YooZoo Update on Lin Qi

Following the poisoning death of YooZoo Games studio founder, Lin Qi, by suspect, Xu Yao, head of YooZoo's film production unit, on Christmas Day, 2020, YooZoo's tribute to Mr. Lin received 290 million views on its Weibo microblog. See additional information about this subject on the earlier post, "All Work and No Play Unmakes China."

Looking for a Position as a Top Analyst or a Young Voter?

 In response to a question about how to reach college and other young voters, one strategist suggested getting involved with their interest in music. Getting involved with their interests in gaming and robot competitions could work also.

International scouts for top analysts already visit video games' competitions. Wonder how many were hired playing eSports at the Asian Games in Indonesia. Robot battles also might serve as prime recruiting venues.

     Gamers report having a controller in their hands improves their emotional well-being. Gaming stadiums, like South Korea's League of Legends (LOL) park, Russia's Spodek, and those in Canada and Chongqing, China, are taking advantage of the gaming phenomena that is becoming a $150 billion dollar industry. Knowing gamers dislike crumbs in their controllers, trendwatching.com reports Doritos now offers the snack in Towel Bags that provide a way to wipe off residue from the tasty treat.

     With or without Towel Bags, spectators can watch the action on gaming stations while eating the usual fare sold at sports arenas. The LOL park, developed by Riot Games, will have a cafe open 24 hours a day and a hall of fame selling jerseys and 3D printed miniatures of LOL pros. Mastercard has a three year deal to sponsor League of Legends World Champiionships. And Coutts, bankers to the Queen of England, is courting esports' millionaires. Tyler Blevins, known as "Ninja", published a graphic novel for his millions of gamer fans.

How Students Can Get the Education They Need

Singapore, with an entire population of six million, and the Success Academy charter school network of 17,000 students in 47 New York schools, produce outstanding academic achievement. In the latest results from the triennial test of 15-year-olds from around the world, Singapore scored top marks in math, reading, science, and a new collaborative test, according to the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Students from Success charter schools score the highest marks on New York's standardized state tests,  despite the fact 76% come from low income households and 93% are not white.

     Before deciding, "Sure, small populations achieve academic excellence, but our country or State has millions of students to educate," consider the fact that these millions can be and are separated into classrooms. Some schools also group students into "houses," where teachers get to know their pupils while teaching them the same subject for two years  A bigger drawback is the assessment of teachers in large school districts, where they are unknown to those charged with evaluating them. A study at Peking University raises another question about the impact of pollution on testing days. Results on heavily polluted days reduced scores on verbal word recognition but not math tests, and toxic air seemed to have a greater impact on the scores of men rather than women. Yet, something can be learned from the testing and academic approaches in Singapore's and New York's Success charter schools.

Ideas from Singapore

• Students wear uniforms.
• Traditionally, teachers led classes and did not rely on students to learn for themselves, but now group work and teacher-pupil discussions also are used.
• Entire classes still progress through the same narrow and deep math curriculum. Struggling students receive compulsory extra sessions to help them keep up.
• After classes end at around 2 pm, students can go to a "Maker Space" to learn how to use modern technologies, such as 3D printing, stop-motion film production, or programming robots.'
• Students who said they did not play video games showed a better ability to effectively divide tasks and communicate well to resolve disagreements while solving unfamiliar problems in a teamwork test of ability to collaborate.
• By 2023, without giving exams, career guidance officials will help teachers prepare students for work with programs in computing, robotics, electronics, broadcast journalism, drama, sports, and other "real world" options.
• Reforms are guided by educational research and tested before deciding how to handle full-scale implementation.
• Programs will acquaint parents with career objectives that, in the future, may matter more than exam results.
• An exam still stresses students and parents who know high and low achievers are separated into different schools by age 12.
• There are no teacher unions.
• Classes with as many as 36 students and an excellent teacher are considered better than small classes with mediocre teachers.
• To develop and maintain excellent teachers, 100 hours of training in the latest teaching techniques are provided for teachers each year.
• Master teachers are designated to train their peers.
• Teachers receive rigorous annual performance assessments by supervisors who know them by name and evaluate them in relation to the social development and academic performance of their students.
• Teacher salaries are based on those earned by professionals in the private sector.

Reminder: Teachers interested is working with a classroom in another country can go to

                    ePals.com to find a connection.

Ideas from New York's Success charter schools:

• Students are called "scholars."
• Scholars dress in orange and blue solid and plaid uniforms.
• Halls are immaculate with scholar artwork displayed on the walls.
• A "golden plunger" award provides incentive to keep bathrooms clean.
• Multicolored carpets in elementary school classrooms are divided into rows of squares with a circle in each indicating where each child is to sit with hands still and eyes following whoever is speaking.
• Classrooms have white smartboards and bins of specially selected books.
• In timed segments, teachers provide instruction at the beginning of class. Students then work individually or in pairs (building something or working math problems, for example) and finish by sharing ideas with class.
• Laboratory science is required five days a week.
• Schools also teach sports, chess, and the arts.
•  Common courtesy, saying "please" and "thank you" and respecting peers and adults is required.
• A free curricula model is online.
• Parents are required to read to their children at home, supervise homework, keep reading logs, and respond to school communications in 24 hours.
• The schools are less successful in accommodating children who perform poorly or chronically misbehave, as well as those with disabilities and special learning needs.
• No transfer students are accepted to fill vacancies after fourth grade, when they are likely to be too far behind their classmates.
• Teachers receive constant observation and advice for improvement.
• Teachers are expected to know each child's reading, math, English language arts, and science level, goal, need for help and how it will be provided.
• Some teachers, designated as exemplars, receive extra pay and serve as models for others.
• Some teachers leave because of long hours and high stress to perform well.
• There are no teacher unions, bit teachers receive generous pay, benefits, and teacher training.
• Budget is funded by a combination of public and private philanthropic money.
• Director knows how to employ political advocacy.

What to do, if a child's school is not top notch: Look for community programs for children that are run by nonprofit organizations, churches, libraries, museums, colleges, athletic leagues, scouting, theatres, singing and dance groups, hospitals, businesses, police and firehouses. Don't be afraid to ask if there are scholarships and internships, because there probably are. 

Cosplay Is No Child's Play

Guess what people are spending $399 for this weekend. It's not a new phone but a chance to attend three days at Wizard World Comic-Con;  to meet and get an autograph from Spider-Man's creator, Stan Lee; and to pick up a gift bag.

     I used to tell bored students to use their imaginations to turn doodles into money-making characters like Snoopy and Hello Kitty. With all the emphasis on equipping students for future careers involving STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), every so often it's wise to step back and encourage students who'd prefer to make their way in the arts or to combine their interests in the arts and STEM subjects. After all, some comic book characters exist because radiation, lab accidents, and Iron Man's implant gave them superpowers. And drawing and coloring often now is done on a computer instead of by hand.

     The cosplay idea that combines costumes and play grew out of science fiction conventions. In 1984, Nobuyuki Takahashi coined the cosoplay term which now applies to those who wear costumes representing characters in Japanese anime and manga or characters in cartoons, books, comic books, action films, TV series, and video games. Although people who come to today's Comic-Con conventions around the world still make their own costumes, manufacturers also produce costumes, as well as wigs, body paint, contact lenses, costume jewelry, and prop weapons, for sale.

     If you think about all the revenue generated by and for those who produce and sell cartoons and comic books, films, TV shows, books, and video games, you get an idea of the major global market open to creative students. As I learned from a student who is taking a comic book course in college, there also is a market for those who teach about these "playful" subjects.

Stage Your Life

Lin-Manuel Miranda, born of poor immigrant parents from Puerto Rico, wrote and stars in the extremely successful Broadway musical, "Hamilton." On the other hand, a 28-year-old man who was turned down for a job in Tunisia committed suicide by electrocuting himself on a utility pole. Clearly, there are alternative ways to become the center of attention on stage and off.

     Suppose you want to get into a field that is very competitive and has few openings. First of all, it may be a good idea to keep your plan to yourself, since others will be ready to discourage you. Lin-Manuel Miranda's road to "Hamilton" began by reading Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton. He saw that Hamilton in real life was very wordy. The rap music Miranda loved also was very dense with words, and it would be the perfect vehicle to tell Hamilton's story in a musical. Besides, he went to John Weidman, who had turned history into a musical called "Assassins," to ask for advice.

     This season we've all heard of Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warrior who is making basketball history with his extra long 3-point shots. At 6'3" and 185 lbs, in a game of giants, he decided he could stand out as a shooter. Want to begin imitating him, check out the website, "30 tips to help become a better shooter." First step, practice, practice, practice. For another route into a sports career, study the erudition of ESPN's "First Take" commentator, Stephen A. Smith, who does his research and can write.

     Spend all your free time playing video games? Learn how to develop one. Even former US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor founded the iCivics games. Just about any interest can be turned into a video game, considering the wide variety on the market: physical activity in
"GoNoodle," immigration officer for a country in "Papers, Please," rocket building in "Kerbal Space Program," math-related challenges in "Twelve a Dozen," designing a game in "Kodu Game Lab." Check out the igda.org website of the International Game Developers Association to learn about the scholarships it provides and what else it does for a global membership network of game developers.  

     While you are moving toward your super job, even the most lowly job provides an income and offers a chance to look around, to see how business works, to learn how customers behave, to improve your skills, and to become more valuable to an employer by making your job more productive and efficient. On the job, you can meet people and learn whom you need to know to get into your chosen field. Which employees are rewarded with thousands of dollars and promotions at the end of the US television show, "Undercover Boss?"  Those who treat customers well, follow the rules, offer suggestions that will provide more efficient and better service, and appreciate being given an opportunity (like the ex-convict who was a fast learner and hard worker). Everything you can learn on a job is a valuable lesson for your future.

    Suppose no one will hire you, while you are preparing for your dream job. Suicide is not the only option. Crowdfunding sites might be able to attract investors for your project. Try setting up a page on kickstarter, indiegogo, fundable, fondly, InvestingZone, Growthdeck, or other crowdfunding sites that continue to appear. Chinese young people who migrate to urban areas to find work, like other young people who continue to live with their parents, know they can return to family farms, if they fail to find a job in a car or computer factory. Skilled handy men and women who live on farms can offer their services to professionals in urban areas. With a truck, haul away junk and things that can be recycled from businesses and residences. In a family, one with a job can pay the bills while another can take over the household, childcare, and financial management responsibilities.  In some countries, governments do the job of relatives by providing benefits while the unemployed have the job of, for example, finding their next acting jobs.

(For other ideas to help find the position you really want, check out earlier posts, "Can't Find a Job or Career, Create One" and "Star-struck Realities.")

   

Learning Can Be Fun

Do longer school days and longer school years promote learning? Only, if they include time for play (and the playground is not an asphalt parking lot).

A growing body of research suggests play provides an important learning experience at any stage of a student's life. Besides, moving develops a body's core strength which enables children to pay attention and learn, and research also finds kids can develop language, math, and social skills while interacting with each other. In Finnish kindergartens, something new happens every day: Monday might have a field trip, ball game, or running activity; Friday, songs and stations of choice, such as making forts with sheets, selling ice cream (paper scoops pasted on a stick and plastic coins used for change), or doing arts and crafts.  You have to wonder about China's academic schools that do not set aside any time for gym or exercise classes. Promising Olympic athletes go to separate schools.

Finland has a saying, "Those things you learn without joy you will forget easily." When it rains a bit, Finnish kindergarteners put on their rubber boots, grab shovels, and make dams in the mud. Before entering first grade, at Swiss Waldkindergartens, Canada's all-day kindergartens, and at some schools in Washington state, Vermont, and Brooklyn, four to seven year olds have child-directed free play outdoors in all kinds of weather. In  contrast, a survey found 7 out of 10 children in the UK spend less time outside than prisoners.

Play at the Nordahl Grieg Upper Secondary School takes a different form, video games. At Mind/Shift on July 21, 2014, Tina Barseghian called attention to Paul Darvasi's article about this Norwegian high school, where Tobias Staaby uses the video game, The Walking Dead, to pose an ethical question. Of 10 survivors, who should receive the last four pieces of food? Students were asked to use what they had learned about situational ethics, utilitarianism, or consequentialism to justify their choices.

 At the same school, the history simulation video game, Civilization IV, which gives students an opportunity to make decisions that leaders have to make about setting up a government, legal system, labor laws, economy, and religious options, has been used to teach English and Social Studies. Those who were unfamiliar with the game's complexities learned from students who were pros. Lin Holvik, principal of the school, always has viewed video games as a tool to foster collaboration and an appreciation for the "art of failure."

Common Sense Graphite, a company that evaluates the learning content of computer games, gives high praise to the following:
Elegy for a Dead World
Better than other English lessons, students visit alien planets inspired by romance poets, write prose and poetry about the lost civilizations they find there, and share their literary works with other students.
Never Alone
A cultural game that incorporates stories from the Inupiat people of Alaska that demonstrate how students need to cooperate with nature to win.
Valiant Hearts
Invites students to apply facts from the history of World War I to critique war in general.

Other video games and their subject applications include:

     Portal 2: Physics
     The Last of Us: Literature
     Republia Times: Writing, Journalism, Social Studies
     Minecraft EDU: Virtual building blocks to construct a landmark or environment (Also see the earlier post, "Build a Global Icon.")

Another type of play to consider is the role playing used in the Model UN game mentioned in the earlier blog post, "Know the Issues." Also see the later blog post, "Convert Stories into Foreign Language Games."