In 1914, Carl Sandburg published a poem that began:
Hog Butcher for the World,
Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat,
Player with Railroads and the Nation’s Freight Handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the Big Shoulders:
What is the name of the city in the poem? (Hint: Despite having sports-team mascots that include Bulls and Bears, this city is not the high-finance capital of New York.)
Picture this: It’s a weekend afternoon and there is nothing you need to do. You want to go somewhere — perhaps to people-watch, shop, take a walk, get some fresh air, hang out with friends or just take a break from social media. What places come to mind as options?
Do you feel like you have enough places to go outside of school, work and extracurricular activities where you can just hang out?
In the Opinion column “The Internet Is a Wasteland, So Give Kids Better Places to Go,” Michelle Goldberg writes about the psychological effects of technology on children and teens and how having physical places to go — parks, food courts, movie theaters, even video arcades — could help keep them offline. She cites a recent book about this topic by the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt:
In “The Anxious Generation,” Haidt argues that while kids are under-protected on the internet, they’re over-protected in the real world, and that these two trends work in tandem. For a whole host of reasons — parental fear, overzealous child welfare departments, car-centric city planning — kids generally have a lot less freedom and independence than their parents did. Sitting at home in front of screens may keep them safe from certain physical harms, but it leaves them more vulnerable to psychological ones.
Reading Haidt’s book, I kept thinking of a park in Paris’s Les Halles district where adults aren’t allowed, and how much easier it would be to keep kids off the internet if there were similar parks scattered around American cities and towns. I would much rather have my own children, who are 9 and 11, roaming the neighborhood than spending hours interacting with friends remotely on apps like Roblox.
But it’s hard to make them go outside when there are no other kids around. One of my favorite days of the year is my Brooklyn neighborhood’s block party, when the street is closed to traffic and the kids play in packs, most ignored by their tipsy parents. It demonstrates how the right physical environment can encourage offscreen socializing.
As I was finishing “The Anxious Generation,” a book that partly overlaps with it arrived in the mail: “Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be.” The author, Timothy P. Carney, is a conservative Catholic father of six who wants to encourage other people to have lots of kids. He and I agree about very little, but we’re in complete accord about the need for communities to be “kid-walkable and kid-bikeable” so that children will have more real-world autonomy. Carney cites a 2023 paper from The Journal of Pediatrics concluding that a “primary cause of the rise in mental disorders is a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.”
If we want to start getting kids offline, we need to give them better places to go instead.
Students, read the entire column and then tell us:
What do you think about the idea that “the right physical environment can encourage offscreen socializing”? Have you ever seen evidence of this? Describe your experience with a place or places where you weren’t using your phone much or perhaps even at all. If you’ve never had this experience, what do you think it would take for it to happen?
What do you think are some of the biggest obstacles to leaving your home and staying off your phone? Do they include transportation, safety, cost or simply convincing friends to come along? Perhaps you don’t have a place to go where you’re treated with respect? Maybe it’s something else?
To what degree do you believe that having more places to go would help teens to take breaks from technology? Why?
The column states that teens today most likely have less freedom and independence than their parents did when they were teens. Do you think that’s true for you? What examples can you give of differences in the rules, expectations, privileges and degrees of privacy you have versus the ones your parents had when they were your age? How do you feel about this?
Do you think there is a connection between what Ms. Goldberg calls “real-world autonomy” and mental well-being? Share your thoughts on teenage independence, freedom, trust, responsibility and rules. What do you wish adults knew or did differently?
If you were asked to help create more places for teens to be together in person, what would you suggest? What qualities would those places have? Why would you give them those qualities?
Do you have any other ideas about how we as a society can address the problems described in the column? What are your suggestions?
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.
The word tenuous has appeared in 175 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on March 7 in “How to Move a 1,000-Pound Rescued Manatee (Swimming Isn’t an Option)” by Catrin Einhorn:
Manatees were among the first animals listed on the Endangered Species Act in 1973, when their population was estimated at around 1,000. Now they’ve come to exemplify both the power of conservation and how tenuous its successes can feel. The most recent population estimate, for 2021-22, is about 10,000. Researchers largely attribute the increase to habitat protection and speed restrictions for boats. In 2017, the federal government downlisted Florida manatees from endangered to threatened.
But new threats loom.
Climate change and Florida’s growing population are expected to create the conditions for an increase in harmful algal blooms, according to a report commissioned by the state. Red tide can kill manatees directly, while other kinds of algal blooms can choke off the seagrass they need to survive.
Can you correctly use the word tenuous 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 tenuous 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.
1. After looking closely at the image above (or at the full-size image), think about these three questions:
2. Next, join the conversation by clicking on the comment button and posting in the box that opens on the right. (Students 13 and older are invited to comment, although teachers of younger students are welcome to post what their students have to say.)
3. After you have posted, try reading back to see what others have said, then respond to someone else by posting another comment. Use the “Reply” button or the @ symbol to address that student directly.
Each Monday, our collaborator, Visual Thinking Strategies, will facilitate a discussion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time by paraphrasing comments and linking to responses to help students’ understanding go deeper. You might use their responses as models for your own.
4. On Thursday afternoons, we will reveal at the bottom of this post more information about the photo. How does reading the caption and learning its back story help you see the image differently?
We’ll post more information here on the afternoon of Thursday, April 11. Stay tuned!
More?
• See all images in this series or slide shows of 40 of our favorite images — or 40 more.
• Learn more about this feature in this video, and discover how and why other teachers are using it in their classrooms in our on-demand webinar.
• Find out how teachers can be trained in the Visual Thinking Strategies facilitation method.
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.
Do you play or watch sports? If so, is trash talk ever a part of those games or matches? Do you think taunting, jeering and disparaging your opponents makes sports more fun? Or is it just bad sportsmanship?
In his guest essay, “Hey, Losers! Here’s How to Bring Baseball’s Very Boring Era to an End,” Rafi Kohan makes an argument for bringing trash talk, or “bench jockeying” as it was once known, back to baseball:
Bench jockeying took many forms. Satchel Paige, the legendary pitcher, would do his talking from the mound. Paige named his pitches — the bat dodger, the trouble ball, the midnight creeper — and psyched out hitters by telling them exactly which one he planned to throw or by calling in his fielders, confident in his ability to strike out the side. “I’m gonna throw a pea at yo’ knee,” he’d yell toward the batter’s box. Meanwhile, as a manager, John McGraw, who was said to have “a genius for making enemies,” would go so far as to hire private detectives to dig up dirt on opponents, which served as distracting grist to be bellowed at critical moments in a game.
At the most basic level, talking trash raises the stakes of a competitive confrontation. It puts more on the line — like pride and possible humiliation — and that makes the outcome of the contest matter more than it otherwise would. It puts more pressure on the performances of all involved, both the talker and the target, and demands to know whether they can handle that added stress and expectation.
It’s not just athletes who become more invested by such bluster and abuse, though. We all do. That’s why trash talk is such a reliable tool for marketers in the sports world and beyond. When professional wrestlers cut smack-talking promos on one another, that makes fans care more about the outcome of the match and draws them into the arena. Trash talk is the secret sauce behind the viral success of Wendy’s social-media accounts, and it’s the foundation for basically all reality television and talking-heads debate shows. It gets us to tune in, to not click away.
In baseball, bench jockeying started to fade from the picture sometime in the mid-20th century. Among other factors, the advent of a players’ union and free agency cultivated a feeling of more fraternity among those in uniform. Athletes also imagined themselves as having more to lose as game checks ballooned in size: No one wanted a retaliatory fastball aimed at his head. (Throughout the bench-jockeying era, violence was not uncommon as a response to verbal abuse.) But without trash talk, baseball has lost more than the occasional dugout brawl and well-timed zinger; it’s lost some of its drama.
Students, read the entire essay and then tell us:
What do you think? Does trash talk make sports more entertaining — for players and for fans? Or is it bad sportsmanship? Explain.
Do you ever engage in trash talk in the sports you play? Do your teammates? Your opponents? Your parents or coaches? If so, how do you feel about it? Do you accept it as part of the game? Do you enjoy it and find it motivating? Or do you wish it would stop?
Can trash talk go too far? When, if ever, do you think it crosses a line?
Mr. Kohan makes a case for allowing trash talk in professional sports. Should youth sports also permit a little taunting and jeering? Or is it different for young players? Why?
If you’re not an athlete or a sports fan, is trash talk a part of any other area of your life, like when you’re playing video games or are involved in some other kind of rivalry? Does this kind of taunting create more fun in your life? Or do you find it annoying — even hurtful sometimes?
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.
The word extravaganza has appeared in 90 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Dec. 21 in “A Light Display With Many, but Not All, Glowing Reviews” by Ronda Kaysen:
Timothy and Grace Gay have been decorating their property in Union Vale, a town about an hour and a half north of New York City, since 1995. The display attracted a cultlike following when the family first won the Guinness World Record in 2012. Now, from the day after Thanksgiving through the week after Christmas, around 60,000 tourists — 13 times the town’s population of 4,600 — drive along the dark country roads in search of dazzle.
This year, the Gays strung up 720,420 lights around the pond in front of their home, about 17,000 more bulbs than their 2022 tally.
… I returned three weeks later to see the display in all its glory. At night, the country roads were disorienting. But out of the darkness appeared an extravaganza of flashing, twirling colors reminiscent of a circus or a carnival fun house.
Can you correctly use the word extravaganza 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 extravaganza 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.
Maybe with some self-reflection and practice, I can kick this habit and speak more confidently and clearly.
To me filler words are just like any other word. They have meaning when you deliberately place meaning in them but when you use them to fill natural silence in your conversation they become superficial and hinder communication. In the end the reason we speak is to communicate our ideas. When the words we use get in the way of that clearly something needs to change. To some extent filler words can be a part of your identity as a communicator but I think they have become overused in the teenage repertoire. It’s better to say few meaningful words than a lot of filler ones.
I think filler words serve as a pausing moment for people to gather their thoughts and formulate their next words. I think they can help in conversations by emphasizing what you are trying to say but can also hinder meaningful conversations because it makes the speaker sound hesitant.
@Nia It is also hard for me to stop using the word “like.” I think this is because we typically use “like” in informal conversations, and it helps us convey our ideas more clearly, while providing comfort to the person you are talking to. If I don’t use words such as “like” in a conversation, sometimes I fear I sound unfriendly or robotic. So, I think using filler words occasionally doesn’t hurt anyone.
— Harnoor, Valley Stream North High School
@Nia I totally agree. I feel that using filler words makes the conversation flow more smoothly. However, in a more professional setting such as when one is giving a presentation, I think pausing between thoughts is better. Overall, the presenter could better convey their confidence and understanding of the topic that way. Although, in this situation, one has most likely reviewed and practiced what they should say. So, it may be easier to avoid filler words than it would be in a conversation.
The right amount of filler words can allow for better comprehension and add subtle breaks in communication. However, the overuse of filler words can make the communication a little confusing and hard to follow. This is when it poses negative effects to communication, and it requires further explanation.
In discussions of filler words, one controversial issue has been the formality of using them. On one hand, some might argue that they allow for people to think of what they are going to say next and use them to fill in the time they use to think. On the other hand, others would argue that they are disruptive and are not needed to fill in for pauses in conversations. My own view is that the use of filler words are okay if they are not constantly being repeated. I personally think I use filler words too much, but in moderation, it is okay.
Like most people, I use filler words throughout my speaking because I immediately start trying to respond to a question or a previous comment and I haven’t fully thought through my response. That leads me to stop mid-sentence to think about what else I am going to say. It is not bad to do it every so often, but everyone should take the time to formulate their idea in their head more in order to minimize the filler words. I noticed when I prepare a presentation or speech for school, I use little to no filler words, as I am way more prepared on what I am saying. The same goes for many others when they give speeches and it enhances it, making it stronger. To get that time, I think I will be using phrases like “give me a second to think about that” or “I need a moment to think about that more,” which will give me more time to process my thoughts. Others should use tactics like this as those tactics will lead to less likes and ums.
Growing up in Taiwan, I heard a lot about Kinmen. “We hope you have enjoyed the flight, and we are looking forward to serving you again in the near future. Thank you, and goodbye.” Like most Taiwanese, I had never been to these islands so close to China until I came with my parents a couple of years ago. [GUNSHOT] [APPLAUSE] I knew that Kinmen had been the front line for Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. But it was still a shock to see that China is literally right there. [MUSIC PLAYING] I sang this song all the time as a kid. We were taught that we Taiwanese were Chinese in exile. And, one day, with help from the U.S., we would retake China, freeing the mainland from the evil Communists. And Kinmen would be the launching pad. “About 100 miles across open water from Taiwan, Kinmen is surrounded on three sides by the mainland and has frequently been shelled by red artillery. Kinmen is, in effect, a cork in the Communist invasion bottle, performing much the same role for Asia as does Berlin in Europe.” This was my dad in 1968. When he drew Kinmen for his mandatory military service, my grandmother cried. She was afraid that he might not make it back alive. As I got older, politicians on TV stopped trying to convince us to take back China at all costs. But the folks in Kinmen were still expected to defend Taiwan, even though they have family and history just on the other side of the divide. As for my family, like most ethnic Chinese in Taiwan, we’ve been here for generations and have no connections to China. Instead, my father dreamed of going to the U.S., which is where I have spent most of my adult life, until I moved back to Taipei a few years ago. After so many years away, I’m still figuring out my own relationship to Taiwan and China. Kinmen connects Taiwan to China but also keeps them apart. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to this place. I want to make sense of it. Growing up, this channel of water was the edge of our universe, separating good from evil. Then, one day, we were suddenly allowed to cross to the other side. And all it took was a half-hour ferry ride. On my very first trip to China, I used my Taiwanese compatriot permit. It’s basically a separate passport issued by the Chinese government — the same government that considers my Taiwanese passport illegal. But when I began working in China, it was actually easier to travel with my American passport. The China I saw was not the sad and scary Communist wasteland that I learned about in school. It was an exhilarating place, bursting with colors and possibilities. [CHEERING] I wanted to be a part of it, with whichever passport I needed to use. I was last in China in 2018. I had a hard time getting a film I made to pass through the censors so we could show it there. Then China’s crackdown on Hong Kong happened. And the pandemic shut down everything, including the Kinmen ferry, in 2020. I’m not sure I’ll go to China again anytime soon. When Covid broke out, I moved back to Taipei after several decades in the U.S. There you go. I’ve spent more time with my parents in the last three years than in the past 30 years combined. This place is feeling like home again, though I can’t help but wonder how long this will last. I have split the last 15 years of my life going between Taiwan, China and the U.S. More and more, I feel like a kid whose parents are involved in a three-way custody battle — hostile, codependent, manipulative, each pair with their own dysfunctions. They all think they know what’s best for me. They don’t care what I want. Many in Kinmen think that China will never attack Taiwan, and the U.S. should stop interfering. We’ll be reunified peacefully, they said, because, after all, we’re all one big family. At dinner recently, my mother casually reminded me that I should have a plan if China invades — that they intend to stay in Taiwan. We’re going to be too old to leave, she told me. “Hello, hello, hello.” [GUNSHOTS] Starting in 2024, Taiwanese compulsory military service will be extended to one year for all eligible men. When these young men arrive in Kinmen, will they be surprised, like I am, by the peaceful sunsets — the same ones that my father must have seen when he served here all those years ago — and by the kindness of the people here who are forever caught in between? [PIANO MUSIC]
Do you listen to podcasts? Do you tune in to find out what’s happening in the world? To stay up-to-date on sports, music, film, fashion or TV? To get advice? To laugh? To hear a good story? To learn something new?
Imagine you — or you and several of your friends — were behind the microphone. What would you talk about? Who might you like to interview? What thoughts, talents, insights, opinions or stories would you want to share with the world?
In our Seventh Annual Podcast Contest, we invite teenagers to submit original podcasts of five minutes or less. Your creation can be about anything that interests you, in any form that you like. Our favorites will be featured on The Learning Network.
Take a look at the guidelines and related resources below. Please post any questions you have in the comments and we’ll answer you there, or write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.
Produce a podcast of five minutes or less that informs or entertains.
You can create a podcast on any topic you like in any format you like, whether that’s an interview with an expert, an informal conversation with a friend, a journalistic investigation, a fictional story or anything else you can think of. We welcome podcasts across genres, including, comedy, true crime, news documentary, history, radio theater and sports — let your imagination run wild.
Just make sure that whatever you produce is a complete listening experience. That is, your podcast should have a clear beginning, middle and end.
Your submission can be an excerpt from a longer podcast, as long as you demonstrate thoughtfulness about how you are using time. The beginning, for example, should give listeners some context as to what they’re hearing; the ending can be a hard “end” of the podcast, or it can be the conclusion of a segment, or even the closing of an introduction within a longer episode.
In addition to the guidelines above, here are a few more details:
You must be a student ages 13 to 19 in middle school or high school to participate, and all students must have parent or guardian permission to enter. Please see the F.A.Q. section for additional eligibility details.
Please be sure to use non-copyrighted sound effects or music, with some exceptions. You can find royalty-free music and sound effects on Freesound and SoundBible, or by doing a web search for royalty-free files. You can also use audio editing software to create your own music or sound effects. There are limited fair use exceptions when you can legally use copyrighted music or sound effects, such as when you are critiquing a song or reporting on a film. Read more about those exceptions to ensure that your use of copyrighted material does not infringe on copyright protections. If you use any music or sounds effects, please list the sources in the designated field in the submission form.
We suggest uploading your podcast to SoundCloud to make it easier for our judges to listen to your work. Make sure that the track settings are set to “public.” Our judges will also listen to entries hosted on other podcasting sites, including Podomatic, Buzzsprout, Anchor, Spreaker and Podbean. Please make sure you follow your hosting site’s terms of service. Note: Our judges have often had difficulty listening to podcasts hosted on GoogleDrive, so we strongly recommend you use a different method.
Your piece should be no longer than five minutes. Please be sure to check the length of your audio file before submitting. Just to be very clear, 5:01 is longer than five minutes.
The work you submit should be fundamentally your own — it should not be plagiarized, written by someone else or generated by artificial intelligence.
Your podcast must be original for this contest. That means it should not already have been published at the time of submission, whether by a radio station, another contest or an any other site (not including your own page or a teacher’s class page). However, after you submit to this contest, you are allowed to submit your entry to another publication or contest for possible publication.
Keep in mind that the work you send in should be appropriate for a Times audience — that is, something that could be published in a family newspaper (so, please, no curse words).
You may work alone or with a group, but students should submit only one entry each.
You must also submit a short, informal “artist’s statement” as part of your submission, that describes your process. These statements, which will not be used to choose finalists, help us to design and refine our contests. See the F.A.Q. to learn more.
All entries must be submitted by May 15, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time using the electronic form below.
Use these resources to help you create a podcast:
A unit plan on writing for podcasts, which includes writing prompts to inspire your work; a mentor text featuring past winners of our contest; a lesson plan that focuses on storytelling, interviewing, editing and producing; and much more.
Three short videos from two Times audio producers and one student contest winner who share tips on how to plan, script and record meaningful podcasts.
A recorded webinar on writing for podcasts in which you’ll hear from a school librarian with experience teaching podcasting to students, New York Times podcast producers and previous student winners of our contest.
Our winners from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018, as well as a video with advice from several of them (below).
Answers to your questions about writing, judging, the rules and teaching with this contest. Please read these thoroughly and, if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, post your query in the comments or write to us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.
QUESTIONS ABOUT PODCASTING
What is a podcast?
Simply put: Podcasts are audio programs that can take almost any form. They can be a news report or a one-act play; a formal interview or a friendly conversation; a personal narrative or a book review. Some podcasts are informative, others are entertaining, and others try to persuade. They can be funny, serious, thought-provoking or emotional. In short, your podcast can be pretty much whatever you want it to be.
How can I make my podcast stand out?
We are primarily looking for thoughtful pieces with a clear beginning, middle and ending. Here are a few tips to get your podcast noticed by our judges:
Choose a topic that matters to you. Not only will your passion sustain you during the creative process, but it will shine through in the final product. Remember, though, you have only five minutes, so make sure you choose something that you can do justice in that time. For example, you probably won’t be able to take on all of climate change, but you can focus on a small aspect of it, like food waste in your community.
Use a format that brings your topic to life. Ask yourself: What is the best way to tell this story? Is it appropriate to tell the story from your own point of view or should you interview an expert? Does it make sense for the podcast to have a rigid structure or should it be more of a free flowing conversation? Should it be nonfiction or could a fictional story be more entertaining or meaningful?
Prepare. Before recording your podcast, create an outline or a script. Having a plan will both help you make the most use of your five minutes, and make it easier for your listener to follow along.
Make sure your audio is clear. You don’t need to have high-grade recording equipment to make a great podcast, but do be mindful to speak clearly and to eliminate background noise as much as possible.
Use sound thoughtfully and intentionally. Spoken word, music, sound effects and environmental noise can all make for a compelling listening experience. Consider how you might use them strategically to provide context, create structure for your podcast and engage your listeners’ emotions.
How do I come up with a topic for my podcast?
Your podcast can be about anything. To get ideas, start by browsing our list of 1,000 writing prompts, which includes questions on everything from video games and fashion to smartphones and parenting. Try responding to a few prompts that interest you. Then, you might choose one you enjoyed writing about as inspiration for your podcast.
If you’re thinking about sharing a personal story, take a look at these prompts for personal and narrative writing. If you want to assert an opinion or engage in a debate, look at this list of prompts for argumentative writing. You can find even more in our Writing Prompts column, where we publish a new question every school day.
Can someone else produce or edit my work?
You are welcome to get feedback on and suggestions for your podcast, but the work you submit, including the editing and production, should be fundamentally your own.
Where can I find examples of podcasts in The Times?
You can find all regular Times podcasts in the Podcast column, and special narrative projects from Serial Productions here. Here are a few of our favorites:
“The Daily,” a 20-minute morning news program powered by New York Times journalism.
“Still Processing,” a show about all things culture, from television and music to dating and the internet.
“Modern Love,” stories that explore the complicated love lives of real people.
“Popcast,” a podcast by the The Times’s pop music team on music news, new songs and albums, and artists of note.
“The Opinions,” short (5-10 minutes) audio essays from the Opinion section.
But remember, you’re not limited to The Times for inspiration. You can find other podcast recommendations in the Arts section, such as this list of suggestions from 36 podcast personalities.
_________
QUESTIONS ABOUT JUDGING
How will my podcast be judged?
Your work will be listened to by producers and journalists on The New York Times podcast team as well as by Learning Network staff members, professional podcasters and educators from around the United States. We will use this rubric to judge entries.
Why are you asking for an Artist’s Statement about our process? What will you do with it?
All of us who work on The Learning Network are former teachers. One of the many things we miss, now that we work in a newsroom rather than a classroom, is being able to see how students are reacting to our “assignments” in real time — and to offer help, or tweaks, to make those assignments better. We’re asking you to reflect on what you did and why, and what was hard or easy about it, in large part so that we can improve our contests and the curriculum we create to support them. This is especially important for new contests, like this one.
Another reason? We have heard from many teachers that writing these statements is immensely helpful to students. Stepping back from a piece and trying to put into words what you wanted to express, and why and how you made artistic choices to do that, can help you see your piece anew and figure out how to make it stronger. For our staff, they offer important context that help us understand individual students and submissions, and learn more about the conditions under which students around the world create.
What’s the prize?
Having your work published on The Learning Network.
When will the winners be announced?
About two months after the contest has closed.
My podcast wasn’t selected as a winner. Can you tell me why?
We typically receive over a thousand entries for this contest, so, unfortunately, our team does not have the capacity to provide individual feedback.
_________
QUESTIONS ABOUT TEACHING WITH THIS CONTEST
I’m a teacher. What resources do you have to help me teach with this contest?
Start with our unit plan for creating a podcast. It includes writing prompts, mentor texts and lesson plans that can support this contest. To learn more about how to teach with this unit, watch our on-demand webinar.
Do my students need a New York Times subscription to use these resources?
No. The Learning Network is completely free.
What can you tell me about student copyright and privacy issues?
Students retain the copyright in their work. That means that they own their work, and can sell it and/or have it published elsewhere after submitting it to our contest.
However, by submitting an entry, a student — or if they are not yet 18 years old, then their parent or guardian — agrees that The Times can use the submission in print in The New York Times and online at nytimes.com. And they agree that The Times can authorize third parties to do so as well. The permission form is part of the submission process.
Students are not required to provide their full name. We let students and their families decide how they want to identify themselves if their entry is selected as a finalist.
Please contact us at LNFeedback@nytimes.com if you have other concerns about privacy issues.
We will post the submission form here on April 17, the day the contest opens.
You’ve landed an interview for a new position as a Full-Stack Developer. That’s fantastic, exciting, and maybe even a little nerve-wracking. Don’t worry. It’s normal to be nervous about something you’re really looking forward to.
To make you feel more at ease in the interview, we’ve created this list of common questions to help you prepare. We’ve included potential answers that you can review, as well as a few tips to keep your coding and interviewing skills sharp.
You can elevate your interview preparation with our new AI-powered Interview Simulator (currently in beta), which is crafted for Front-End, Back-End, and Full-Stack Developer roles. Practice articulating your responses, whether by typing or speaking, and receive actionable insights on your performance.
Get started today by upgrading to Codecademy Pro and gain access to the Interview Simulator alongside other essential job search tools like the job-readiness checker and portfolio projects.
Be sure to answer this question honestly, but also show that you’ve done your homework and learned which programming languages they use. First, answer with your preferred language, whether it’s Python, JavaScript, or C++, and explain why.
If it turns out that the company prefers C++, but you prefer Python, let them know that you also took the time to learn C++ because you know how useful it is and how many companies rely on it. Of course, if you don’t know C++, don’t lie. Instead, tell them that it’s not your strongest language, but you’ll dedicate some time to get more familiar with it.
Because this is a Full-Stack Developer interview, it wouldn’t hurt to mention that you know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, along with any back-end languages like SQL or Python. You want to show that you have the basics required to be great at your new job.
Don’t let this question stump you if this is your first job as a Full-Stack Developer. You can use your experience with courses, personal projects, or open-source projects online. The interviewer wants to know if you can think critically and select the best tools for the job.
When you answer this question, think about a recent project, website, or program you built. How did you select the programming languages, hosting sites, design elements, and user interface? Explain your thought process and reasoning when answering this question. It’s more about how you came to select the tools/tech than the exact choices you made.
There are more than a few ways you can answer this question. Your interviewer may even give you a variation of this question and ask for three ways you can make a website more efficient.
Think about the heavy-hitters — give the most powerful and logical answers first. Explain how you would optimize assets, minimize the code on the page (or reduce duplicate code), or use browser caching.
You can also relate this question to your own experience by explaining how you improved or optimized a website you created. Or maybe you helped a friend who was having issues with their website, and your solution increased efficiency. That’s a great tidbit to add to this answer.
This ties into the previous question, because frameworks can significantly impact the scalability and performance of web applications. Interviewers may want to know how much experience you have with different frameworks, and how you’ve used them to collaborate and solve problems with other teams. Share your experience with any framework you’ve worked with, and discuss the projects where you applied it, the features you find useful, and any challenges you encountered.
Psst, read this blog about the differences between SQL and NoSQL databases and when to use them. This is a pretty common interview question, and you should be prepared to provide a simple comparison between relational and non-relational databases, mentioning key characteristics like data structure and querying methods. Throw in an example scenario where you might choose one over the other. For bonus points, consider taking our Learn MongoDB course to get a grasp on basic NoSQL operations.
The company you’re interviewing with might be heavily invested in DevOps, so you’ll want to show you can hit the ground running. Explain that DevOps is a method or practice that allows teams to collaborate, communicate, and release software faster and more effectively. Read this blog to learn more about DevOps practices and functions.
For example, development and IT departments work in cross-functional teams, combining their strengths to create software. DevOps is a way to iteratively develop software in steps, correcting failures as you go and reaching the end product faster than traditional design methods.
Multi-threading is when a CPU can execute multiple threads within a program concurrently, using the same processing capacity. You might also want to explain what a thread is to show you aren’t just regurgitating jargon.
A thread is a set of instructions that can be executed at the same time as other threads that are part of the same root process. This approach helps improve speed, for example, when implementing a machine learning algorithm.
Full-Stack Developers are involved in both front-end and back-end development, and they often use CI/CD pipelines to automate tasks and streamline workflows. This set of tools and practices helps you catch bugs earlier and contribute to efficient project delivery. Check out our free course Intro to DevOps to learn more about the practices and tools that development teams use.
Developers use version control systems (aka VCS) to manage code changes, track revisions, and collaborate effectively. They maintain a complete history of the codebase, so that multiple devs can make changes (without overwriting). The interviewer wants to know how well you can manage code, collaborate with teams, and follow software development best practices.
Mention any version control system you’ve used and briefly explain your workflow, like creating branches, committing changes, and resolving conflicts. Got a strong feelings about why one VCS is better than another? Talk about your experience and preferences. If you want to refresh your knowledge of one of the most popular VCS, check out our free course Learn Git & GitHub.
As a Full-Stack Developer, this is a concept you want to be familiar with. An application server allows you to design and maintain applications on both the server- and the client-side. In essence, it hosts the web applications that the end-user interacts with and the environments required to run them.
The tech landscape is constantly evolving, with new frameworks, languages, tools, and best practices emerging all the time. If you actively follow industry trends, you’ll be aware of new opportunities, advancements, and shifts in technology that could impact your work.
You don’t have to constantly refresh Hacker News to stay up to date. Mention a few reliable sources you use to stay informed about new technologies and trends, like tech blogs (including this one!), influencers, newsletters, and coding communities. It also helps to talk about how you make time to learn new technologies and upskill into your daily life.
Now that you’ve reviewed possible questions for your Full-Stack Developer interview, practice providing your own answers with our AI-powered Interview Simulator (currently in beta). You can customize the interview scenario for a specific role in full-stack, front-end, or back-end development.
You can also sign up for one of our online skill paths that help you pass the technical interview with JavaScript, Python, or Java. Before you start, be sure to research the company’s preferred programming languages and read the job description closely.
Don’t forget that practicing your programming skills is one of the best ways to prepare for your interview. Solving problems with code will keep programming concepts fresh in your mind. A bonus? You might even solve a problem or experience a challenge that you can discuss in your interview.
Lastly, don’t worry if you don’t know the answer to one of your interviewer’s answers. Take a deep breath and explain that you aren’t sure off the top of your head, but you can explain exactly how you’d determine the answer through research and communication.
To prepare for your career as a Full-Stack Developer, learning the required skills, building a portfolio, and preparing for technical interviews, check out our Full-Stack Engineer Career Path.
This blog was originally published in September 2021 and has been updated to include more questions and details about new job-readiness features.
