Have you ever tried to use our HTML Tutorial to learn how to design a webpage? What did you think?
Today going through our "Contact Us" mail, we got a letter from Juliet, aged 10, that said our HTML Tutorial was confusing. We're sorry that this happened, and we would love to fix it!
So we're wondering: what could be improved? How far in were you when you got confused? We'll go back and try to fix it up and make it easier to understand.
You can leave your comments here or email us with your suggestions directly to admin@smartgirl.org.
Also, here's a shoutout to Sifi, age 18, who said our website was fun! Thanks, Sifi!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Interviews
It's the week of the interviews, I guess. Erika's book, Beneath the Cobblestones, is finally available to purchase on Amazon. It's been a long time in the works, and we can't wait to read our very own copy!
But what's super cool is that Erika is willing to let SmartGirls ask her lots of questions about her success as a writer getting published at such a young age. We set up a page so you can submit your interview questions:
http://www.smartgirl.org/writing/interview-erika.html
Next week, we'll send her your questions and she'll pick some out and answer them for you! Send her serious ones, fun ones, and whatever you're curious about.
Also, we didn't tell you this, but we've been interviewed, too! Amiko from My Unfastened Diary (M-U-D) has a blog where she is interviewing web designers and giving advice and sharing stories submitted by tween girls. You can check out her blog and our interview here:
http://myunfasteneddiary.blogspot.com/
We had never done an interview like this before, and it was actually pretty fun. I tend to like to talk a lot though, so it was hard to keep things short!
Have you ever interviewed someone or been interviewed by someone? What was it like? Any especially memorable moments?
But what's super cool is that Erika is willing to let SmartGirls ask her lots of questions about her success as a writer getting published at such a young age. We set up a page so you can submit your interview questions:
http://www.smartgirl.org/writing/interview-erika.html
Next week, we'll send her your questions and she'll pick some out and answer them for you! Send her serious ones, fun ones, and whatever you're curious about.
Also, we didn't tell you this, but we've been interviewed, too! Amiko from My Unfastened Diary (M-U-D) has a blog where she is interviewing web designers and giving advice and sharing stories submitted by tween girls. You can check out her blog and our interview here:
http://myunfasteneddiary.blogspot.com/
We had never done an interview like this before, and it was actually pretty fun. I tend to like to talk a lot though, so it was hard to keep things short!
Have you ever interviewed someone or been interviewed by someone? What was it like? Any especially memorable moments?
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Our New Contact Form
Recently on SmartGirl we added a Contact Form. There were lots of reasons to do this, and two of our favorite reasons are:
First, I'm sorry that you've been feeling left in the dark with some of our site changes! I realize now that there's only one link on the site to this blog, and it's hidden at the bottom of the Real Life page. To help give visitors more notice when we make site changes, I'll add more links to this blog and try to put more notices up on Facebook.
Second, I also believe that anyone who wants to be a writer should get that chance. However, there's a lot of work that goes into being a SmartGirl Author and I can only take on so many at a time! When the new site gets up and running we'll be able to take on more SmartGirl Authors, but for now, unfortunately, we have to limit the number of applications we accept.
In the meantime, new SmartGirl Author positions open up all year round. If you make sure that your author application is well-written and original, you might not hear from us immediately, but you will probably hear from us eventually as soon as a position opens up!
Keep sending us your questions and concerns. If you are over 13, we can respond to you directly. Otherwise, you can look for responses here on our Development Blog!
Sincerely,
Boowee
- This is a safe way to contact us without revealing any more information than you want to
- It's a more convenient way to contact us so that you don't have to go and open up your email client just to send a simple message
- We change our site layout too often without giving any warning
- Everyone should be able to be a SmartGirl Author without having to submit an application
First, I'm sorry that you've been feeling left in the dark with some of our site changes! I realize now that there's only one link on the site to this blog, and it's hidden at the bottom of the Real Life page. To help give visitors more notice when we make site changes, I'll add more links to this blog and try to put more notices up on Facebook.
Second, I also believe that anyone who wants to be a writer should get that chance. However, there's a lot of work that goes into being a SmartGirl Author and I can only take on so many at a time! When the new site gets up and running we'll be able to take on more SmartGirl Authors, but for now, unfortunately, we have to limit the number of applications we accept.
In the meantime, new SmartGirl Author positions open up all year round. If you make sure that your author application is well-written and original, you might not hear from us immediately, but you will probably hear from us eventually as soon as a position opens up!
Keep sending us your questions and concerns. If you are over 13, we can respond to you directly. Otherwise, you can look for responses here on our Development Blog!
Sincerely,
Boowee
Thursday, April 8, 2010
SG Authors Got A Makeover
If you've been watching our Facebook feed, then you've probably seen post after post about the SmartGirl Author pages: "check out the new design!" "now look!" and "even more improved!"
Well, it's finally done... at least, as much as it will be for now. Here's a list of the changes:
Oh, and we finally connected the Short Stories and Real Life content.
And we made it easier to submit everything by putting a Submit button on every single page.
Aren't you happy?
... Are you NOT happy?
Anyway, now we can finally get around to responding to all your author applications. Hehehe...
Well, it's finally done... at least, as much as it will be for now. Here's a list of the changes:
- Reading the chapters is more like a book, now. They're in paragraph format on a little yellowed page, about the right width.
- You can flip between chapters "next" and "previous," plus there's a REALLY handy (really!) contents box on the right so that you can go directly to whichever chapter you want.
- We installed Disqus so that you can leave comments on every single chapter AND have the thread emailed straight to your inbox in case someone replies! Oh, the convenience!
- Installing Disqus also means we have the super handy (again with the handy!) "Recent Comments" box on the SG Authors main page. Now you don't have to flip through every story to see if there were comments. You can just know.
- Done with your favorite story? Still want to read more? Now we've made it even easier to switch between authors by adding a little library of every story on SmartGirl below the Table of Contents. It's so easy!
Oh, and we finally connected the Short Stories and Real Life content.
And we made it easier to submit everything by putting a Submit button on every single page.
Aren't you happy?
... Are you NOT happy?
Anyway, now we can finally get around to responding to all your author applications. Hehehe...
Monday, March 29, 2010
I missed you, SmartGirls!
The weekend is finally over, and I admit that I really missed you all! I love checking my email when I get back in. It's especially fun now since I've met a lot more of you through the SmartGirl Peer Mentor program. Remember that anyone can email me at any time, just send your messages to admin@smartgirl.org. I try to get back within 48 hours, but I'm out for the weekends Friday through Sunday.
We now have 9 official SmartGirl Peer Mentors answering questions every week. Plus, we have two SmartGirl Boy Mentors who will be making their debut in April, and a bonafide SmartGirl Mentor who is a graduate student at the University of Michigan who can help answer your health and body questions. Fun fun fun!
Also, people have been asking: WHEN ARE YOU ON THE CHATTERBOX? The answer is: MORNINGS. I'm on The Chatterbox off-and-on Monday through Thursday at all times, but I make sure that I'm at least on for a little bit in the mornings, so check The Chatterbox 9am-11am and you'll probably see me.
Check back soon when I will post screenshots of how our new design is coming along!
Sincerely,
Boowee
We now have 9 official SmartGirl Peer Mentors answering questions every week. Plus, we have two SmartGirl Boy Mentors who will be making their debut in April, and a bonafide SmartGirl Mentor who is a graduate student at the University of Michigan who can help answer your health and body questions. Fun fun fun!
Also, people have been asking: WHEN ARE YOU ON THE CHATTERBOX? The answer is: MORNINGS. I'm on The Chatterbox off-and-on Monday through Thursday at all times, but I make sure that I'm at least on for a little bit in the mornings, so check The Chatterbox 9am-11am and you'll probably see me.
Check back soon when I will post screenshots of how our new design is coming along!
Sincerely,
Boowee
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
New Direction for SmartGirl: Career Development
For a long time we've known that we wanted to add new content to SmartGirl. One of the great things SmartGirl has going for it is that it already attracts a large audience of tons of girls from all over the world. Here at the Women in Science and Engineering Program at the University of Michigan, we wanted to provide information that could help all those girls consider these careers in which women are traditionally underrepresented, such as careers in science, math, engineering, and technology.
First, we had a User Survey. This survey told us that girls were interested in homework help, career information, information on summer and after-school programs, surveys and quizzes, personalization, and more.
We considered all of their suggestions. At first we were really interested in providing homework help, but there are already great sites for this, like Tutor.com, InfoPlease, HomeworkHelp, HomeworkSpot, and more! If we were going to provide a really good homework help service, we'd have to employ tons of tutors with tons of different specialties and try to have someone around all the time just in case someone had a question. It just wasn't the right direction for us.
We started to consider career information more seriously. This was much more promising! Most career information out there is aimed at much older audiences, such as college students and recent college graduates looking for their first job. The profiles tended to be in all text and were organized by college major -- something most middle-schoolers are still undecided on! The truth was, there was a lot of great information out there, but it didn't seem to be exciting or accessible to our audience.
And that's worrisome, because research on career development suggests that boys and girls start limiting their career options by middle school. For example, young students are more likely to limit career interest to those careers which they have had the most exposure to, such as parent's careers and common jobs like police officer, teacher, and "the boop-boop person at the check-out line." Additionally, students are likely to "know" how careers are gender-typed by middle school, and are likely to foresee themselves in careers in line with their perceived gender identity. Such passive career interests at this early age can influence which high school courses and electives students decide to take, which in turn affects college major and real career opportunities down the line.
In light of this research and our users' interest in career information, we've decided to add career profile information that is media rich, interactive, and aimed at middle-schoolers. In addition, we hope to increase middle-schoolers' active participation in their career development by encouraging them to explore and get to know their own interests. Then we'll help them relate those interests to different careers and hopefully introduce them to careers they might never have considered otherwise.
For example, did you ever consider that scientists write books, too? You might be surprised how far your interests can take you, if you just take the time to look!
First, we had a User Survey. This survey told us that girls were interested in homework help, career information, information on summer and after-school programs, surveys and quizzes, personalization, and more.
We considered all of their suggestions. At first we were really interested in providing homework help, but there are already great sites for this, like Tutor.com, InfoPlease, HomeworkHelp, HomeworkSpot, and more! If we were going to provide a really good homework help service, we'd have to employ tons of tutors with tons of different specialties and try to have someone around all the time just in case someone had a question. It just wasn't the right direction for us.
We started to consider career information more seriously. This was much more promising! Most career information out there is aimed at much older audiences, such as college students and recent college graduates looking for their first job. The profiles tended to be in all text and were organized by college major -- something most middle-schoolers are still undecided on! The truth was, there was a lot of great information out there, but it didn't seem to be exciting or accessible to our audience.
And that's worrisome, because research on career development suggests that boys and girls start limiting their career options by middle school. For example, young students are more likely to limit career interest to those careers which they have had the most exposure to, such as parent's careers and common jobs like police officer, teacher, and "the boop-boop person at the check-out line." Additionally, students are likely to "know" how careers are gender-typed by middle school, and are likely to foresee themselves in careers in line with their perceived gender identity. Such passive career interests at this early age can influence which high school courses and electives students decide to take, which in turn affects college major and real career opportunities down the line.
In light of this research and our users' interest in career information, we've decided to add career profile information that is media rich, interactive, and aimed at middle-schoolers. In addition, we hope to increase middle-schoolers' active participation in their career development by encouraging them to explore and get to know their own interests. Then we'll help them relate those interests to different careers and hopefully introduce them to careers they might never have considered otherwise.
For example, did you ever consider that scientists write books, too? You might be surprised how far your interests can take you, if you just take the time to look!
SmartGirl Peer Advice
Hi SmartGirls!
We added a new section to our website not long ago called "SmartGirl Peer Advice." What was happening was that we had tons of emails and messages asking for advice, but not enough people to respond to all of them! At the same time, we knew that there were lots of SmartGirls out there who like to help out and would jump at the chance to be a listening ear and give advice.
So we put up applications. And we got a great response! Right now we have two wonderful SmartGirl Peer Mentors and we will have more on the way. They answer questions regularly so check their page often:
http://smartgirl.org/issues/sgpa/sgpa-02-2010.html
We're also working on setting up some SmartGirl Boy Advice, so stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Boowee
We added a new section to our website not long ago called "SmartGirl Peer Advice." What was happening was that we had tons of emails and messages asking for advice, but not enough people to respond to all of them! At the same time, we knew that there were lots of SmartGirls out there who like to help out and would jump at the chance to be a listening ear and give advice.
So we put up applications. And we got a great response! Right now we have two wonderful SmartGirl Peer Mentors and we will have more on the way. They answer questions regularly so check their page often:
http://smartgirl.org/issues/sgpa/sgpa-02-2010.html
We're also working on setting up some SmartGirl Boy Advice, so stay tuned!
Sincerely,
Boowee
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