A Good Programmer is a Good Teacher (and Student)

We've all experienced it: a coder our company just hired comes over to ask questions about the codebase. This coder might be a senior dev new to our codebase or a junior dev new to coding in general. How do we efficiently answer questions and teach in an effective manner.

Most of us haven't gone to school to learn how to teach. Yet, teaching is a part of most programmers' daily lives. With this talk, you'll get some tips and tricks on how to become a better teacher. And by learning how to teach, we'll also learn how to be a better student.

Transcript

1. A Good Programmer
   is a Good Teacher
   (and Student)
   

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2. Catherine Meyers
   Software Engineer at
   @ccmeyers324
   cmeyers@mavenlink.com
   We’re hiring!!!
   

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3. why?
   Teaching is a part of
   being a programmer
   Most of us didn’t go to
   school to learn how to
   teach
   Programmers are forever
   students & these tips
   can help you be a better
   one
   Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
   

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4. Culture of learning
   - We are all students
   - Learning is part of our job
   - Asking questions is encouraged
   - Although we must all do our part before asking our question (hello,
   stack overflow!)
   - Judgment-free environment == better learning/better
   coding
   - Slow down. The temptation to “save time” doesn’t actually
   save time
   Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
   

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5. communication
   Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
   

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6. What is the enemy of communication
   assumption
   Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
   

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7. How not to assume things
   - Ask questions
   - Get to know your coworker
   - Check-in often
   - And then check-in again
   Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
   

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8. HOW TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE WORDS COMING OUT
   OF YOUR MOUTH
   - Watch your lingo
   - Acronyms
   - Terms from more advanced concepts and other languages
   - Using the term to define the term
   - Be able to explain 1 thing 5 ways
   - Making sure you can teach a concept ensures that you
   really understand it yourself
   Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
   

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9. “If you can’t explain it simply, you
   don’t understand it well enough.”
   - Albert einstein
   Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
   

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10. Auditory
    Learn by listening
    Visual Kinesthetic
    3 Learning styles
    Explaining with
    words
    Learn by doing
    Learn by seeing
    Building
    Showing examples
    Whiteboarding
    Pry/Debugger
    Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
    

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11. Thank you
    Questions?
    Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
    

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12. Catherine Meyers
    Software Engineer at
    @ccmeyers324
    cmeyers@mavenlink.com
    We’re hiring!!!
    

    View Slide