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What Would You Try to Save From Your Home in a Disaster?

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What Would You Try to Save From Your Home in a Disaster?

Imagine you suddenly have to flee your house and must make split-second decisions about what to save. What would you take and why? A framed photo? A family heirloom? A favorite souvenir, memento or trophy? A religious object? Some jewelry? Clothes? Your phone or computer?

For many people who survived the recent fires in Southern California, this was not a hypothetical question, but a painful reality.

In “What They Took,” New York Times editors share six stories from survivors of the Palisades and Eaton fires about what items they rescued from their homes and why they matter. Here is one of those stories — about Clarence Wright of Altadena, Calif., written by Ronda Kaysen:

After Clarence Wright fled his Altadena home and learned that it had been destroyed, he mourned the poems he had lost.

In spiral-bound notebooks, he had chronicled the lives of his children, explored his political leanings and mused about romance, friendship or a stranger at the airport.

The only poems he had left, he thought, were in three copies of a collection that he self-published 20 years ago. He had long kept those in his car so that he could reread his work on trips to the beach or the mountains.

“I would like to remind myself of who I am and who I was and where I came from,” said Mr. Wright, 75, who lived in his three-bedroom house for 40 years, raising four of his children alone after his wife died at an early age.

But as the fog of crisis recently lifted, he remembered that his spiral-bound notebooks might have survived after all.

It turned out that they were in a backpack that he had grabbed in the frantic early morning evacuation. The backpack had been sitting in his trunk for weeks.

“I was relieved because I thought that everything that I’d ever done would not exist anymore,” he said.

For Mr. Wright, the fire and its aftermath have resurfaced painful memories of his time as a Marine in Vietnam. He is now working on a new poem to make sense of those feelings after his home and community were destroyed.

“It brings out sort of an anger,” he said. “But in order to control that anger, I put it in words.”

— Ronda Kaysen

Students, read the entire article and then tell us:

  • If your home were in danger and you could only save a few treasured possessions, what would they be?

  • What story do the objects tell about you?

  • What’s your reaction to the objects — and animals — saved by the families in the article? Which items — and the stories of their rescue — were most interesting, memorable or moving?

  • For some students, the following question may not be hypothetical: Have you ever faced a natural disaster like a fire, flood or tornado — or a human-made disaster like a war — when you had to abandon your home quickly? What was your experience? Were you able to save any meaningful items, like the people profiled in these six stories were able to do?

  • Does the article change how you think about your own possessions or the meaning of home? How so?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, 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 and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Red Arrows

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Red Arrows

What do you think this illustration is communicating? 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?

Tell us in the comments, and then read the related editorial from the Opinion section to learn more.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, 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 and may appear in print.

Find more Picture Prompts here.

Word of the Day: mutability

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Word of the Day: mutability

The word mutability has appeared in 15 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 6 in “The World of Kendrick Lamar, in 6 Key Performances” by Niela Orr:

Lamar has scaled up those performances, becoming more elaborate as his platforms have grown in the 14 years since his recording debut. Dave Free, his primary creative partner and a collaborator on his visual presentations, has in the past attributed the rapper’s mutability to what he called the roller coaster effect: “You give people some type of variation, they can’t get used to you. They can’t put their finger on you. The more you keep people on their toes, the more interested they stay in you, for a longer period of time.” The zigzagging ride Free described is not unlike the sensory swerve of verse, especially Lamar’s quirky couplets.

Can you correctly use the word mutability 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.

If you want a better idea of how mutability can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try our vocabulary quizzes.

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 is 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.

Which Popular Phrases Annoy You?

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Which Popular Phrases Annoy You?

“It’s all good.” “You’re perfect.”

The Opinion columnist Pamela Paul has grown to dislike these two upbeat expressions.

Do you hear them often in your everyday life? Do they bother you?

Are there any other common phrases you hear from your peers or parents or online that have started to annoy you? Why do you dislike them?

In the Opinion essay “It’s All Good, and You’re Perfect,” Ms. Paul writes about what she sees as “mindless optimism” in some of today’s common language. She begins:

Recently I’ve been told that I’m perfect, something I’m perfectly aware I’ve never been nor ever will be.

This generous assessment has come from strangers when I apologize for bumping into them and from the exceedingly cheerful salespeople at the store where my daughter shops for clothes. “No, you’re perfect!” they’ll insist when I explain the need to rest my Gen X weariness on the fitting room floor where a modest “No problem” would have sufficed.

The urge toward pronounced perfection is annoyingly catchy. Almost against my will, I now respond to emails with a knee-jerk “Perfect!” where I once would have said something more in line with the nevermind sensibility of my generation. “Sounds good,” for example, or “OK.”

Even our artificial intelligence exhorts us to greater heights of enthusiasm. To an email in which an acquaintance notes pleasantly, “It was nice seeing you last night,” Gmail suggests a more boisterous reply: “It was great to see you too!” or “So fun!” Our chatbots likewise communicate with endless effervescence, just as we have taught them to do(!).

When not being perfect, we are decidedly good. Should I so much as display a downbeat facial expression when fumbling a social nicety, the response is nothing short of impassioned: “No, you’re good!”

Being good is for everyone. We are all good now that “You’re all good” has replaced both the Commonwealth “No worries” and the American standard “That’s OK.” And it’s not always personal. Frequently, declarations of goodness come in the form of an expansive statement of general excellence: “It’s all good.”

But is it all good, really?

Students, read the entire essay and then tell us:

  • Are there popular phrases that people use today that annoy you? Tell us about one and why it bothers you.

  • What is your reaction to Ms. Paul’s essay? Do you agree with her that expressions like “It’s all good” and “You’re perfect” are too enthusiastic, and maybe even dishonest? Or do you find nothing wrong with this sort of positive language?

  • Ms. Paul suggests that these overly optimistic phrases may be a reaction to the negativity of social media, or even a way to convey emojis in the real world. To what extent do you think social media and the internet influence how you and your peers speak? Can you give an example?

  • Ms. Paul recalls the days in her life when “Sounds good” and “That’s OK” were acceptable responses. How do those phrases sound to you? What differences have you observed between the way your generation and those older or younger than you use language?

  • Are there expressions you and your peers use that you actually like? What are they, and why do you like them?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, 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 and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Goals

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Goals

Have you ever reached an important goal, something you had to work toward for a long time?

If so, what was it? How did you accomplish it? And how did you feel after?

A recent article in the Well section is about how it’s normal to feel a little lost after an accomplishment. As the piece puts it, “Pursuing a goal can give you a sense of identity and purpose, so reaching the end can feel a bit like having the rug pulled out from under you, even if you are thrilled with the results.”

Can you relate to this feeling? What, if anything, did you do to recover?

Tell us in the comments, and then read the related article to learn more.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, 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 and may appear in print.

Find more Picture Prompts here.

Word of the Day: charade

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Word of the Day: charade

The word charade has appeared in 46 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 16 in “3 Parrots, 1 Shared Wall, 2 Ruptured Lives” by David Segal. The article describes how noise complaints in a Manhattan co-op led to a $750,000 legal settlement and shattered a friendship between Charlotte Kullen and Meril Lesser.

To Ms. Lesser, the noise crisis was a sinister charade, an attempt by Ms. Kullen, in collusion with others in the building, to get her evicted so Ms. Kullen could buy her home, knock down their shared wall and make one large apartment.

Can you correctly use the word charade 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.

If you want a better idea of how charade can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.

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 is 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.

Supporting Federal Workers in Transition with Free Learning and Career Resources 

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Supporting Federal Workers in Transition with Free Learning and Career Resources 

By Coursera

The recent workforce changes in the federal government have created uncertainty for thousands of employees. At Coursera, we recognize the challenges of career transitions, and we’re stepping up to provide critical learning resources to help affected federal workers navigate this change and unlock new opportunities.

Today, we are launching a dedicated initiative to support federal employees in transition with learning pathways designed to help them gain in-demand skills, prepare for new careers, and explore different job opportunities. The initiative includes: 

  • Free access to job-oriented courses – We are offering 5,000 free enrollments to a curated catalog of career-relevant courses designed to help workers quickly gain high-demand skills in areas like generative AI, data science, cybersecurity, project management, digital marketing, and more. Once the 5,000 limit is reached, learners can still enroll at a highly subsidized rate of 40%.
  • Industry-recognized credentials – Learners can earn certificates from leading industry partners,  including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM. These programs cover entry-level, intermediate, and advanced skills based on learner proficiency and career goals. Free access will be available until the end of the year, and learners will retain lifelong access to certificates earned during the period. 
  • Career transition resources – The Federal Workers in Transition page provides tailored guidance on navigating career changes, featuring content on high-income skills, resume writing, interview prep, and job application strategies. It includes career coaching articles on best practices to make a successful transition into new industries, guidance on professional development plans, and insights on navigating job interviews and salary negotiations.

Whether transitioning to the private sector, exploring entrepreneurship, or advancing within public service, Coursera is committed to supporting federal workers during this time of change and ensuring that high-quality learning resources are available to those who need them most.

For more information and to access these resources, visit our Federal Workers in Transition page.

Weekly Student News Quiz: Russia-Ukraine War, Quantum Computing, S.N.L.

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Weekly Student News Quiz: Russia-Ukraine War, Quantum Computing, S.N.L.

Above is an image related to one of the news stories we followed over the past two weeks. Do you know what it shows? At the bottom of this quiz, you’ll find the answer.

Have you been paying attention to current events recently? See how many of these 10 questions you can get right.

Should Parents Be Talking to Their Children About Online Pornography?

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Should Parents Be Talking to Their Children About Online Pornography?

Brian Willoughby knows he’s doing a good job when parents become uncomfortable. That’s because part of his job involves telling them that their teenagers are looking at pornography — hard-core, explicit, often violent. Sometimes, the conversation is with a church group.

Dr. Willoughby is a social scientist at Brigham Young University, where he studies the pornography habits of adolescents and the impact this has on relationships. When he goes into the community to explain what the modern world is like, he speaks plainly.

“I always have to be careful to couch things by saying, ‘I’m not saying porn is good — but I am saying it’s a reality,’” he said. “You can stick your head in the sand and pretend it doesn’t exist, and say this is bad and pray harder, or use addiction language, but you have to have a realistic understanding of what’s happening.”

In the past, many parents have tried to ignore the watching of pornography by their children, forbid its use or wish it away. But scholars who study the adolescent use of online pornography say that the behavior is so commonplace and impossible to prevent that a more pragmatic approach is required. When it comes to pornography, they want us to talk about it.

The aim: to teach adolescents that the explicit content they encounter is unrealistic, misleading about many sexual relations and, as a result, potentially harmful. The approach does not condone the content or encourage its use, Dr. Willoughby emphasized, but acknowledges its ubiquity and unrealistic, hard-core nature. Long gone are the days of nude magazines that left much to the imagination.

“That was nudity, sexualized,” Dr. Willoughby said of the pornography of yesteryear. “A lot of parents still think that porn is Playboy.”

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, 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 and may appear in print.

LMS vs. No LMS: What’s the Real Difference for Growing Companies?

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LMS vs. No LMS: What’s the Real Difference for Growing Companies?

Your business is experiencing growth – congratulations! Are you worried that your staff don’t have the skills to take it to the next level? If you’re looking for cost-effective training solutions, you’ve come to the right place. Let us explain the pros and cons of a learning management system (LMS) for your business.

Let’s be honest upfront and admit that we want you to set up an online training system with us, even if you run a tiny workshop at the less glamorous end of your sector. Why? Because Alison’s mission and raison d’etre is to empower individuals in every way possible. We want to equip your team to fulfil their potential. Since launching our LMS last year, we’ve helped over 5,000 businesses from 65 sectors in 100 countries – and we’re only getting started.

Furthermore, our LMS is different from other online learning platforms in one significant aspect – it’s free!

Head of B2B Olivia Cosgrove and her team have worked hard to deliver an employee training platform that makes a genuine difference to thousands of organisations across various industries.“My team often tell me that our clients have been able to implement training programs they thought they could not afford, support service-users of NGOs who serve the otherwise unserved, and bolster employee wellbeing where resources are otherwise inaccessible.

“This not only gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment in what we have built and how we are making a difference, but it also makes me determined to do more to help those who were left behind.”

Why Use an LMS for Employee Training?

Feedback from businesses that have used our LMS is overwhelmingly positive. With a library of over 5,500 free courses, our offering likely covers the exact skills your workforce needs to drive your business forward.

Perhaps a customer support agent could sound more professional? We can help them to help your business make a better first impression.

Do you have a salesperson who’s excellent at finding leads but seems to struggle to close a deal? We can give them the skills they need.

Perhaps you have some new hires who need to improve their English? You’ve come to the right place.

Without a learning management system, it’s difficult to help these staff overcome these challenges. Our Free LMS can help you select precisely the training they need, and before you know it, your support team will be charming customers, the sales team will be boosting your bottom line and your new hires will be communicating easily and feeling more included and confident in their workplace.

Perhaps you’d like to boost your own business or management skills? We can help you develop your leadership skills, discover how AI can increase your productivity, improve your cash flow or master the basics of HR or health and safety. Create your Free LMS and start learning – it’s that easy!

Online LMS vs. Traditional Training

Let’s face it: traditional training methods are expensive and completely unfeasible for small businesses. You have to pay for your employees to attend a training centre, or bring a trainer in-house. The training can take days, eating into your productivity.

Olivia Cosgrove says: “Free LMS is for organisations of any size, industry, or geographic location. Whether you’re training 5 people or 5,000, our LMS is FREE and here to support you in building a culture of learning.”

With online learning, your employees can log on anywhere. They can download the Alison app and study at a time that suits you and them, without having to leave work. Apart from the convenience, 90% of students prefer learning online to traditional learning methods, according to Research.com.

You can see why we’re the best LMS for small businesses! (We’re also excellent for large organisations, of course.)

How Does Alison’s Free LMS Work?

You know now what Alison’s Free LMS can do for your business but you don’t have time to look into it? Stop right there. All you need to do is head over to our Fee LMS website, and you’ll see how easy it is to sign up and start building a free training portal for your small business. In less than 5 minutes, you’ll be ready to select courses and assign them to your employees.

You can pick one of the learning paths we’ve created under any of the following categories:

If you don’t see the topic you’re looking for, one click will take you to our entire selection of courses in that category.

Regular reports keep you updated on everyone’s learning progress, and you can choose to celebrate their achievements by purchasing their certificates – or not!

What Makes Alison’s Free LMS Stand Out From the Crowd?

Our game-changing commitment to creating a level playing field for everyone, everywhere, goes from the top of the company to the bottom. As Olivia Cosgrove explains: “I came to Alison because I believe that small, medium, and budget-lean organisations are being unfairly priced out of the market by the learning industry’s bloated commercial structure.

“Alison has already removed cost as a barrier to education for the individual, so the natural next step was to extend that mission to organisations. Skills directly impact productivity and profitability, and developing them is not a ‘nice to have’. As an SME ourselves, Alison is committed to helping other organisations grow.

To the B2B team at Alison, it’s simple:

  • Every organisation should be able to offer professional development to improve their employee engagement, retain their important tenured staff by investing in their upskilling, and attract talent that values that same investment.
  • Every organisation should be able to develop the skills it needs to compete today and futureproof itself for the skills required in years to come.
  • No organisation should be penalised for being an SME early in its growth journey or having limited resources for CapEx investments.

Now you know that an affordable LMS is literally at your fingertips, it’s over to you. Sign up today and help your staff and your business to greater success!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is Alison’s LMS really free? What’s the catch?

Yes, Alison’s LMS is completely free to use. Our mission is to make education and skills development accessible to everyone, including organisations of all sizes. There are no hidden fees or charges for setting up your LMS, assigning courses, or tracking progress. We offer optional paid certificates for learners who wish to showcase their achievements, but these are entirely optional and do not affect access to the LMS itself.

Q. What if I need help setting up my LMS or have questions along the way?

Alison provides comprehensive support resources to help you get started and make the most of your LMS. You can find tutorials, FAQs, and contact information for our support team on our website. We’re here to assist you with any questions or challenges you may encounter.

Q. Our business has very specific training needs. Can Alison’s LMS be customised to fit our requirements?

The extensive library of over 5,500 courses means that it’s highly likely we have training content that meets your needs. You can easily create custom learning paths by selecting relevant courses and assigning them to your employees. If you have a very unique need, you can contact us to discuss potential options.

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