code4lib - What beginners teach us

Keynote given on 2/10/2015 at the code4lib conference

1. What beginners teach us Selena Deckelmann @selenamarie Staff Data Architect, Mozilla
2. photo by courthouselover
3. The adult section
5. I could go there.
6. Discovering what’s possible
8. http://bit.ly/1fQEXeF
9. http://github.com/mozilla/socorro
15. http://bit.ly/1fOgBSB
16. “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind, there are few.” -Shunryu Suzuki
17. I am a beginner teacher
18. full of possibility
19. the one thing... Next time you answer a beginner’s question
20. take a moment and consider... How will the beginner feel when they hear your answer?
21. I’ve been involved in FOSS Since 1995
22. PyLadies Get women who code together In September 2012, I joined...
23. our first project... A Coursera Class
24. Walk away or Figure out how to teach?
25. beginners: Open to possibility and overwhelmed by choice
26. TMTOWTDI the best part of beginners mind adventure, possibility, inclusive
27. but...
30. our job as teacher is to answer... “What do I do next?”
31. And to consider: How do people feel while they’re taking the next step?
32. What does learning how to program feel like?
34. When experience is a dead end
38. When PyLadies succeeds
42. Engineering experiences
43. “The unwritten first chapter” Big goals Early wins In-person connections Cultivate a learning environment
44. Tools for engineering great beginner experiences
45. From Hacker School: No “Well, Actually...” No Feigning Surprise
46. pairing best instructors are those that just learned
47. 1:3 ratio instruction to doing
48. listen carefully learn from how students rephrase and ask questions
49. PyLadiesPDX 412 women 1-2 meetings per week
50. • New skills • Peer support • Structure and routine • Confidence What PyLadies say they get:
51. How have I benefited and what have I learned from teaching?
52. write better code write better docs gain perspective
53. recruit diverse members to your communities
54. adainitiative.org openhatch.org pyladies.org
55. and...
56. an informed public
57. Julie Horvath’s blog post http://julieannhorvath.com/2013/07/09/a-different-perspective.html
58. “I didn’t grow up thinking I could do anything I wanted to.”
59. I see this every day teaching adults.
60. People don’t know what’s possible.
61. Where I belong, where I can go
62. make a better world!
63. teach! <3
64. What beginners teach us Selena Deckelmann @selenamarie Staff Data Architect, Mozilla
65. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. All photos are © by owners. PyLadies photos shared with permission. Kalispell public library photo shared with permission, not for commercial reuse.