Mentoring from a n00bs perspective

Mentoring From a n00b’s perspective Allison Sheren @allie_p Monday, November
11, 13

Who Am I? Rails Girls DC Organizer N00b motivated learner
community lover Mentor and mentee First time lightning talker Monday, November 11, 13

There have been a ton of people who have helped
me learn Monday, November 11, 13

Everyone had the best intentions but some people were great
to learn from and some were not. Monday, November 11, 13

And that’s okay. Monday, November 11, 13

Here are my main tips for being an effective mentor
Monday, November 11, 13

1. At the beginning, understand that it’s hard to know
what to ask and every word sounds like a foreign language Monday, November 11, 13

so encourage relentless curiosity what is terminal? What is the
command line? What is IRC? Why should I not be terrified of GitHub? Monday, November 11, 13

2. Don’t go down the rabbit hole Monday, November 11,
13

I have no idea what you’re talking about anymore and
I’m now really scared of coding. Monday, November 11, 13

3. Understand if you’re not understood Monday, November 11, 13

People learn from different people in different ways. It’s not
personal, it’s just the brain. Monday, November 11, 13

4. The dreaded answer to “what I should read?” Monday,
November 11, 13

Give direction. Which book should be read first, why, and
what should we be learning from it Monday, November 11, 13

5. Don’t put your fingers on my keyboard Monday, November
11, 13

Really really difficult, but if you can have the patience
to explain and say everything the person should type, they learn more Monday, November 11, 13

6. Help celebrate the small stuff and motivate to do
the big stuff Monday, November 11, 13

Thank You! @allie_p Lightning Talk: Monday, November 11, 13

Mentoring from a n00bs perspective

Mentoring from a n00bs perspective

Allison McMillan

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