04 – Thoughts — Leshell Hatley

Happy Birthday to Me!

April 28, 2013 by Leshell Leave a Comment

My birthday is less than one month away (May 24th). I'm really excited for a number of reasons. One of them has to do with a weird pattern in my life that occurs every 7 years -> major change! Yup, this year, is another 7th and almost every aspect of my life has undergone some form of change. Another reason I'm excited is because I want a Samsung Note (or a Galaxy S4)! I posted an update 'in jest' on Facebook and Twitter suggesting that anyone could buy me one for my birthday. To my surprise, at least 3 people suggested a make a donation page for it. Alas, this was nothing but confirmation ...because the thought quickly occurred to me as well. But, I thought against it. That is, until I started hearing the suggestion more and more. So, here you have it. My … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 03 - The World Around Me, 04 - Thoughts, Android

“If I Were A Poor Black Kid” – Wait, I Was A Poor Black Kid

January 11, 2012 by Leshell Leave a Comment

First, let me now say that I recognize I'm a bit late in responding to this blog post. But, I've been working so hard at running my nonprofit organization and preparing for my new PhD program over the past several weeks, that I have not had a chance to really read, gather my thoughts, and respond. [Ode to Marks's notion that poor black kids are somewhat lazy.] But, alas. My busy schedule has cleared for a few minutes to allow me to add my thoughts to the discussion - if I can call it that. I read Gene Marks' article on Forbes.com and a knot formed in my throat, stomach, and in my heart. It's hard to believe that race and equity in education are still intense areas of discussion. Neither should be a problem and both should be free and clear of heated debates. Nonetheless, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 03 - The World Around Me, 04 - Thoughts Tagged With: Best Black Children, Dr. Gloria Ladson Billings, Gene Marks, Poor Black Kid, Wealthy White People

Welcome 2012!

January 9, 2012 by Leshell Leave a Comment

So, we are one full week into the new year. I suppose I should officially say Happy New Year! I didn't blog as much as I wanted to last year. I hope that changes in 2012. Alot happened in 2011, so I wasn't like I didn't have anything about which to write. I think I simply lost focus of what this website was supposed to be and wasn't sure if some content was appropriate or not. I am the executive director of a nonprofit that provides educational experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, I do freelance work from time to time, I'm a PhD student again (now at George Mason University), and I, of course, have my own opinions and thoughts about many many things. More often then not, I wasn't sure if I wanted to write about all that here. So, I didn't - … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 01 - Learning & Doing Research, 02 - Device Development, 03 - The World Around Me, 04 - Thoughts Tagged With: 2012, animation, augmented reality, cooking, Datamining, drawing, George Mason University, progress, writing

A Slice of (My) Life: Black Enterprise TV Profile

July 21, 2011 by Leshell Leave a Comment

Click the photo above to see the clip. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 01 - Learning & Doing Research, 03 - The World Around Me, 04 - Thoughts

STEM Education: Why? & How?

May 8, 2011 by Leshell 1 Comment

Over the past few days, I have been evaluating and reevaluating my work in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education. With over 10,000 hours delivering STEM content, I found myself asking "why am I doing this, why am I teaching STEM, why is this so important?" These are no random questions. They actually come at a time when strategic planning is the number one priority for my nonprofit organization (Uplift, Inc.). Uplift, Inc. applied for and was selected to be a Fair Chance partner for the next year. Fair Chance is a nonprofit that helps organizations serving children in wards 5, 6, 7, and 8 in Washington, DC. Our projects certainly fit the bill. As a matter of fact, we are one of few organizations that provide STEM education to students in these wards (this is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 03 - The World Around Me, 04 - Thoughts Tagged With: crowdsourcing, education, engineering, Fair Chance DC, Leshell Hatley, math, Robotics in DC, science, STEM, Technology, Uplift Inc., Youth APPLab, Youth Lab

Making Myles & Ayesha

September 29, 2010 by Leshell Leave a Comment

Feb. 5, 2011 - UPDATE: The Myles & Ayesha Black Inventors Match Game is NOW also on the Android Market. Official Unveiling! Today, I unveiled Myles & Ayesha - the characters, their website, and their first themed educational iPhone app (game) called Myles & Ayesha - Black Inventors Match Game. They also have a twitter account, so make sure you follow them! :) I actually just found announcements of the iPhone App on other sites as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 01 - Learning & Doing Research, 02 - Device Development, 03 - The World Around Me, 04 - Thoughts, iPhone Tagged With: African-American, Black Inventors Match Game, elementary students, fun, iPhone App, kids, learning, Myles & Ayesha

The Best Dissertation is the One That’s Finished!

September 18, 2010 by Leshell 3 Comments

Toward A Dissertation Topic Over the past several weeks, I have been exploring topics for my dissertation. My experience and passion to-date have been working with technology (specifically technology that supports learning) and children (specifically children of color). So, naturally, I wanted my dissertation topic to focus on something in this space. However, over the past few days, after intensive pondering and reflection, I have realized and greatly appreciate the statement that "the best dissertation is the one that's finished" ...and that focusing on these particular issues, at this particular time, may not be as effective as I would like. Realizing this is the culmination of learning a number of things about research, the process of obtaining a PhD, and the difference … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 01 - Learning & Doing Research, 03 - The World Around Me, 04 - Thoughts Tagged With: agenda, children, conclusions, development, difference, dissertation, experience, explore, focus, investigate, learning, PhD, pressure, proof, relationship, Research, students of color, Technology, time, trust

Could the flood gates to DIY Electonic Fabrications now be open? I've been waiting…

January 31, 2010 by leshell Leave a Comment

I recently gave a presentation (December 3, 2009) at the weekly brown bag lunch presentations in our lab (HCIL) regarding my current research project - KIDVIEW (website coming soon). The presentation went fairly well and I received a number of great comments and suggestions in response to my work and its current status at the time. However, Ben S. suggested that when giving presentations, the presenter should always have a 'take away message' - something that let's the audience know that it was well worth their time to come listen (besides hearing the presenter's speel). After a recent article about how the US should produce and export more to help its economy, I decided to comment on the challenges I had in finding and obtaining various electronic parts with the US. Most of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 01 - Learning & Doing Research, 02 - Device Development, 04 - Thoughts

Why Wasn't This Corrected?

December 1, 2009 by leshell Leave a Comment

So, in a world when everyone is talking about closing the achievement gap and the importance of literacy - a teacher allowed this "message of thanks" to go uncorrected. Huh? Click image to enlarge and read... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 03 - The World Around Me, 04 - Thoughts

Programming & Application Development

July 28, 2009 by leshell 1 Comment

I remember when I used to hate programming. I mean, getting a '5' to display on the screen after some massive algorithm and long drawn out calculation was not the most exciting. I must admit, however, that was how programming was several years ago. Remember COBOL, Fortran, and Pascal? Yup, I guess I'm dating myself. I actually remember when Java first released. No one knew it, so no one could teach it, and no one really knew it well enough to even judge if it was being taught properly or not. You can imagine the frustration of taking it as a class then. Of course, the backlash was...well, that I hated it. Well, programming has come full circle for me, especially since Android development is pure Java. Go figure! With the web and mobile devices, I am again excited about … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 04 - Thoughts Tagged With: Android, emagine! technologies, Java

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Dooodl!