Way to Go - Mark Zuckerberg - great advice for all girls!

Every year Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, post a New Year's resolution on Facebook that catches the attention of his friends, followers, and the media. This year's resolution caught my attention, more than usual. Yes, I think its cool that Mark Zuckerberg is going to spend some time 'making something for himself' this year and that it will be in the area of AI (Artificial Intelligence) which resonates with my interest in MAKING and in personalized learning. But what really caught my attention was the first comment on his New Year's resolution post and Mark Zuckerberg's response to it.  HERE

Mark Zuckerberg's response to it. I LOVE that response!  Every Mom and Dad should encourage the world to be the next inventor, not simply to 'marry' one.  Nice job Mark Zuckerberg!  

With advice like that,  I'm sure that Max (Mark Zuckerberg's new daughter) is doing to turn out to be an amazing young lady.

Can you imagine the confidence our girls would have if their Dad read to them about Quantum Physics or dressed them as Star Wars clothing! 

Research has shown that Dad's have a a huge influence on their daughter's career choices.  In my work with young women, I have found that to be true.  Thanks for being a role model to Dads and reminding all of us about way that our message to girls matters. 

Day 100 ~ CodeGirl Screening at Generator

How appropriate for my 100th POST this year for or about girls and tech features the first public screening of CodeGirl the Movie.    It feels like the perfect special occasion for this milestone.

Tonight I will be at the Generator in Burlington Vermont welcoming folks to the screening.

and encourage any of you watching to participate in the backchannel that during or after the viewing that I set up on Today's Meet at https://todaysmeet.com/codegirlvt

I've prepared  the following 5-6 minute welcome  and will
I will be adding more resources to this blog from the conversations that we start tonight.

Day 99 ~ How to NOT attract girls to learn to code

Yesterday I was looking for a specific tutorial to help me figure out a coding algorithm for my new Arduino Bean.  In the first page of search results,  I came across an opportunity to learn to code through a gamified system called  CODE WARRIORS.

The site promised an environment where 

"Giant robots and JavaScript are your weapons of choice as you program your way to victory in this strategic combat game. No previous coding knowledge is required to crack the code as the game guides you from a beginner, to coder, to warrrior. Let the battle commence!

Build your ultimate Code Warrior in the Chop Shop, a hi-tech garage full of weapons, robot parts, and paints... 

Earn coding credits for match and challenge completion to spend in the Chop Shop 

Compete against your Facebook friends with a large arsenal of weapons and in four awesome arenas"

As I scrolled on the site, the welcome message was replaced with this graphic to ENTER the site

I can't be the only one who feels that the message here is similar to the message that women face in the military.  "The is a combat zone - no women allowed".

I think what bothered me even more was that the site was being marketed to  schools complete with a teacher pack for classroom implementation.  The marketing department even included a review from an elementary school 

"We have been using Code Warriors in school as a way to deliver an element of our computing curriculum. It has been one of the most engaging tools we use to teach .."

Thankfully there are plenty of other options for computing curriculum that understands the  barriers for women and girls to feel welcomed into the field of computer science.   But I found it interesting that in a world where organizations like NAPE (National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity) are offering training in the impact of mirco-messaging as a strategy to increasing the number of girls and women in STEM, that there are still plenty of messages that are NOT so MICRO telling girls that coding is NOT for them. 

Just saying...

Day 98 Code Girl Movie Launchs Next Week

Coming next week!

Release of Leslie Chilcott's documentary  ~ CodeGirl

From November 1 - 5, Lesley’s film will be available for free on YouTube, before its big theatrical debut in the weeks that follow.  

You can access the film, starting November 1 on www.madewithcode.com/codegirl. The teaser is available here. This film is a family-friendly, positive and global look at inspiring girls to code. 


#RallyForCODEGIRL! 

Host a @CODEGIRLMOVIE screening party 

Day 97 Growing Season in Vermont

As some of you know, I set a goal to blog regularly on the TechSavvy Girls blog in 2015.  From January  to June 1, I added 96 blog post to this blog.  Then I went into hibernation.   But I'm back!

First let me give a quick explanation about the hibernation.  Why did I disappear?  
Because I learned that my  time for writing was the months that I am 'on the road'.
As some of you know, a few years ago I gave up my apartment to move into a 1983 Bluebird bus. The bus leaves Vermont every November and travels back to Vermont  during late April.

Photo Credit:  Joanne deLaBruere

What I discovered about myself was that during that time I am more reflective and feel compelled to write.  What I also discovered was that once we return to Vermont, I shift gears and go into 'growing season in Vermont"mode.

We all know that Vermont has a short growing season -  and during that short season, Vermonters must be leverage every opportunity to plant, grown, harvest what they will need to sustain themselves for the year.   What I found myself doing  during our time in Vermont (May - November) was growing my projects (planting, growing, and harvesting).  And what I discovered was that my commitment to blogging was not sustainable during this intense 'growing season'.

Well growing season is almost over for me, we are getting ready to hit the road again and I'm gearing up to regular reflections and writings in this blog.    So many ideas... so many things I've been wanting to write about.. where do I start!

Day 96 - Sustainability issues for 'keeping our female coders"

Yesterday I wrote about balance.  The fact that finding balance is particularly challenging in the tech industry has been agreed upon for some time, might have something to do with this (not so surprising) demographic analysis  graphic I found in the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek issue "What is Code?)

.... demographics from Stack Overflow's 2015 developer survey

Section 2.6 of Paul's Ford's 38,000 word essay shares insights on these demographic mostly related to the discouraging norms in the tech culture (including but not limited to sexual harassment so rampant that today's conferences are including codes of conduct to curtail it).

"The problem is pervasive: There are a lot of conferences, and there have been many reports of harassing behavior. The language Ruby, the preferred language for startup bros, developed the worst reputation. At a Ruby conference in 2009, someone gave a talk subtitled “Perform Like a Pr0n Star,” with sexy slides. That was dispiriting. There have been criminal incidents, too.
Conferences began to develop codes of conduct, rules and algorithms for people (men, really) to follow.

 From our own Local Conference in Burlington Vermont: 

If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please notify a community organizer as soon as possible … 


—Burlington Ruby Conference

"The problem with women in technology isn't the women" concludes Paul Ford in his 38,000 word essay written for  the latest issue of Bloomberg Businessweek (which  devoted  the whole issue to  What is Code?)

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-paul-ford-what-is-code/

Day 95: Revising my blogging goal

I set off to post something every day in 2015 that might interest girls in tech or others who are interested in the topics of women in tech.  You might have noticed a gap back in March  and another gap starting late April and early May.

What do those have in common!

 "A parallel increase in the need for 'attention to family'  and 'attention to a big work-related project!"

In March, I found myself trying to juggle a trip to Vermont that centered around some big work related projects and seeing my grandchildren and family.  Turns out "I can't do it all" and my blogging goal was moved to the back burner.

In late April/early May our mobile lifestyle brings us back to Vermont - which  brought both reuniting with my family and  increased professional commitments hurdling at me full force.  The enjoyment of both of these important forces in my life brought back the reoccurring theme  of "I can't do it all"  and again my blogging goal moved to the back burner.

Every time I experience or notice something that definitely should become part of this blog I feel the guilt from putting the TechSavvy Girls blogging goal on a hiatus rise.  But what it comes down to is a struggle I've had all my adult life ~ how to find the right balance between loved ones, profession, and personal goals.  It's a struggle many women feel from Sheryl Sandberg  to Anne Marie Slaughter.
In her recent article  "Why Women Still Can't Have it All"  offers insights on the balance struggles and even offers some recommendations of what must change for us to come close to finding that desired balance.

So in the perpetual search for balance I've decided to rewrite my blogging goal and instead of trying to write 'each day' in the TechSavvy Girls blog,  I'm going to change it to:

write at least 100 post this year that might be of interest to TechSavvy Girls readers... and when I reach the 100th post.. I'll just keep on writing - and stop counting.