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Building a Growth Mindset Vocabulary

2/8/2021

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Does your child talk to themselves? If so, they’re not alone. Research shows that most people talk to themselves and not only that, but self-directed talk can actually be good for you. But to reap the benefits, it’s important to remember that what we say to ourselves matters.  Self-talk is about more than telling yourself “you can do it!”; it’s about building a growth mindset by leveraging the power of words to lead you down the path to real change. 

We at The Coding Space believe that intelligence can be developed and strive to create a love of learning--and of overcoming obstacles--in our coding students by helping them develop that growth mindset. As teachers, we do this through the Socratic Method, which uses asking questions as a means to help students find their own answers. In debugging programs, students discover that “wrong” is merely a stepping stone to right. As students are empowered to stick with a problem until they’ve solved it, that growth mindset is challenged and developed.

But this work doesn’t happen only in our classroom. There are steps parents can take to help children build a growth mindset at home, at school, and in life. Here are some tips from our executive functioning partners at Private Prep:

​Flip the Script
Start by being mindful of how your child talks to themselves. Take note of any language that they commonly use to put themselves down and, if possible, challenge that perception in the moment. Ask them to come up with an alternate statement that creates opportunities for both accountability and self-compassion. This exercise asks kids to dig deeper to find both an actionable item and a truth that reminds them how capable they truly are.
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Use an Affirmation Statement
If your child is already thoughtful about their self-talk, take the next step by encouraging them to celebrate their strengths and use them as a touchpoint when they are struggling. Start by listing some of their positive attributes and asking them to add to that list. These could be tied to a specific area of life or generally. Ask your child to pick the three that resonate most and incorporate them into a statement that they can say to themselves when they need a boost. Here are a few examples that have helped our students find confidence when they need it:
  • When I take my time and reflect on the best approach, I always get it done. 
  • I invite good things by being kind, positive, and open to new ideas. 
  • I am a hard worker who knows what she wants and has a plan to get there.  ​

In coding, as in life, it’s important to focus on the process and on those things over which we have control. When we allow a negative thought to take hold, we miss an opportunity for growth. Encourage children to be kind to themselves, and to be patient with the process of learning.

A version of this blog first appeared on Private Prep, a sister brand of The Coding Space.
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Welcome to Spring Semester 2021

2/5/2021

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Dear Coding Space Family,

Welcome to Spring Semester! We’re thrilled to kick off 2021 teaching your wonderful children new coding concepts, thinking patterns, and mindsets. There’s much to look forward to and reflect on from our past semester.

We saw a lot of engagement with our hands-on activities and challenges over the course of the fall and will be continuing to introduce new material to our classes this spring. In October, we ran a new Code 4 Change challenge where our students created inspiring projects to help younger kids learn important concepts like reading and math. Over the winter break, we hosted an epic mini camp that allowed us to spend the holidays with nearly 100 enthusiastic coders. 

As a company, we’ve spent many months thinking long and hard about our values, including our commitment to racial justice and educational equity. This spring, we will be concentrating on bolstering our scholarship program as well as seeking out new partnerships to reach students in communities with limited access to coding education. We wholeheartedly believe that teaching a child how to code equips them with skills and attitudes to help break out of prescribed societal barriers and take on the world by storm, and we’re looking forward to getting to work.

We’ve also been working behind the scenes on an exciting addition to our curriculum that we are piloting this spring: our very own learning management system. My Coding Space houses over 90 original Untutorials (our core curriculum that helps students tackle multi-step projects by using critical thinking and problem-solving skills). While the platform introduces helpful features like filtering and search, it does something much more powerful: it captures progress. From class to class and semester to semester, we’ll have a complete record of our students’ accomplishments, breakthroughs, and gong-worthy celebrations—and as importantly, we’ll be able to share that journey with parents. To read more about all this new platform has to offer, check out our blog.

We’re energized by the progress we’ve made so far this academic year and are very much looking forward to what the future holds. Thanks for being a part of our cherished community. We’ll see you online!

Sincerely, 
​
​
Maddy Carter
Director of Curriculum & Operations

Scott Levenson
​Managing Partner

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Introducing My Coding Space: a New Learning Platform

2/4/2021

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After many months of hard work, we here at The Coding Spare are excited to introduce our new learning platform, My Coding Space. From tracking their progress in projects and classes, to providing opportunities to grow their skills outside of the classroom and build community, My Coding Space will be a powerful partner for our students, and their parents, throughout their coding journey. Keep reading for a brief introduction and tour of this one-of-a-kind platform.

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Capturing Progress

One of My Coding Space’s most powerful features is its ability to capture the progress of our students. As students move from dragging and dropping blocks in Scratch, to coding a two-player game in WoofJS, to building websites from a blank page, we’ll see it all—and so will parents. From class to class and semester to semester, we’ll have a complete record of our students’ accomplishments, breakthroughs, and gong-worthy celebrations.

My Coding Space also allows for clear communication with teachers, including access to feedback on projects. Within this system, teachers can view student progress, provide feedback and support outside of class, and approve finished projects.

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Student Marking Off Progress
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Teacher & Student Progress View
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Teacher Approving Progress & Providing Feedback

​Tackling New Challenges

My Coding Space houses over 90 original Untutorials for skills levels ranging from Young Beginner to Advanced. Untutorials are the cornerstone of our curriculum, listing the high-level tasks or features students will need to complete a game, animation, or application—but we intentionally leave out how to do them. The result is an opportunity for students to understand the smaller components that make up a larger problem, while leaving the solving of the problem entirely up to them (with the help of our teachers, of course).
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The Coding Space Untutorials

​Going Above and Beyond

While our Untutorials offer a solid starting point for students to explore new ideas and concepts, there are times when students will want to go off script and create their own project. We value opportunities for students to explore what they’ve learned in new ways and actively make space for this. We also understand how important it is to ensure that our students’ learning doesn’t stagnate by continuing to repeat the same concepts. When they’re ready to push past their comfort zones, we’re here to support them. Creative projects allow students to reinforce what they’ve learned while fully embracing their unique and authentic selves. 

To help us prepare for this eventuality, we’ve incorporated a unique planning tool into the platform where students will map out the steps of the project they’d like to make—essentially crafting their own Untutorials. This will not only teach fundamental computational skills like abstraction and decomposition, as well as planning and project management skills, it will help keep them on task and encourage a deeper understanding of what they’re learning along the way. After students create their Untutorials, they’ll mark off their progress as they work to complete the project. Finally, they’ll have the option to share their Untutorials with other students, building community throughout their coding adventures. ​
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Project Building Tool

Building a Community

​To further encourage self-expression and community, My Coding Space contains a profile feature where students can add a profile image, display name, and a little bit about what makes them unique. The profile area also allows students to take notes and receive internal emails so they can confirm accounts or receive messages from their teacher. All messages funnel through The Coding Space’s private email account that is only accessible to our teachers.
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Student Profile

​Over the next few months we will be rolling out a community page where students can share their work with their peers as well as an internal forum where they can ask and answer coding questions, introducing new opportunities to debug, share, and collaborate. 
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Thank you for taking a moment to tour My Coding Space. Over the next few weeks, teachers will be introducing students to this platform and available to answer questions. Parents are also invited to share feedback on the new platform here. We’re excited by all the possibilities of this new platform and have many developments in store, so look out for updates!

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Give Back and Get Coding This MLK Jr. Day

1/8/2021

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“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'”
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
This January 18th, join TCS for a special one-day virtual coding event in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Coders will embark on cool STEM explorations and coding challenges as well as games, activities, and more. Plus, we’ve planned something special.

To honor the Civil Rights leader’s life and legacy, our thoughts around this holiday are imbued with how we can help spread the love and humanity that connects us all. Just as we work to create inclusive and supportive learning environments for each of our coders, we encourage all of our students to be agents of positive social change in their communities and beyond. 

To celebrate their impact, every camper who has a plan in place to do an act of service by the start of camp on January 18th will receive a $10 credit towards a future class or camp. Just reply to your registration confirmation email with a description of what your child will do to help someone else and the credit will be applied to your account.
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Not sure where to start? Here are some suggested activities:
  • Donate clothes
  • Plant a tree
  • Donate used/unwanted toys
  • Give books to local hospitals or daycare
  • Start a school recycling program
  • Hold a collection drive
  • Make handmade cards
  • Do chores or work for neighbors

The possibilities are truly endless. We hope your child will take advantage of this opportunity and share with us in class how they’ve decided to honor MLK Jr.’s legacy on this important day. 

Not signed up for our MLK Jr. Mini Camp yet? Register here. ​

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Announcing the Code 4 Change: Kids Teaching Kids Winners!

12/15/2020

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This past weekend marked the end of our second Code 4 Change challenge: Kids Teaching Kids. This event asked our coders to teach early education students important academic concepts in math, reading, and more through creative games and projects. After a month of hard work, participants submitted their projects for judging and joined us online for a special live finale event where we revealed the winners and celebrated the hard work of all our coders. 

If you missed the finale, you can still check out the recording here and the full list of winners below. In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing qualifying projects with real early education classes, but in the meantime, you can continue to explore all the projects on our website.

Please join us in giving all our participants a big round of applause for their hard work and creativity!

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Best Visual Design

Isla, age 9
​"The Five Senses"

From the judges: With a beautiful background, clean and clear icons, and lovely golden stars as rewards, Isla's project has excellent visual design.

Best Sound Design

Jordan, age 7
"Jordan's Awesome Space Adventure!"

​From the judges: Jordan's friendly little dog teaches you about space with charming voice clips and entrancing background music.
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Best Game Design

Brianna M., age 8
"Math Car Race Game"

From the judges: The simple concept of a race with math problems mixed in makes for an exciting game!

Most Educational

Manya, age 10
"Math: Add, Subtract, Multiply & Divide"

From the judges: Manya's project is bursting with helpful information about a variety of math concepts along with clear diagrams and easy to use controls.
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Most Imaginative

Sasha L., age 8
​"Octo-Rhyme"

From the judges: The drums, dancing fish, voice clips, and colorful effects all come together in Sasha's project to teach reading through rhyming.

Best Scratch

Charlotte K., age 10
"Shaping Up With Charlotte"

From the judges: Shaping Up With Charlotte combines clear instructions, a cute monkey, and clear design for a superb Scratch project which teaches all about shapes.
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Best WoofJS

Liv B., age 8
"Spelling!"

From the judges: Liv's creative spelling project uses cute icons and well-written Javascript code to teach basic spelling.

Coders' Choice

India F., age 12
"Fun Afterschool Practice"

Coders' Choice was selected by TCS coders and their friends and family as the project that best showcases both impressive coding skills and strong educational value.

From the judges: India's Fun Afterschool Practice allows students to practice math or reading to help a cute egg hatch.
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Tune in to the Code 4 Change Finale!

12/8/2020

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Three cheers for our creative coders! Our C4C: Kids Teaching Kids participants have completed and submitted their programming projects, the votes have been cast, and the results have been tallied. Now, it's time to tune in for the finale event where we reveal the winners in these categories:
  • Best Visual Design
  • Best Sound Design
  • Best Game Design
  • Most Educational
  • Most Imaginative
  • Best Scratch Project
  • Best WoofJS Project
  • Coders' Choice

Oh, and did we mention there will be prizes? Each category winner will receive a donation of $50 to DonorsChoose to support the classroom of their choice. All projects will be featured on the TCS website and qualifying projects will be shared with participating early elementary classes.

Ready to join us? The finale will be streamed live across several platforms on Sunday, December 13th starting at 3pm EST. You can watch by clicking on the links below:
  • YouTube
  • Twitch
  • Facebook
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We hope you’ll join us in acknowledging and celebrating the hard work of all our students and their creativity in devising solutions to problems facing kids just like them. Their generosity of spirit sets an excellent example for us all!
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The Top Computers For Young Coders: Our 2020 Laptop Picks

12/7/2020

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The holiday gift-giving season is upon us, and for many young coders, a computer that allows them to expand their programming skills is a top wish list item. But with so many options to choose from, it's hard to know where to start. We asked our NYC Program Director, John Bujalski, for his tips and top picks to help parents make a smart choice. 

When buying a laptop, generally there's a trade-off between the following characteristics:
  • Price
  • Size/Weight
  • Durability
  • Computing Power (Performance)
  • Battery Life

The good news is that no matter which characteristics are important to you, there's an option that will be great for coding. Here are some recommendations based on these varying priorities:
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Best All-Around Pick - Acer Swift 3 - $650

At only $650, the Acer Swift 3 boasts decent performance, size/weight, durability, and battery life. It isn't the best in any of those categories, but it's good enough at all of them. It won't play any games on maximum settings, but it'll be capable of running programs like Minecraft.
Learn More
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Best at Everything (But Price) - Razer Blade - starting at $1500

While no doubt a bit of an investment, getting a Razer Blade will mean not needing to upgrade any time soon. Razer's Blade line always has superb build quality, amazing performance, and surprisingly good battery life. This computer will handle any game or application your coder throws at it, though under heavy load it'll run a little hot.
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Best Performance at a Great Price - Acer Nitro 5 - around $700

It may not be as sleek as other options, but for the price and performance, the Acer Nitro 5 is an excellent pick. The large 17-inch screen will provide additional viewing space for kids when both gaming and coding. However, due to it's size, this computer is not very portable. Consider this option if your coder will use the computer mainly at home and the performance/price combo appeals to you.
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Best Portability & Battery Life - Dell New XPS 13 - starting at $1000

The Dell New XPS 13 is a light, thin, durable laptop with excellent build quality and battery life. This machine can handle light modeling or video editing (consider upgrading to the Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics as they will add a nice boost to graphics performance), but only expect modest gaming performance. It'll run most games (including Minecraft), but on lower settings.
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Best Budget Option - Acer Aspire 5 - $500

If price is your primary concern, the Acer Aspire 5 will be an excellent choice. While it is a little big and not as powerful as the options above, it'll be sufficient for coding and should be able to run most games at the lowest settings. Though less expensive than most on this list, it's still quite a capable machine. Take care of it, and it'll take care of you.
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Best Apple Option - M1 Macbook Air 2020 - starting at $1000

While Apple computers come with a price premium, for some people, the design, software, build quality, and support are worth it. Though Apple does not offer the range of options that are available elsewhere, their quality is consistent. The new M1 Macbook Air is an excellent computer and the perfect choice for a coder who'd prefer MacOS.
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​Best Chromebook Option - Samsung Chromebook 3 - $300

A Chromebook does not have access to the same applications or the flexibility of a Windows or MacOS computer, but if your child will be just browsing the web, writing documents, and coding, a Chromebook might be enough for them. This Samsung model is an excellent value and quite portable, but lags behind in performance.
learn more
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Introducing Seasons of Code: Winter 2020

12/1/2020

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The weather outside may be frightful, but coding is so delightful! Winter break is coming, which means schools will be out and our coding classes will be on hold for the holidays. As our students get ready for seasonal fun and look ahead to winter break, they are likely to be coding a lot less than usual. With all the twinkling lights, gift giving, and holiday spirit, distractions are understandable. But if we at The Coding Space could send one message home to each child this winter season, it would be this: don’t forget about the magic of code. 

Coding lets us create new worlds, explore our biggest ideas, express our deepest passions, do what all kids—not to mention adults—dream of being able to do: whatever we can imagine. You have to admit that’s pretty magical.

This is why we’ve created Seasons of Code—a free source of daily inspiration and ideas perfect to keep kids honing their skills and exploring the magic of coding, even outside of class. In Seasons of Code: Winter, a new winter-themed prompt will be revealed on our page each day, giving young coders direction and opportunities to learn something new, all at a pace that works for them. Coders can look forward to challenges like creating a virtual snowball fight, using confetti to celebrate the new year, and much more!
Anyone can participate in Seasons of Code. Just have your child go to this Scratch page each day of December to see the latest prompt. Once they’ve made a project, we encourage them to add it to our Scratch studio so we can all share in the joy.

We can’t wait to see all of the creativity and imagination that comes out of our first Season of Code. Happy Holidays from the team at The Coding Space. We’re wishing you all the very best this winter!
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Give a Growth Mindset: Coding Gifts For All Ages

11/30/2020

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The holidays are just around the corner, which means the gift-giving season is upon us. For kids who love coding, computer science, and STEM activities, there are tons of great gifts out there to delight and inspire and more seem to arrive with each new technological advancement. But with so many choices, the options can be overwhelming. That’s why we’ve narrowed down some of our recent favorites.

Coding Toys for Younger Kids

Bitsbox: For kids 10 and under, there are many games and toys that help them understand the building blocks of computer programming. For example, Bitsbox delivers a physical box to your home every month containing a kit of projects, and then your young child can login to Bitsbox’s online platform to program their own version of these projects. The apps are selected based on difficulty and interests—everything from interactive birthday cards to Tetris-like games— and can be easily shared onto phones and tablets.

Osmo: This iPad-based programming game system incorporates physical blocks to write code. Using a set of magnetic blocks, your child controls Awbie, a cute character who must navigate the different levels of the Osmo universe. The physical blocks must be connected together logically so that Awbie can move on screen, using commands like “move,” “turn,” and “repeat.” The Osmo is ideal for kids as young as five years old because they don’t need typing skills to learn the basics of programming logic and to practice their critical thinking skills. After your child has mastered Awbie, they can move onto Osmo’s other products like Coding Jam, which uses a similar block system to generate digital music, and Coding Duo, a more advanced version of Coding Awbie with multiple players.

Cubetto is a completely screenless coding toy for kids 6 and under. Cubetto is a wooden robot that is programmed by placing colored blocks onto its surface, which instruct it where to move. The Cubetto is placed on top of different maps, mazes, and books. For example, in one challenge Cubetto must navigate around a big urban city. In another, he is in ancient Egypt, learning about pyramids, hieroglyphics, and the Sphinx. This is a great toy that encourages active play and critical thinking without any screens.

Coding Games for Older Kids

Anki Cozmo: For older kids who love robots, the Anki Cozmo is a palm-sized robot, built with facial recognition, self-maneuvering capabilities, and an “emotion engine” to respond to real-world situations. It comes with a Code Lab app for users to program the Cozmo’s movements and responses to different environments. Kids can also play games with Cozmo like Memory Match and Keepaway.

Kano: If your child is interested in building hardware, the Kano might be the best toy for them. With the Kano, you follow a storybook to build a simple computer. The kit comes with a power supply, Raspberry Pi (the chip that powers the computer), keyboard, SD card, and optionally a microphone and an HD touchscreen. Once built, the touchscreen version allows you to program your own art, games and music. The coding starts with a block-based environment, but for more advanced students, there are projects available in Python and Javascript programming languages.

Minecraft: Many kids this age already love Minecraft, an open-ended game where users can build their own worlds and experiences using the resources they acquire. Given the building-block nature of Minecraft, modifying the game (or “modding”) is extremely popular, too. This is where you create new items, resources, and functionality by programming extensions to Minecraft’s code. While modding Minecraft was not designed for beginner programmers, there are sites dedicated for helping kids learn how to mod with online tutorials like LearnToMod and books like Coding with Minecraft.

Online Coding Games, Platforms, and Classes

There are also many online-based games and platforms for students to start learning programming. CodeCombat offers a series of online levels in settings like the Kithgard Dungeon and the Backwoods Forest. Students gain points by completing challenges so that they can advance to the next level and buy power-ups. CodeMonkey is another online gamxe where the student moves through a series of challenges in tracks like Coding Adventure and Coding Chatbots. The main language they focus on is CoffeeScript.

Of course, there’s no better way to encourage a love of coding than personalized instruction. The Coding Space offers self-paced learning with a unique 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio. Our virtual group classes supplement coding instruction with hands-on games, screen-free activities, and coding challenges to push students’ skills even outside of class. Giving the gift of coding is even easier with gift certificates offered in any amount.

Looking for more gift ideas? Visit our partner site, Private Prep, for even more thoughtful gift options for every child on your list.

A modified version of this article originally appeared on junilearning.com.
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TCS Teacher Spotlight: Meet Brenda Castro

11/13/2020

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We at The Coding Space are continually inspired by the dedicated and caring teachers on our team, especially those who contribute to the wellbeing of the communities they serve. Brenda Castro, a Long Island-based TCS teacher and tutor with Private Prep, is a great example of our culture of caring in action. In addition to helping students learn to think critically, be creative, and code, she volunteers her time as a listener for 7 Cups, an online community for anonymous emotional peer-support. We spoke to her about her experiences doing this unique and important work.
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In her free time, Brenda loves rock climbing!
Thanks so much for being willing to chat with us, Brenda! How did you get involved with 7 Cups?
Thanks for having me! I technically started volunteering with 7 Cups in July of 2015, but I really gave more time starting in March 2020—about 146 hours! I started as a listener and gradually gained more roles. I became an intern and eventually a mentor to other listeners. I now lead discussions and moderate group chats, too.

Why is volunteering important to you?
I feel fulfilled when I’m interacting with other people and I care deeply about their wellbeing. I’ve been lucky to have the support of so many friends and family, and volunteering allows me to pay some of that kindness forward. Volunteering also lets me focus on doing something that I enjoy and helps others without the added stress of money or performance reviews. I find that getting to be myself sometimes lets me do my best work.

What have you learned about yourself in doing this work?
Regarding 7 Cups specifically, I have gained further confidence in myself and my decision to become a therapist. I was initially nonplussed by their rule to not give advice. If a member reached out to me with an issue, I instinctively wanted to help them solve it. Instead, by listening, empathizing, and reflecting, I am learning how to support someone without taking any power away from them.

As a teacher, how do you think students and young people could benefit from volunteering?
Volunteering can help you build a skill, allow you to contribute to a community you care about, give you an opportunity to meet new friends, and feel fulfilled. It can even boost your own mental health because giving can make us happier than receiving. I hope young people definitely consider volunteering!

How can others become involved with 7 Cups?
Joining the community of 7 Cups is the easiest! You can even give back as a member. Becoming a listener requires a little more training, but it's still easy to sign up. You can do so here. 

Anything else you'd like to add?
Yes, I’d just like to share this quote: "Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless." —Sherry Anderson
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