Parmita's Blog

My experience as a teacher  Four weeks ago, I taught my very first coding class with Coding for Kids. Math and Coding organized this class. Their mission is to prove that anyone can learn to code--in just a few weeks!  Basically, three high school kids teach about twenty elementary and middle school kids basic programming skills using Tynker, a simple drag-n-drop form of block-coding. I was the lead teacher of the class.  To be honest, I was terrified at first. I wanted to teach, but at the same time, I was so scared. Standing in front of 20 people with all eyes on you can be nerve-wracking--even if they are just third graders.  I started off with a pretty negative mentality: I felt like the students were judging me. Noting my mistakes, my slip-ups.  Of course, this kind of thinking got me nowhere-- I just had to change. After about half and hour of all my negative thinking, I decided it wasn't worth it. Then I completely changed my mi...

Beautiful campus full of amazing people I got to visit UC Berkeley today and it was amazing! The campus is absolutely stunning. Many of the buildings are inspired off old architecture. Their grandeur is truly awe-inspiring.   Not to mention this huuuuuge library! A friends tells me this is her favorite place to study: The gigantic windows let you see the sky change colors into the night.  The gate at the front of the school was used as inspiration for Monster's University: See the resemblance? The biology building has a must-see Tyrannosaurus-Rex fossil: I love how the seemingly ancient buildings at the heart of the campus balance out the more modern ones on the outskirts of campus.  One of Berkeley's 33 libraries has this statue of Mark Twain: He's reading one of his own books: Huckleberry Finn Did you know that Nobel Prize winners get free parking at Berkeley? One Nobel Prize winne r, Saul Perlmutter, ev...

An incredible experience  In order to become a certified Yoga Instructor through Yoga Bharati , you have to: Attend eight hours of instruction per week for twelve weeks (That's 96 hours) Go on a yoga retreat for 2 days and one night (Camping in the woods) Teach a class for 30 hours over the course of 4 months Write a 25-page report Seems daunting at first, but little by little I accomplished all of it. 1. Attending the instruction was so difficult at first. I had to wake up at 6:30am every weekend! But soon, I got to know my classmates and I began to like the lessons. Some parts were pretty interesting. 2. The yoga retreat was by far my favorite part. Though I usually don't like camping, I'm really glad that I got to have this wonderful experience. I also got to see some pretty cool wildlife. 3. Teaching a class was a period of transformation for me. As a student, I see teachers everyday, but only after this, do I really appreciate what they do....

Thank you Girls Who Code for everything you've done for me  A while ago I heard an announcement asking all girls interested in computer science to come over to Room 205 during lunch to become part of a club: Girls Who Code!  I didn't really think that much of it then, but Girls Who Code has really changed so much of my life! After I attended a couple meetings, I realized that I really really liked it.  I was already taking a Java class in school, but the male-dominated class always seemed a bit intimidating. Girls Who Code gave me a completely different view of computer programming. Being around other girls like me who have the same passion that I have is really something I'm grateful for.  I got to learn JavaScript (which I now know is completely different from Java) and work with other girls to make cool projects. I got more and more interested in Girls Who Code and the unique environment it provided for me. I liked it so much that I even app...