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)
2. Catherine Meyers Software Engineer at @ccmeyers324 cmeyers@mavenlink.com We’re hiring!!!
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
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
5. communication Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
6. What is the enemy of communication assumption Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
7. How not to assume things - Ask questions - Get to know your coworker - Check-in often - And then check-in again Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
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
9. “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” - Albert einstein Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
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
11. Thank you Questions? Catherine Meyers @ccmeyers324
12. Catherine Meyers Software Engineer at @ccmeyers324 cmeyers@mavenlink.com We’re hiring!!!