists and winners of our student contests to comment on their work to help demystify the writing and research process.

Chances are, a teacher has asked you to write a response to a text at some point in your school career, whether it’s to a novel, a persuasive essay, a historical document or anything else.

But what makes a great reader response? How can you make your writing not only clear and engaging, but a true reflection of your own thoughts, beliefs and experiences?

Two teenage writers are here to show you. For this edition of our Annotated by the Author series, we asked two winners of our 2020 Summer Reading Contest, Judy Wang, a sophomore at The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Mass., and Nina Nzekwe, a junior at Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, N.M., to annotate their winning essays.

In this contest, we invite students to submit short written responses on a New York Times article, photo, video, graph or podcast of their choice each week throughout the summer. Our favorite responses are those that go beyond saying “I liked it” or “I hated it,” and instead take us on a journey through their experience of the text.

In the videos below, you’ll see how Judy and Nina did just that. They explain how, in their essays, they made personal connections to the pieces they chose, challenged the authors’ arguments, clearly demonstrated their thinking, and wrote with style and wit.

If you’re inspired by Judy and Nina’s pieces, you can submit a reader response of your own to our 12th Annual Summer Reading Contest, which begins June 11 and runs through Aug. 20.

Judy won Week 6 of our 2020 Summer Reading Contest with her essay on “The Phantom Handbag,” an article from the Style section about the disappearance of handbags from everyday life amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I actually stumbled upon the article while just scrolling through The New York Times and exploring the different sections,” she told us. “And I was intrigued by the title and specifically the word ‘phantom.’ And I was like, oh, like a handbag is a physical thing, but how could it be phantom at the same time?”

First, listen to Judy read her winning essay; you can follow along below or in this PDF. As you listen, annotate the text, paying attention to the words and lines that communicate Judy’s thinking about the article and anything else that stands out to you.

On ‘The Phantom Handbag’

Even in my most distant memory, Mama always carried this one bag. Covered in black and tan stripes, the Burberry tote looked more like a lunch box than a handbag.

I hated it.

For one thing, it was constantly overflowing — used tissue paper, bandages, hair ties, foundation, random files from work. After years of nagging my mom to get a lighter, more organized bag, the “leather-lunch box,” with its increasingly fuller belly, stayed.

In “The Phantom Handbag” Lou Stoppard reminisces about the time when a fashionable handbag was a necessity, and questions whether it will be relevant after all the suffering. In today’s time, handbags seem altogether impractical: too tiny for the grocery store, too dangly for cycling, too bothersome for protesting. Coupled with the fact that new normals often create shifts in buyer trends, the future of bag buying doesn’t seem all that promising. Like Ms. Hillier said, “there are other things they can spend money on.” Indeed, as people realize there are more to bags than “a status thing,” high-street bag sales might plummet, but the things carried in these luxurious containers will endure.

Though my mom’s bag was a quixotic choice, I now know that within the countless frivolous objects is the wholehearted love of my mother: tissues for my frequent water spills, bandages for cuts, and ties for my long hair. Whether handbags will see their destiny no longer matters, as the love that was carried with the nitty-gritty will remain constant.

Then, watch the short video above of Judy explaining some of the choices — or, as we like to call them, “writer’s moves” — she made in her reader response. As you watch, consider what you can learn from Judy’s essay that you might like to try in your own writing.

Nina won Week 8 of our 2020 Summer Reading Contest with her essay on “Why America Needs a Royal Family,” an Opinion essay arguing for separating ceremony and celebrity from politics.

What drew her to the Opinion section? Nina told us: “Persuasive writing is interesting in that you can analyze how the author is trying to persuade you, even if the premise is more far-fetched or kind of out there.”

First, listen to Nina read her winning essay; you can follow along below or in this PDF. As you listen, annotate the text, paying attention to the words and lines that communicate Nina’s thinking about the article and anything else that stands out to you.

On ‘Why America Needs a Royal Family’

The royal family’s private life often intersects with their royal duties. Similarly in America, the extracurricular activities of politicians often overlap with their political affairs as well. Seeing this, writer Jennifer Weiner asserts that America needs its own “royal family,” separately-elected representatives who can perform ceremonial tasks while representing America’s overall values.

Ms. Weiner juxtaposes the royal family’s personal affairs with a soap opera, stating that, “The problem with a real-time soap opera … is that very few people are equipped to be its stars.” She appeals to a sense of familiarity by comparing the lives of the royal family and, in larger part, politicians to television melodrama, showing the reader that these matters relate.

I largely disagree with her argument and would like to propose one of my own: We need to separate the ribbon-cutting and the baby-kissing from politics and remove them entirely. Even now, politicians’ personal affairs distract from more important political matters, and an American “royal family” would only compound this issue.

What Ms. Weiner is asking for reminds me of a mascot, such as the Nesquik bunny — a hollow symbol of the values of carefree fun that the company supposedly has while its parent company, Nestle, commits child-trafficking and slavery in West Africa to harvest cocoa. America needs a lot of things, and a mascot isn’t one of them.

Then, watch the video above of Nina explaining some the “writer’s moves” she made in her reader response. As you watch, consider what you can learn from Nina’s essay that you might like to try in your own writing.

Customer Excellence Pledge

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Customer Excellence Pledge

Everyone knows that support in the learning system space as a whole is below average. Sure there are vendors who do an exceptional job, but the fact still remains that the number one reason, people leave one learning system vendor for another is support/service.

This isn’t new. It has been the same issue for nearly two decades and yet, time after time, it seems as though vendors and even consumers fail to recognize the importance of it until it is too late.

Consumers rarely ask in-depth questions about support when they do their RFPs. They focus heavily on security, functionality, and learning use cases, including business – all rightly so – you should. However, you must ask the right questions around support beyond what times do they offer it, what types do they offer, does the administrator receive free training, and so forth.

The industry itself does a poor job of monitoring it across the board. I talk to vendors all the time, who say publicly they have great support, but privately acknowledge it is either poor or below average. Other learning system vendors will note again privately that they landed X number of customers from the Y vendor, all due to support issues.

I am working right now, with three consumer clients, all of which cited as a key factor for wanting to leave their current system, was due to the lack of support and service.

Something has to be done to ensure that when you purchase a learning system, you will know first and upfront the level of customer service and support – due to the Customer Excellence Pledge (it is a badge), from well, me.

What is the Customer Excellence Pledge?

It is a program developed by myself, Craig Weiss, to identify learning system vendors, and non-learning system vendors for that matter, who promise to provide elite customer service and support, beyond just telling their prospects and customers and anyone else for that matter, they do.

Nobody will go and buy a car or any consumer product, if the company behind it says, “Yeah our support stinks, but hey, we want your business”. Everyone says it is great, leaving you, the customer, assuming it is. And therein lies the problem.

The Customer Excellence Pledge puts forth a set of statements a vendor has to adhere to – via a signed agreement with checkpoints to validate, the ongoing level of elite support.

What are those statements that a vendor has to adhere to, in the Customer Excellence Pledge?

There are four key statements, plus an additional two validation checks – after all, saying you will do it, is one thing, backing it with data and insight is another. The CEP will provide that.

Vendors who sign the Customer Excellence Pledge – and thus have a Badge appear on their site and even mentioned in their pitch (if they so desire) are telling you, that they will promise to:

  1. Provide exceptional customer support and service
  2. Maintain high ethical standards in sales, service, and business 
  3. Take care of customer’s needs and assistance in a timely fashion – this includes response times (no more than 30 minutes, during vendor’s business hours, daily follow-ups if applicable, providing the customer on how their queue works (in other words, what is considered low, medium and high).
  4. Provides the customer with a dedicated customer support/service member or team. This person or group of folks will be the customer’s point of contact. Eliminating the game of “who can help me, where do I go” – a huge problem in the industry.

How will The Craig Weiss Group, be able to validate that those who sign the agreement are actually living up to it, and following thru?

Multiple check points are in place. They consist of the following (which a vendor must agree to – in writing – i.e. signing of the Customer Excellence Pledge.

  • Provide quarterly a set of data that presents the following information: response times, follow-up, and the number of support calls.
  • Present their benchmarks for customer support/service. This will enable us to follow their journey to elite support. For example, the benchmarks of where they want to be may not yet be there, but over time, you can see the progression (okay, me, not you).
  • Present twice a year, (i.e. every six months), the top five issues that have arisen (or they can present a list, and we can go thru it), and the average amount of time to solve those issues. This enables us again, to see if a constant pattern is showing up and that despite the commitment, the vendor still hasn’t figured out how to solve it.
  • Present twice a year, the average number of calls in to support compared to the number of clients. This is a ratio, I use when considering a vendor for an award. Every vendor has this data, a lot never want to tell you, not even me. I always find that troubling.
  • If a vendor does NPS, provide the sample, the number of supporters, passives, and detractors. Explain how the sample was selected and how do they follow up with those customers.
  • Provide us, five customers, we can contact to seek insight into the level of support. I hope they provide some clients who are six months in, one or two years in, or longer and that they are not just ones they always recommend folks to contact. This is yearly.

None of this information will be made public, however, if you see their badge on their site, you know they are achieving that level of support success.

What if we, as the customer, sign with a vendor, and they are failing to adhere to what they say they will do?

Simple, you let us know via a form we will have set up on this blog and on the FindAnLMS site.

We will put them on our list and monitor if there are customer complaints, and how many, etc. If we see a high level of customer complaints, we will notify the vendor to see, what happened, etc. There are plenty of times, people complain publicly, but never notify the vendor of the issue. The vendor can’t help if they do not know.

How can I find out if my learning system vendor is on the Customer Excellence Pledge?

A page on this blog and on FindanLMSs web site, will list every vendor who has agreed to the pledge (again, signed our agreement). Plus each vendor will be provided a badge to place on their site, telling you, the prospect that they on the program.

If you do not see the badge, check the page. If you do not see either, then know they are not part of the program.

Will there be vendors who say they are and are not?

Perhaps. It is hard to know at this point, but to verify if they are, you can go to the page on the blog, which will be listed as Customer Excellence – and see who is on the list. If they are not there, they are not part of the program.

Does it cost a vendor to be on or sign the agreement or anything else?

No. Absolutely not. This isn’t about generating money, this is about a vendor backing up what they say, with tangible results and a signed pledge agreement.

Do vendors have to be on FindAnLMS to be a part of the pledge?

No. We would love for them to be on the platform, but it is not a requirement. Nor does it mean that every vendor who is on the FindAnLMS platform has agreed to the pledge. We will note those who are, via the FindAnLMS page – entitled customer excellence and via this blog – you will see – “FindAnLMS vendor” next to their name.

Are there any other ways to find out if a vendor is on the program?

Yes. We will be launching a vendor video playlist platform where vendors can add videos of their system – think demos, and other materials. Within that platform, you will see a playlist for Customer Excellence – the vendors who have signed the pledge will have one video of their system on that playlist.

If I am a vendor and I want to sign up for the pledge, what do I need to do?

Contact me – here. Then I will reach out to you, provide the agreement and then send you the badge (it will be available by the end of next week).

When, can I see who is on the list?

The list will launch, May 14th on the blog, and then be continuously updated. We recognize that not everyone will jump to it right away, after all, it is something never tried or done before in the industry. So, it will take time. We recommend that if a vendor you are looking at is not on the list, that you ask why, and if they are unaware, you provide them the link to this blog and to this post (which will be on the top of the site) – very visible. Or you can have them contact me.

If I am not a learning system vendor, but I want to sign the pledge can I?

Absolutely. We will break out on our pages, by category, so if you are an authoring tool, it is listed under that category, content provider, etc.

Our goal is to make the pledge the gold standard for support.

Bottom Line

The Customer Excellence Pledge brings together a level of commitment from a learning system vendor or any other e-learning tool/solution/content provider around customer service and support.

It isn’t just a signed agreement.

It will be more than that.

Publicly telling you, the customer and prospect, that they are going the extra mile.

For you.

E-Learning 24/7

How to make learning part of your team’s regular agenda

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How to make learning part of your team’s regular agenda

Whether you’re interested in empowering your team to innovate, fostering cross-functional collaboration, or simply providing your employees with development opportunities, offering technical training can help keep your team engaged and motivated — while also having an impact on your business.

But while the value of upskilling your team may be clear, we know that adding another task to your team members’ schedules might seem like a tough ask. To help out, we’ve put together some tips on how to make learning with Codecademy for Teams part of your team’s regular agenda, to ensure they’re able to make the most of this educational experience.

Block out time on the calendar for the entire team

When you leave it up to each employee to schedule their own learning time, it can tend to get put on the back burner when other work-related priorities pop up. Top-down support can go a long way in incorporating time for learning into the work day.

Block out time on the calendar for the entire team for a weekly power hour to make progress in their Codecademy courses. This helps to make learning part of a regular agenda, rather than an additional task on the to-do list, and sends the message that they have permission to take the time for personal growth. You can also encourage team members to set email and Slack to “do not disturb” to make sure that the hour they carve out is dedicated to learning.

Additionally, you can include time for a quick 5-10 minute debrief afterward, so that team members can sync on what they learned that day.

Encourage group learning

Learning can take on a whole new level of engagement when it’s a shared experience among teammates. When a group of team members is working on upskilling together, it can help establish a sense of accountability to develop a consistent learning routine.

Whether your team members are working on different courses specific to their role or all learning the same skill, here’s a few things that you can do to help promote group learning:

  • Set up a Slack channel: The Slack channel can be a place where teammates can ask questions, share tips, or talk about how they’ve applied their knowledge in their day-to-day. Consistent communication about the learning process can serve as a source of motivation and a gentle reminder that everyone’s working towards a common goal.  
  • Schedule a weekly or biweekly meeting: This can serve as a dedicated time for teammates to connect and review progress, share feedback, and troubleshoot problems together. These meetings can be casual and fun, so it’s something your team looks forward to!

Here’s what Gary Taylor, Senior BI Analyst at Motley Fool, says about his experience learning Python alongside his teammates:

“The nice thing about doing it in a group is there’s some accountability. You don’t want to let the group down. You don’t want to show up being the guy that doesn’t know what’s going on or didn’t finish that day. The group was a strong motivator.”

Check out our full case study to learn more about how The Motley Fool boosted collaboration and analytical skills through learning to code together.

Help your team build a habit with weekly targets

Even small changes, when repeated regularly, can go a long way in developing a new skill. As a leader, you can help your team build habits that help foster a consistent learning routine.

One way to do this is to encourage your team to use the “Weekly Target” feature on the Codecademy platform. Learners can set weekly targets by going to “My Home” in their Codecademy account, selecting “Update Weekly Target” in the top right corner of the screen, and entering how many days a week they want to learn.

Each week, we’ll show them how many days they’ve logged into Codecademy and how many weeks in a row they’ve met their target. This helps learners create small habits — say, logging on for 15 minutes each day — and see how well they’re sticking to them. It also makes it easier to break down large tasks into smaller bite-sized chunks.

Set realistic expectations

Picking up a new technical skill, as with everything else, takes dedication and time and it’s important to be realistic about what your team can and achieve in a given time period.

For example, here’s how Johnnie Weathersby, Senior Business Intelligence (BI) Data Analyst/Architect and the Codecademy for Teams account manager, puts this philosophy into practice: when assigning weekly review meetings for his team members, he makes sure to allot more time around holidays and for challenging topics. Establishing a sensible approach to learning will make it easier for your team to stick to incremental goals, and will help educational efforts to be more sustainable in the long run.

If you’re ready to put these ideas to the test, you can sign up for a free two-week trial of Codecademy for Teams. We’re excited to see how much your team can learn and grow together in two weeks!

How Have You Commemorated Milestones During the Pandemic?

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How Have You Commemorated Milestones During the Pandemic?

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

What teenage milestones have you always looked forward to? Getting your driver’s license? Going to the prom? Graduating from high school? Celebrating your quinceañera, bar or bat mitzvah, or Sweet Sixteen?

Have you celebrated any of these coming-of-age traditions over the past year during the pandemic? What were these moments like compared to how you’d always imagined them?

In “‘We Feel Lost in Time’: Covid Transforms Teen Milestones,” Taylor Trudon writes about how teenagers have created new traditions and meaningful experiences to commemorate milestones during the pandemic:

Growing up, Carley Ebbenga was used to not having big birthday parties. Since her birthday falls right in the middle of winter break, most kids were out of town so she stuck to small celebrations. But for her Sweet Sixteen, Ms. Ebbenga, who lives in Romeoville, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, wanted to do something special. She envisioned a trip into the city with a few friends where they would eat a nice dinner and stay up late dancing in their hotel rooms.

The pandemic, of course, foiled her plans.

Ms. Ebbenga made the best of things. She invited two of her closest friends to a bonfire in her backyard. They ate chili made by Ms. Ebbenga’s mother and danced around the fire while drinking hot cocoa. The small group also had a “burning ceremony” where they had notebooks and pens to write down “the deepest, most saddest things,” read them out loud and then burn the slips of paper in the fire. Ms. Ebbenga had gotten the idea from watching one of her favorite YouTubers, The Purple Palace, who had made a video burning things she wanted to let go of.

A lot of what Ms. Ebbenga wrote down were those things she missed out on during the pandemic like a Sweet Sixteen or “the nights of laughter lost this year” and “attending my first art show.” “It feels really good to just straight-up watch the fire burn,” she said.

When pandemic lockdowns began last spring, high school students in the class of 2020 realized pretty quickly that they’d be missing their proms and started creating new ways to mark their graduations. But few younger teenagers could have imagined that their lives would still be so limited by the pandemic a year later. Indeed, with different rules across the country, kids have had wildly varied experiences: Some schools have been operating in person and holding proms as usual, while for others, the spring of 2021 is not all that different from last year. And as more classic teenage milestones like Sweet Sixteens, prom and graduation were disrupted or canceled entirely, these kids have had to turn their losses into opportunities, forging new traditions with friends.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • What milestones, teenage rituals or rites of passage have you missed this year? It could be a sports tournament, a special birthday, a school dance or even just time spent with friends after school. How has it felt to have another year changed by the pandemic?

  • Tell us about a milestone you observed during the pandemic that you were not able to celebrate the way you had imagined. What did you originally want the celebration to be like? How did your plans change because of the pandemic? What did that change feel like? Was it empowering to create your own tradition? Or was it hard to not celebrate the milestone the way you wanted?

  • What do you think about the new traditions the teenagers in the article came up with for their important moments? Have you created any pandemic-friendly rituals to celebrate your accomplishments and milestones over the past year? Do you feel inspired to commemorate upcoming occasions in a new way?

  • If you’re in your senior year, did you anticipate events like visiting colleges, attending the senior prom and crossing the graduation stage? What has it felt like to not experience those milestones? What have you done in their place, if anything?

  • Amaya Wangeshi said that she and her friends “feel lost in time.” Do you identify with this feeling? If yes, in what ways have you felt lost? If not, how have you found meaning at this time?

  • Tommy Sinclair said that Covid-adapted rituals, even when they were sometimes less fun, were “better than not doing anything at all.” Do you agree with this sentiment? Have you found creative ways to participate in the activities you’ve looked forward to, like school plays or the prom? Or have you struggled with the mask mandates and social distancing requirements?

About Student Opinion

• Find all of our Student Opinion questions in this column.
• Have an idea for a Student Opinion question? Tell us about it.
• Learn more about how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

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.

Lounging Around

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Lounging Around

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

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.

Post it in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

About Picture Prompts

• Find all our Picture Prompts in this column.
• Have an idea for a Picture Prompt? Tell us about it.
• Teachers, discover more ways to teach with our Picture Prompts and learn how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

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.

Word of the Day: wily

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Word of the Day: wily

: marked by skill in deception

_________

The word wily has appeared in 59 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on April 1 in “The Lockdown Gave My Parents a Honeymoon Do-Over” by Keema Waterfield:

C.A. had never shared space with young people before us and had a cat’s distaste for any change in his environment. We brought chaos and noise to his well-ordered life, upending a careful balance I couldn’t see at the time. I was a careless dishwasher and a laundry spendthrift, oblivious to the expense of each laundromat visit. We were deeply poor in the way of hippies who value experience over material goods, and I was a tight budget’s nightmare.

It never occurred to me to offer him a little generosity of spirit back then. Instead, I made sure he knew I’d had my fill of dads and that my wily heart was a Mad Lib he’d never decipher. Our constant battles wore Mom down to pencil shavings. My sister, Tekla Waterfield, was more of a choose-your-own-adventure kid. She usually chose peace.

Can you correctly use the word wily 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 wily can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try using multiple Words of the Day in a 50-word story that you submit to our Monthly Vocabulary Challenge.

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.

The Word of the Day has been provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.

Examining the Math and Ethics of Covid-19 in Prisons

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Examining the Math and Ethics of Covid-19 in Prisons

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Featured Article: “Incarcerated and Infected: How the Virus Tore Through the U.S. Prison System”

Prisons were not built to handle pandemics. In fact, it’s hard to imagine worse conditions for preventing the spread of the coronavirus than those in prisons: large groups of people living together, in crowded indoor spaces, with a security staff that comes and goes regularly.

A recent New York Times report found that the rate of Covid-19 cases in United States correctional institutions was more than three times the rate in the general population. A follow-up report found that the infection rate in detention centers run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was 20 times that of the general population.

This data raises important questions, both statistical and moral. In this lesson, you will analyze the pandemic’s impact on correctional facilities across the United States — and close to home. Then you will have the opportunity to weigh the ethics of prioritizing — or not prioritizing — prison communities for vaccination, and to explore the realities of statistical bias in data collection.

Look closely at the graph below. These connected-dot plots compare the coronavirus infection rates in each state’s entire population with the rates in its state prisons, including for incarcerated people and prison staff.

Read the beginning of the article (until you reach the graph above), then answer the following questions:

1. The graph in the warm-up activity reveals the disproportionately high Covid rates in state prisons across the United States compared with the general population. Why are correctional facilities “among the nation’s most dangerous places when it comes to infections from the coronavirus”?

2. How did The New York Times collect this data?

3. After reading this introductory section, what are your reactions to what you learned about Covid in prisons? Why?

Note to teachers: Answers to the math problems are at the bottom of this post. Classes can do the activity below with any county that has a state or federal correctional facility on the map in the article. They will explore their home county in Math Activity #2.

According to the map “Inmate infections in U.S. correctional facilities,” in the featured article, San Quentin State Prison has had 2,243 Covid-19 cases and 28 Covid-related deaths during the pandemic. The peak number of prisoners over that time was 3,462. The prison is in Marin County, Calif., which has had 13,855 Covid-19 cases and 227 deaths in its general population. According to the Census Bureau, Marin County has 258,826 residents. The following table summarizes this information:

Imagine that a local politician says, “There have been more than six times as many Covid-19 cases in our county than in the prison. In addition, there have been more than eight times as many deaths. So, let’s focus on disease mitigation among the county’s citizens, who clearly have been more affected than people in prison.”

Are the numbers in the politician’s statement accurate? How might they be misleading?

1. Verify the politician’s statistics by showing:

2. Answer the following, in writing or in class discussion:

3. One way to measure the impact of Covid-19 is by calculating infection and death rates. Two formulas for these statistics are given below:

4. Answer the following, in writing or in class discussion:

Let’s find, calculate and interpret measures of Covid-19’s spread in your community and in nearby prison facilities. Draw a blank table, similar to the one we used in the warm-up:

First, find the closest prison to your community using the interactive map in the article. Hover your cursor over the circle representing the prison, and then fill in the cells in the table under the “nearby prison” column. (Use the “inmates at peak” statistic as the population size.)

Next, open the New York Times Covid-19 database. Navigate to the “County trends” section and find your county. Change the menu from “Recent trends” to “All time.” Fill in the corresponding cells in the table with the case count and the death count. To find your county’s population size, look up your county name in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quick Facts site.

Once you’ve compiled all the data, respond to the following:

  • Calculate and compare the infection rates in your county with those in the nearby prison. Which one is higher? Why do you think that is?

  • Calculate and compare the death rates in your county with those in the nearby prison. Which one is higher? Why do you think that is?

Option 1: Weigh the ethics of prioritizing prison communities for vaccination.

Before Covid vaccines were widely available in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that prison workers and incarcerated people be placed in early phases of the rollout. Responses were mixed. Read the following two quotes from a March article about how Covid-19 prison vaccination policies differed from state to state:

“There’s no way [the vaccine is] going to go to prisoners before it goes to people who haven’t committed any crime.” — Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado

“People are unwilling to say we should vaccinate people who are incarcerated — who may have done something bad — before us. It’s like, ‘How dare they?’ But that’s not the question here. It’s not what we value or who we value. This is about who is at risk of disease. That’s it.” — Dr. Jaimie Meyer, associate professor at the Yale School of Medicine

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of independent experts who advise the C.D.C. on its vaccine policies, identified four ethical principles to guide their decision-making process when vaccine supply is limited:

  • Maximize benefits and minimize harms — Respect and care for people using the best available data to promote public health and minimize death and severe illness.

  • Mitigate health inequities — Reduce health disparities in the burden of Covid-19 disease and death, and make sure everyone has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible.

  • Promote justice — Treat affected groups, populations and communities fairly. Remove unfair, unjust and avoidable barriers to Covid-19 vaccination.

  • Promote transparency — Make a decision that is clear, understandable and open for review. Allow and seek public participation in the creation and review of the decision processes.

Imagine that you are the governor of your state. Use those four principles to help guide your vaccine prioritization plan and determine what priority status prisoners and prison workers should have as part of the vaccine rollout. What recommendations would you make?

Option 2: Explore the potential for statistical bias.

Let’s dig a bit deeper into how these statistics were generated. Reread this paragraph from the article:

The cramped, often unsanitary settings of correctional institutions have been ideal for incubating and transmitting disease. Social distancing is not an option. Testing was not a priority inside prisons early in the pandemic. With little public pressure, political leaders have been slow to confront the spread.

Statistical bias occurs when a method for estimating a quantity, such as using case counts to estimate the total number of infections in a prison, is inaccurate. Biased methods lead to overestimates or underestimates.

  • Given that testing for the coronavirus was “not a priority inside prisons early in the pandemic,” do you think the prison infection rates listed in the article are biased? If so, are they underestimates or overestimates?

Now, let’s think about estimating the infection rate outside of prisons.

  • Think about the testing conditions in your community during the pandemic. Do you think there are people who were infected with Covid-19 who never got tested? Why? Do you believe the overall infection rates listed in the article are biased? If so, are they underestimates or overestimates?

  • In your opinion, how should we deal with the possibility of statistical bias in the data we analyzed? How much should statistical bias affect our conclusions?

This lesson was written by Dashiell Young-Saver, who is a high school teacher of statistics and the founder of the site Skew the Script. Sharon Hessney, who curates the Learning Network’s weekly feature “What’s Going On in This Graph?” contributed to the lesson.

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.

Lesson of the Day: ‘A Jane Austen Museum Wants to Discuss Slavery. Will Her Fans Listen?’

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Lesson of the Day: ‘A Jane Austen Museum Wants to Discuss Slavery. Will Her Fans Listen?’

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Featured Article: “A Jane Austen Museum Wants to Discuss Slavery. Will Her Fans Listen?” by Jenny Gross

Jane Austen’s House, a museum based in a home where the writer lived, is expanding its interpretation to include information about her and her family’s ties to the slave trade. However, British tabloids and fans of Austen’s work have pushed back against the museum’s inclusion of such information.

In this lesson, you will hear both sides of the debate on including slavery and its legacy in conversations about Austen and her literature.

Jane Austen was an English novelist known for her critical interpretation and commentary on 18th-century society. Austen died over 200 years ago, but her novels are still read today, and movies based on her books continue to be made and remade. Some superfans annually visit Austen’s home in Bath, England, and dress in costume to celebrate the anniversary of when one of her novels was published. Today, there are even TikTok videos with thousands of views about the aesthetics of her novels and reviews of books about her books.

Have you ever read a Jane Austen novel? Or watched a movie version of one of her famous novels? Are you or anyone you know a fan of Austen’s work? Why do you think there is such a love for her novels and the time period she lived in?

When reading Austen’s books or thinking about her world, do you consider the realities of slavery at the time period and how that might have been part of her life? Why or why not?

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. How is the museum, Jane Austen’s House, trying to broaden its interpretation of Austen’s life and time period?

2. Why does the museum’s director, Lizzie Dunford, believe it is important to include this information? Do you agree with her reasoning? Why or why not?

3. How does the museum’s action fit into a larger conversation about the legacy of slavery as it relates to the British Empire? Can you think of other examples of similar conversations taking place at universities, museums or other public institutions in the United States, or elsewhere in the world?

4. How have British tabloids and fans of the novel reacted to the decision made by Jane Austen’s House?

5. What are the connections to slavery and abolition in Austen’s novels and personal life? What are the gaps in what historians and Austen scholars know?

Consider different sides of the debate. Some argue that bringing conversations about slavery into Austen book clubs or museums is going too far and takes away from her work. But others assert that it is impossible to talk about 18th-century England and Austen’s life without talking about the slave trade. These two quotes from the article highlight the differing points of view. Read the quotes and then prepare to discuss or write your reaction.

Myretta Robens, the founder and president of an Austen fan group, said she had worked to prevent conversations about racism and current events in the groups she facilitates:

“We don’t want combat,” she said of her fan group. Referring to two of Austen’s most well-known characters, Ms. Robens said, “It’s hard to talk about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy and talk about the current environment in the same forum.”

Claudia L. Johnson, a professor and author of the book “Jane Austen’s Cults and Cultures,” said people had long tried to separate Austen from the world around her:

“A large part of her readership has always wanted to isolate her from the sort of messy hubbub of history, and to imagine that she lived in this quieter, more civil world,” Professor Johnson said. “There is this deep longing to isolate Austen from all of the storms and stresses of modernity.”

Now, reflect on the two sides of the argument as presented above. You can choose one of the questions below and write your response, citing examples from the article, Austen’s novels or your own research. Or you can engage in a class discussion about the issue. If you’re having this conversation in class, you might do a Barometer activity to rank how strongly you agree or disagree with the perspectives presented above.

  • Do you believe it is important to contextualize Jane Austen, her home and her novels in 18th-century English history by acknowledging slavery, the slave trade and race relations during that time period? Or do you think it is more important to focus on the beauty of her novels, the worlds she created within them and what was special and simple about her time period?

  • Do you think these two perspectives are mutually exclusive? Or do you think it is possible to hold both perspectives at the same time? For example, Professor Johnson said, “Just because you involve Austen in the messiness of history doesn’t mean you don’t love her.” Do you agree with this? Why or why not?

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.

Alison Anniversary Interviews: Sébastien Breteau

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Alison Anniversary Interviews: Sébastien Breteau

Sébastien Breteau is the founder of the Breteau Foundation, a charity committed to promoting access to education in developing countries. The Breteau Foundation believes that every child, regardless of location or background, should have access to a quality education.

Since its inception in 2013, the Breteau Foundation has implemented a range of educational initiatives that today reach 25,000 children. The foundation also empowers hundreds of teachers through their teacher training programs which provide educators with the digital skills necessary to bring forward the next generation. Through its network of partner schools across 10 different countries, as well as through refugee settlements and daycare centers, the Breteau Foundation is providing quality digital educational tools to some of the world’s disadvantaged children

Hi Sébastien, tell us what inspired you to choose a career in education?

Education is the stem of everything. My parents were teachers and I relate very much to the act of mentoring/coaching/passing on knowledge. When I was a teenager, I provided Mathematics tuition to a young girl, who found it very challenging. She persisted and after completing an assessment and gaining a high result, I could really see a change in her self-esteem. I found that a fabulous moment of humanity, when you are able to help someone and you see their progress and improvement. I founded the Breteau Foundation with a view of helping disadvantaged primary school children, providing them with tablets, high quality educational content and providing training to the teachers who support them.

What’s your single proudest achievement in the education sector?

Sadly, global education is not equal. Bringing our programme to the world’s most disadvantaged children is a small step in helping to give children everywhere, regardless of their background and location, an opportunity to succeed. Today, we now have 25,000 children enrolled in our programmes.

What has been the most important development you’ve witnessed in education in your professional lifetime?

The most important development I have witnessed is the quality and diversity of digital technology innovation and the role it has played in enhancing learning. Technology is continually evolving and providing opportunities to improve learning experiences for children. With more educational apps, tablets and mobile devices, children have more interactive and engaging ways to learn which, as we have seen with the children that we work with, motivates them to want to learn and improves their chances of completing education.

Why is free education so important in addressing global inequality?

Education provides freedom and dignity. Where children and adults cannot access education, there is lower educational attainment and fewer opportunities to build a career or a sustainable future. Free education allows anyone from anywhere in the world, no matter their background, to have the same opportunities. This increases their chances for a better future and enables individuals to play a bigger role towards building a stronger community.

 

Why do you think that online learning has been such a game changer when it comes to democratising education?

For those who do have connectivity, online learning improves access to resources, knowledge and learning. For some countries, switching to online learning has been a tremendous help during the global pandemic.

Unfortunately, for the majority of the communities we work with, online learning is not a possibility and without access to this, these children are significantly worse off. Our initiatives directly address connectivity inequality such as our offline Homeschooling Tablet Programme and our Mobile Education bus in Lebanon which brings education to refugee children. We also have offline Educational apps available in local languages and printed academic workbooks that are distributed into communities so learning can continue.

What in your opinion is the most pressing educational issue globally?

Learning poverty. Pre-Covid, learning poverty was already high, with many children in middle to low income countries not being able to read at a basic level by age 10. Currently, the World Economic Forum has reported that an additional 72 million children will be pushed into learning poverty. We need to be on the front-foot with education and find alternative ways to continue learning for these children.

If you were to recommend one online course to our Learners, what would it be and why?

We have recently partnered with Learn to Be a Better Human (LTBABH), an online e-learning platform that allows you to access micro classes for personal and professional development whilst also giving back a percentage of profits to charities. With LTBABH, we are developing a series of micro-classes that feature children we work with in the countries that our programmes reach. We have just launched our first micro-class ‘Friends Around The World: South Africa – Cape Town’ that aims to develop empathy and to help others understand how children in other countries live their lives. Our micro-classes are a valuable way to learn about someone else’s culture and their day-to-day lives in places that many of us may not have the opportunity to visit.

What advice would you give to Alison’s Learners who are using free online learning to empower themselves?

Learning is a life journey, it should never stop and we should be constantly seeking ways to grow and develop ourselves.

Black and Brilliant AI Accelerator: Meet the Learners

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Black and Brilliant AI Accelerator: Meet the Learners

We’ve partnered with Black and Brilliant on an AI Accelerator and have been following along as participants make their way through the 10-week course. In addition to working through Codecademy’s Data Scientist curriculum, participants are exploring topics like responsible AI and social justice, the business of AI, and more with mentorship and coaching from industry experts.  

We had a chance to speak with a few of the students participating in the Black and Brilliant AI Accelerator. In our conversations, we asked them about what problems they hope to solve with AI, as well as their advice for people who are interested in AI or are early in their technical learning journeys. Read on to find out what they had to say.

Siphu Langeni

Toronto, CA

After 15 years in the healthcare industry working in critical care and anesthesia, Siphu was exposed to a lot of data, which inspired her to go back to school and make the switch to data science. In the past year, she returned to school for additional coursework in data science, enrolled in the Black and Brilliant AI Accelerator, completed a 100 Days of Code challenge, and will soon join the Data Science and Engineering team at Shopify.

What Siphu wants to do with AI:

I’m really interested in building better access to healthcare, and I feel like AI could play a significant role in that. There’s so much disparity between those who can and cannot access the system and it creates a dividing line for humanity in general. Access isn’t always financial — sometimes it’s access to transportation, providers, and even information. There’s so much data out there, so figuring out a way to harness that data and make it helpful for others is my goal.

Her advice:

Career switching is challenging. It’s like starting over, so you need to be comfortable with not being comfortable. There were many points during my career path when I would just freeze, but you can’t be afraid to take that next step forward. Don’t be shy about reaching out either — what has helped me a lot has been networking. Speak to people who are ahead of you, but find people who are like yourself because they’re the ones who will understand your experience the most. I have a lot of friends who are in similar situations, and I find I’m most encouraged when we encourage each other. It’s about finding your tribe.

Lastly, stay curious. There’s not enough time in the world to know everything you need to know, but if you take it one bite at a time, you’re on your way.

Leonard Paul-Kamara

Fremont, CA

Leonard is a freelance data analyst consultant who believes that “learning never stops” in technology careers. He has been using Codecademy for the past two years to stay up to date on his technical skills. With experience in the oil and energy space, his goals are to work as a machine learning engineer to promote clean energy.

What Leonard wants to do with AI:

I’m interested in using AI to drive the growth and use of sustainable, renewable energy. I have a mechanical engineering background, and I know the whole world is concerned about climate change and the use of fossil fuel. There has been progress made, but I want to jump in and contribute to that growth.

His advice:

There are a lot of resources and self-studies out there for anyone who’s interested in tech, and they’re very accessible and affordable. You can do something with Codecademy, which has all the resources and materials you need. In my job, I’ve used what I’ve learned on Codecademy to improve my work and it’s brought a lot of value to my life.

Cierra Hall

Chesapeake, VA

After always being interested in math and science, Cierra decided to switch careers and go back to school for engineering while in her thirties. Graduating this spring with a bachelor’s degree in computational modeling, simulation, and visualization engineering, her ultimate goal is to use AI to tackle a pressing issue in healthcare.  

What Cierra wants to do with AI:

What I would ultimately like to tackle with AI is racial disparity among maternal mortality rates. In the United States, the mortality rate amongst Black women is really, really high. I think data science would be a really good tool that I could use to help get those numbers in check. I love machine learning, but one day I’d like to go into the healthcare space to help these women and hopefully overcome the mortality rate.

Her advice:

Take a class, whether that’s online through something like Codecademy where you can learn in a non-traditional space that fits around your career or family. It’s never too late to learn, go back to school, or take a class. Talk to other people in the industry to see what’s worked for them — not everyone is going to have a traditional path.

Dr. Audrey Deyawe Kongmeneck

Nancy, France

After receiving her PhD in Computational Chemistry, Audrey is setting out to evolve the field of research in computational drug discovery. Machine-learning skills are a must-have for her industry, and she’s using the Black and Brilliant AI Accelerator to further expand her skillset.

What Audrey wants to do with AI:

My goal is to improve people’s health. The reason I want to be a drug designer is to find medicines for any disease, and AI plays an important role in that discovery.

Her advice:

In research fields like computational chemistry, data science is mandatory. You’re dealing with a lot of data, and in order to enhance the way you present that data, data science is one of the most helpful tools. It actually helps drive science further.

Shamel Lakin

Tampa, Florida

After launching a website for a nonprofit, Shamel realized that technology, specifically coding, can be used to make a positive impact on people’s lives. He decided to enroll in a bootcamp, and after recently graduating, is seeking a software engineering role at a mission-driven company. He is using the Black and Brilliant AI Accelerator to learn more about AI and expand his technical skills even further.

What Shamel wants to do with AI:

People get confused about AI and what it entails. Through this program, I’ve learned about the importance of AI and how it’s all around us, whether that’s through Alexa, Google Home, self-driving cars, or voice or facial recognition. As we accumulate all this data, the question is how are we taking care of it? How are we nurturing this data so that it is handled with care and responsibility, and that when it’s being used, it’s being used righteously and correctly. We have a huge responsibility, and we all have to carry it together.

His advice:

Be patient with yourself. Think about perseverance and commitment. When you’re on any journey, you need to have an intended target… that could be supporting your kids, your family, or getting out of poverty. If you’re coding and you get stuck — and you know you will get stuck, sometimes for a day straight — keep going back to that target and remind yourself why you’re doing this and why you’re working so hard to tackle this specific skill set.

Interested in learning more about the Black and Brilliant AI Accelerator? Follow The Black and Brilliant Advocacy Network on LinkedIn to stay in the loop!

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