Maker Faire: Are you a maker?

This past weekend, Khan Academy’s Karl Wendt teamed up with Los Altos School District at their booth at Maker Faire, showcasing student-made robots. Interested in making your own? Check this out: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/projects/robots

Thank you, teachers!

I recently passed by a sign that said “I teach. What’s your superpower?”, and was reminded of the teachers that have been superheroes in my life. There were a few precious teachers who encouraged a shy little girl to love learning, changing the course of her life forever.  

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we take a moment to say a big THANK YOU to superhero teachers, including the 30,000 teachers across the world that are using Khan Academy in their classrooms, and changing the lives of students.

We salute you as you endeavor to provide more personalized, mastery-based and interactive learning experiences for your students.  Thank you for putting in the long hours, for giving it your heart and soul, and for being a role model and an inspiration to students to be lifelong learners and explorers.  

A Khanversation with…Peter Collingridge, KA community contributor

To say that Peter Collingridge is a Khan Academy user is an understatement.  He has 6.4 million energy points, is an active member of the KA community as a moderator, and has authored dozens of computer science programs and math exercises, which makes him a standout contributor in our book.  We decided to get to know this shy Englishman a little better.

What do you do at Khan Academy?

In 100 years, what do you hope Khan Academy will be?

Craig’s list of favorite children’s books

Over lunch, our informal lunchtime turned into a fascinating discussion about children’s books when Craig shared his personal list of favorites.  We reminisced over the ones we adored and proceeded to judge the childhood literary tastes of each other - exclaiming things like, “How could you not have heard of “From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler”?!?!  Below is the list courtesy Craig.  

Thanks to Craig for the lunchtime entertainment and a reminder how much we all love reading!  

My Favorite Children’s Books

Really, these are Young Adult books, though I do include some books for youngsters at the end. (I don’t know very much about that age group though.)

I’ve listed them in approximate age order, though I’m not very good at judging these things.

1. Winnie the Pooh + The House at Pooh Corner — Milne
2. The Book of Three + 4 sequels — Lloyd Alexander
3. The Phantom Tollbooth — Juster
4. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland + Through The Looking Glass — Carroll
5. Charlotte’s Web — E.B. White
6. The Trumpet of the Swan — E.B. White
7. The Hobbit — Tolkien
8. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH — O’Brien
9. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe + 6 sequels — C.S. Lewis
10. The Wizard of Oz — Baum 
    (Note: a zillion sequels, but they’re not really all that good)
11. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — Dahl 
    (Note: those who like this will probably like any other Dahl book as well, eg James and the Giant Peach & Danny Champion of the World).
12. Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book — Silverstein
13. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler — Konigsburg
14. Ella Enchanted — Levine
15. The White Mountains + The City of Gold and Lead + The Pool of Fire — John Christopher
16. The Dark is Rising + 4 other books in the series — Susan Cooper 
    (Note: Dark is Rising is probably the best of the 5. It’s the second book in the series, but can be read first. The actual first book is enh.)
17. A Wizard of Earthsea + Tombs of Atuan + The Farthest Shore — LeGuin 
    (Note: there’s a 4th book in the series: Tehanu. Opinion is sharply divided on it. I refuse to read it, out of fear it will retroactively ruin my enjoyment of the first three books.)
18. The Westing Game — Raskin
19. Peter Pan — Barrie
20. Holes — Sachar
21. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone + 6 sequels — Rowling
22. The Princess Bride — Goldman
23. The Golden Compass + The Subtle Knife + The Amber Spyglass — Pullman 
    (Note: the first book is much the best of the lot.)
24. Howl’s Moving Castle — Diana Wynne Jones
25. Bridge to Terebithia — Patterson 
    (Note: I love this book, but others — particularly those forced to read it for school — often hate it.)
26. The Giver — Lowry
27. Ender’s Game — Orson Scott Card
28. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — Douglas Adams

This isn’t a children’s book, but was my favorite book when I was 12 or so, to the point where I’ve probably read it 7 or 8 times:

1. Dune — Herbert

Finally, some actual books for tykes:

1. Good Night Moon
2. Where the Wild Things Are
3. The Monster at the End of This Book
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
5. Harold and the Purple Crayon
6. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
7. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
8. Interrupting Chicken
9. Pish Posh, Said Hieronymous Bosch
10. Suess I particularly like: Sneetches, Yertle the Turtle, Horton Hatches an Egg