Comment Cesky Krumlov (Score 1) 920
A little place on the main walk of a beautiful old Bohemian town called Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Served with a fried egg on top.
A little place on the main walk of a beautiful old Bohemian town called Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Served with a fried egg on top.
I don't want the same label as the intern who fixes windoze
It's a category, that's all. The level you occupy in that category is not relevant. The software architect with a PhD in engineering is an engineer, and so is the intern who fixes trivial bugs. The same is true for every other profession--for example, a General Counsel is a lawyer, the same as a newly-hired associate. If they call you "highly-paid IT guy", then it's fine. The label is not really that important; understanding that being called an "IT guy" is not an insult is important.
Having said that, software development is usually done by software developers. IT provides the infrastructure on which software products run, and then runs them. In corporate terms, software developers create enterprise applications for customers, and customers have applications people in their IT department manage them. Those corporate applications people in IT are sometimes application administrators, or web developers, or DBAs.
It would be more effective communication if they referred to software developers as software developers, or something like engineer or programmer. Calling someone IT who isn't IT is confusing, and you end up with the wrong people answering job postings. I wouldn't say you should make a big deal out of it, so I vote "yes" to
Change it slowly over time
If you make a big deal about it, you will definitely look petty.
I love questions like this! Thanks. It has produced some interesting answers, and has been good for a trip down memory lane. As good as everyone's answers have been, they have not all been focused on the context of the question.
This is for a one-semester high school class, we must remember--not a college class, and not for a degree in SF&F. The object is not to make sure that they read everything that everyone must read in the genre, but to (1) introduce the genre, (2) teach about the genre, and (3) whet the appetite for learning and reading more. In addition to the limited time that students have to devote to each class in high school, one must also bear in mind the limited budget for purchasing materials.
With that in mind, I'd put forward three notions: short stories are the best way to introduce readers to a variety of different authors and and archetypes; anthologies are a cost-effective way to deliver short stories; you can't cover it all. To this last point, I would say that there are different strands of fantasy, and that you are only going to touch on the ones that closely overlap science fiction; mainstream fantasy (including, much as I love them, Harry Potter and LOTR) needs to be another class.
The problem with anthologies, however, is that by-and-large they stink out loud. I suppose you have to purchase through your district, and they have preferred publishers, so you'd have to see what they have to offer--and you may be stuck with them. I poked around to see what was commercially available, and I admit I was pretty unimpressed. Of those that are in print, if I were teaching I suppose I would order Science Fiction: A Historical Anthology (Galaxy Books, edited by by Eric S. Rabkin) because it has some width of selection and includes some old classics, but I'd wish that I could do better. And maybe you have to not do an anthology... or supplement it with a few novels or collections.
Keeping in mind your context, then, if I were selecting a few additional novels for a one-semester introductory high school class (with limited time and attention spans), I would draw from this list [that is still in print]:
Asimov, I, Robot
Card, Ender's Game
Clarke, Childhood's End
Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama
LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness
Niven, Ringworld
Niven and Pournelle, Inferno
Sawyer, Flashforward
Mind you this is not my list of the "best" or "must-read", and is not as diverse a set of authors as I would wish, but simply what I think would work for your class--what is accessible at their age, and what makes for good class discussions. I would specifically not include excellent novels like 2001, Snow Crash, Red Mars, etc., because they are not quite old enough to appreciate the themes, literary adroitness, and so on. You and I might have really groked 2001 in high school, but the average high school student today probably would struggle with it.
(Also, having a tie-in with a popular movie or TV show that you can show in class will help those who are more visual or aural learners is helpful.)
Hope this helps.
If it was done on company time and company assets, they might not own it, but they have an excellent case for termination.
Memory fault - where am I?