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All Middle School Students in California Should Not Be Required to Take a Computer Programming Class

Ministryof. "Hassanhelash.jpg." Photo.
Wikimedia Commons, 5 May 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hassanshelash.jpg>.

Steve Wozniak said, “Our first computers were born not out of greed or ego, but in the revolutionary spirit of helping common people rise above the most powerful institutions.” Computers are now incorporated in people’s daily lives. They have many different purposes, such as emailing family and friends, making websites, and computer programming. Even middle schools have computer programming electives. Some people say that computer programming is essential, but I think that all middle school students in California should not be required to take a computer programming class because not everyone is into computer programming, it is hard to memorize all of the computer programming coding concepts, and not every occupation involves computer programming skills.

First of all, computer programming is not every California middle school student’s interest. Some like creative writing, while others are into theater. In my school, there is only one period for computer programming, however, there are three or more electives in the art field. This means that computer programming is not a very popular elective to take. According to a graph on the website http://www.childtrends.org/ by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics, and Statistics Administration, on average, home computer access and home computer use has increased. However, only 78.5 percent of middle schoolers have computer access at home, and home internet use is 57.1 percent. Although many middle school students have a computer at home, they do not necessarily want to know what happens behind all the making of a website. It is clear that computer programming may be the future, but the future is still far away.

Then, it is hard to memorize the computer programming coding concepts. For example, why is a color’s name represented in something like #ffffff? Why doesn’t computer programming use the actual name of the color? In my experience, when I was in the Computer wheel during sixth grade, I remembered asking the teacher questions when doing computer programming. Computer programming is not for me. Clearly, computer programming is not for everyone. According to the article “Why is Coding So Hard?” from the website http://www.codeconquest.com/, finding tutorials on how to code just will not be enough to learn to computer programming. It takes up a lot of time to be a professional computer programmer. If middle school students are required to take a computer programming class, then the time is wasted if a student is not into it. Computer programming is basically learning a new language.

 Finally, not every occupation will involve computer programming skills. For instance, athletes do not need those skills. All they do is to just play their sport and compete against other teams. This means that computer programming is not for every occupation. According to the article “21 Jobs in Tech You Don’t Need a Computer Science Degree For” from the website http://skillcrush.com by Kelly Orrela, there are many jobs that do not require a computer programming degree, like a digital marketing specialist or a business development manager. It just does not feel right for computer programming to be taught in middle school, as even a digital marketing specialist does not need those skills. The future may be about computer programming, however, there will still be jobs that do not involve computer programming coding concepts.

In conclusion, Middle school students in California should not be required to take a computer programming class. It is not everyone’s interest, as the making of a website can be boring. The computer programming coding concepts are not easy to remember, and it takes up a lot of time. Finally, not all occupations involve computer programming, such as a fashion designer, acrobat, and janitor. People may use computers every day, but that does not mean that they have to take a computer programming class during middle school. Even though Steve Wozniak says that computers rise above the most powerful institutions, it does not mean that computers are the most important thing we have as an everyday object.

December 11: An Impressive Day

Today, December 11, had been an impressive middle school day for me. Around 2-3 months ago, my dad told me to be impressed with myself before impressing others. I sure did impress myself (and others, I think/hope) today. I got my symphonic band t-shirt today. It is pretty amazing. After school, I went to my middle school's film festival, which had been great. One of my friends submitted a video for the film festival, and I was in it. Near the end, the filmmakers (including the people starring in other people's videos) went up on the stage in my middle school's cafeteria. I was pretty happy up there. When I got home, because I did well in math, my dad awarded me with Peanuts characters Linus, Peppermint Patty, and Schroeder stickers.
Ah, if only any other day could be like today. :)

Peanuts characters (for the ones I got for stickers: Peppermint Patty
is at the second to left, Schroeder is at the second to right, and Linus
is the rightmost character)

How Summer 2015 Went for Me Part 2

 I learned about things like the four Ymca core values and child abuse facts. Also, there was a swim day. My Ymca camp and El Camino went to the same swimming pool place, but Northwest went somewhere else. In the place I swam, there was a diving board and a water slide. Also, there was a deep end of the pool, but you had to pass a swim test to go there; I'm pretty sure that it applies to going on the water slide and diving board too. I passed the test and went on the water slide, the deep end of the pool, and the diving board. At first, I was a bit scared to go on the diving board. (Before the swim day, I never had been on a diving board before.) With a help with a few people from camp, I went on the diving board. It had been a good experience, and I hope to try again soon. By the end of the camp, everyone received certificate and a Leader in Training shirt for completing LIT I.

The LIT II camp had five people, but only four showed up. (The one that didn't show up was the one who was "out for medic" in LIT I. I was told by my counselor that she was attending a different summer camp during that week I did LIT II.) Once again, we were combined with El Camino and Northwest and met in the same school as we did in LIT I. All of us got purple folders. Some things I've learned are public speaking tips for teens and including every type of person. Sadly, I got the stomach flu on Wednesday of that week, probably because of the lunch my family and I had four days before that Wednesday. It was my brother who first got it. Then, my dad got it, and then it was me. I returned to LIT II on Thursday, which was the swim day (all LIT II camps go to the same swimming place) for LIT II. My mom suggested that I don't swim that day, just in case if I threw up again. (One symptom of the stomach flu is throwing up.) She decided that I bring a book with me. Friday was popsicle day, but I decided to not get one because I didn't want to throw up. I got a certificate for completing LIT II during the end of the camp.

On the night of the day I completed LIT II, my cousin from Shenzhen, China came to my house to visit for a month. (He left on the night of August 3, the first day of my journalism summer camp.) Two weeks later, my cousins from New Jersey came to my house to visit as well, but they only stayed for a week. (During that week, they also went to Yosemite). It had been almost ten years since I've last seen them, so it was great to see them.

My LIT I folder

August 2 was my brother Anthony's birthday. He turned 4 and had an Angry Bird themed birthday party. There were Angry Bird balloons, napkins, cake, masks, jump house, etc. Some of his friends from his school came. Also, my friend from Fremont and her brother came. Even one of my cousins from San Jose came too; I never expected it because my parents didn't tell me. Anthony received birthday presents from friends and family. With the exception of the card, my present from Anthony was nothing like any of the others; it was digital and created on the app called "Notes."

Anthony had an Angry Birds birthday party

My LIT II folder

During the August 3-7 week, I attended a journalism summer camp (called Camp MAC) at my future high school, which is Palo Alto High School (shortened to Paly). In the camp, there were different groups; I was placed in "The Dish." I was given a pen and a Professional Reporter's Notebook. I saw some recognizable faces from people who are from my middle school, which is JLS. The camp was fun, and I learned types of writings such as fashion and editorial. Not only there was journalism in the camp, there was also activities. One activity I liked was the inverted pyramid challenge. That challenge was placed on my group's magazine cover.

On August 12, it was Jump Start Day for JLS, which was 2-5 P.M. It was also 8th Panther Camp counselor orientation, but alas, I wasn't selected to be counselor even though I did the Panther Camp counselor application. Three days later, I went to my best friend from my elementary school's (the one I went to for the second semester of 3rd to 5th grade, as I moved to Palo Alto in the winter of 2010) house. She got me an Instagram account, we played a game called The Scrambled States of America, and went on her trampoline. It was a lot of fun.

Instagram Logo

Scrambled States of America Game

My notebook in Camp MAC

Magazine for my group, which includes
a piece of all of me and the other people
 in my summer camp's writing

My LIT II certificate

My LIT I certificate

How Summer 2015 Went for Me Part 1

Summer has flown by so quickly. It felt like that yesterday had been the first day of summer. I've done all sorts of things this summer.

On the first evening of summer break, my mom, brother, and I went to a farewell party of one of my brother's friends in his preschool. Some of his other friends went there too.
During the day after the farewell party, my mom, dad, brother, grandma, and I went to Los Angeles by car. When we got to Los Angeles, the traffic was pretty bad. We stayed there for an evening. During this time, we went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the next day, we went to Universal Studios. After that, we went to San Diego. San Diego's traffic was way better than Los Angeles'. We stayed there for three nights. In San Diego, we went to Legoland and SeaWorld. Everything in Legoland is made out of lego, even the hotel there. Also, Legoland has more rides than shows. SeaWorld is the opposite. On the day after we visited SeaWorld, we drove back home. It was a long trip, and we got back to Palo Alto at around 8:40 P.M.

Two days after I got home, I went to one of my friend's house. The friend whose house I went to also has a twin sister, and her babysitter was there too. The babysitter drove my friend, her twin, and I to Town and Country. She got a sandwich, while my friend, her twin, and I got smoothies from Jamba Juice. When we got back to my friend's house, we played a game called Forbidden Island, which is a teamwork game. I've never played it before coming to her house, and I felt like it was a good game. After that, my friend, her twin, and I fed vanilla to my friend and her twin's pet parakeet. We also did art on a machine that spins.
For three weeks, I attended three different Ymca summer camps in Palo Alto. On the June 15-19 week, I did mini golf. On the June 22-26 week, I did Leaders in Training One (LIT I). On the June 29-July 3 week, I did Leaders in Training Two (LIT II).
In the mini golf camp, there were five people in total, however, we were combined with two other Ymca mini golf camps (El Camino (in Mountain View) and Sequoia (in Redwood City)). We went to each mini golf place by bus. On Monday, we went to Golfland in Sunnyvale. On Tuesday, we went to Neptune's Kingdom in Santa Cruz. On Wednesday, we went to Golfland in Milpitas. On Thursday, we went to Subpar Miniature Golf in Alameda. On Friday, however, for some reason we did not go mini golfing. Instead, we went to Levi's Stadium. (It was only the Palo Alto and Sequoia Ymcas that went there. El Camino went to a swimming place.) It was okay, and I learned more about football. I also got a learning playbook.
The LIT I camp only had four people. Again, we were combined with two other Ymca LIT I camps, but it was El Camino and Northwest (in Cupertino). Every day, we met in an elementary school part of a Cupertino School District. We got folders, but each Ymca LIT I camp got a different color (mine's orange for Palo Alto).

The Levi's Stadium football learning playbook

One of the stars I saw in the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Legoland entry sign

SeaWorld logo

Logo of Universal Studios

My Experience of the Year 2014

From the start, 2014 did not go the way I expected. A lot of big things that happened to me made me very happy or very sad. For example, I became friends with people I never expected to be friends with. I also didn't expect that someone would be really mean to me. Of course, more things happened as well.

In the second semester of sixth grade, a boy in my sixth grade homeroom class became really mean with me. Whenever he sat next to me in classes, he would refuse to give me personal space. But to my surprise, he voted me for seventh grade student council president. The good thing is that we don't have any classes together for seventh grade.

I never expected to make friends with people I didn't have a lot of relationship with. Towards the last week of sixth grade, I received some yearbook notes that were about me as a good friend. At around the first few weeks of seventh grade, a new girl (who wasn't here for sixth grade) often said "hi" to me. We used to have P.E. together, but she switched one of her electives. That didn't stop our relationship though. I invited her to lunch with my friends a few times. On one of the lunches, one of her friends came as well. Later on, two of her friends say "hi" to me as well. About a month ago, I invited her and my best friend to come to my house.

Ever since the middle of April, I started to bike to school. It would usually take me about twelve minutes to get to school. It depends when I leave home when biking to school. I could leave early at 7:30, or later at 7:45.

In school, my grades have been better than when they were last school year. My grades are in the A range. Some are A+, some are A, and some are A-. Also, I'm one of the WIP reps in student council. We had a few meetings for the first semester already, and they've been pretty good. I liked my electives; they're band and art. In art, I learned more about some of the arts units: shape, line, value, and color. In band, I learned about special repeats like coda. Currently, I'm on the seventh grade B team for basketball, and we played 6 games, but only won 2.

My dad made an app called Shared Buy List - a novel visual grocery shopping list. The app was free at first, but he later on we price it at $4.99. The app is making profits, and my dad will use it to be my money for my college tuition since I contributed to its making and testing.

My cousin Marc visited me this year. He was nice to me in the beginning, but in a few weeks, he became mean to me. He must've heard about the idiom familiarity breeds contempt. For more information about him, see a blog I wrote earlier called My Cousin Marc.

Even though there were some good things that happened, this year could've been better. I'm hope that I enjoy the year 2015.

Bye bye 2014

Shared Buy List

Before making HomeOjO, my dad made this app called Shared Buy List. Family members can even share this app on smart phones, tablets, and PCs. It's even in the App Store. At first, my dad made the app free, but because he felt that a lot of people bought the app, he increased the price to $4.99. For people who pay it for the app, he told me that the money was for my college tuition.

The reason why he made it was because he wanted a visual shopping list because it's possible to forget a handwritten shopping list when going out to buy food. Some people don't even know or are unable to read or write English. For example, people from a country who can't speak English can still know what the picture is. Also, there are people in physical therapy, so they are unable to read or write. You don't need to write or type words, you just swipe the item you want to buy on the digital shopping list. If an item you want to buy is not there, you can just take a picture of it.

Another customer is that a teacher in an African village teaching students who can't read or write English, but they still can swipe items on to Shared Buy List.

I even made a video about it on Youtube:

The video is what Shared Buy List is about and how to use it.

Also, the Shared Buy List website is http://sharedbuylist.com/

Enjoy!