When I was 12, I taught myself AppleScript from this Wrox book: Beginning AppleScript .
This is a great language because it's so much like English. You can guess a command and get it right.
Also, that was a good book because it teaches you something and then lets you test and explore it using examples. And the book is still a great referecne.
AppleScrpt is a good, easy way to become familiar with programming concepts. And it's got built-in tools for user interface work, so that part is easy.
Also, there's a lot of good help on the Web for AppleScript.

Good luck! -Nathan

Thanks for the reply!

Good observation!

I've noticed the following.

Schools seem to have no problem separating kids by ability when it comes to sports and athletics.
They have no problem with putting kids on 'bad' and 'good' sports teams.
The 'bad' kids don't get to learn from the 'good' kids, and the good kids don't get the practice from tutoring the bad kids (granted, there probably isn't as much value in the tutoring aspect for athletics as there is for academics).

If we put so much emphasis on 'fairness' in academics, why not in athletics?
Or vice-versa?

It just seems wrong to me.

I'm not a sock puppet.

I don't know how to prove it, but if you can think of a way, I'm all for it.

I haven't made any anonymous posts in this thread, I swear. I only have one Slashdot account, I again swear.

-Nathan

Also, I just thought I'd add:

A typical class period for us is 45 minutes, but some (I have no idea why they vary) are only 40.

A double-period is 90 minutes, minus a 5-minute break in the middle.

Again, double periods are much more productive. Most kids seem to do OK with a few of them a week, but I'd love more.
I'm not sure about the others, though.

Thanks for the reply!

Perhaps, if we do separate by ability, schools could work out some compromise like this (this is something we did at my Hebrew school one year):

Once every few classes, the advacned class could come and tutor the other class. That way, the lower class gets the benefit of one-on-one tutoring, as well as being with the advanced kids.
The advacned kids get the advantage of the extra practice of that comes with tutoring, and they get more challenging curriculum other times.

How does an arangement like that sound?
-Nathan

Thanks for the response!

Those are great ideas; I agree entirely with you.
I'll keep these things in mind.

As for the paragraphs, I tried, but whenever I pressed 'return', Slashdot just ignored it.
-Nathan

I think that for many people (me), longer classes would be wonderful. I agree that a lot of class time is overhead.
I've noticed that double-periods are much more productive than singles.

Unfortunately, I also share your concern that many kids would get bored with that long of a class.

Thanks for the reply!

That's a great way of thinking about it!
I'll take that to heart.

I'm 12 years old, and a regular Slashdot reader. I'd like to offer my opinion on this: We don't need longer school days. We need more courses and teachers. Specifically, we need more separation of classes based on ability. To Heck with this 'fairness' stuff. We really need at least two classes: advanced and less-advanced. Sure, some kids will feel bad when they don't make Advanced, but it's worth it. Allow me to elaborate. Longer days don't make an ounce of difference if half the kids are bored out of their skulls. All my fancy, expensive, private school has managed to do is bump me a year up in Math. And I'm still ahead of the class. In all the other classes, I'm stuck where I am. I spent half of 5th Grade correcting other kids' work for the teacher. And it's not just me. There are plenty others in the same boat as I. We don't learn much (especially on a time-to-learning scale), and longer/more days won't help. If we separate by ability, eveyone wins (except the schools, who have to hire more teachers): The kids who are ahead have engaging and new stuff to do and learn, while the kids who aren't ahead have things tailored to their needs. And, everyone gets smaller classes and more time with the teacher. If we're going to do anything, I suggest we, in some way or another, give kids material that is at the right level for them. Maybe once we get that done, we can think about longer school years or days. Actually, I'm not strongly against a few extra weeks, as long as the school curriculum is challenging. If anyone reading this has any say in this kind of thing, please think of me. -Nathan