What beginners teach us - New Relic FutureTalk

This talk is about what I've learned from teaching adults how to program in Python for the first time. Mostly lessons learned from PyLadies workshops, with an additional section on how PostgreSQL does code review, and how I think this teaches the fundamental skill of code reading, a basic code literacy skill everyone needs to go from being a novice to an expert programmer.

Transcript

1. What beginners teach us
   Selena Deckelmann
   @selenamarie
   Data Architect, Mozilla
   Tuesday, May 13, 14
   

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2. Tuesday, May 13, 14
   

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3. http://bit.ly/1fQEXeF
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4. http://github.com/mozilla/socorro
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5. Tuesday, May 13, 14
   

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6. Tuesday, May 13, 14
   

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7. Tuesday, May 13, 14
   

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8. Tuesday, May 13, 14
   

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9. Tuesday, May 13, 14
   

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10. Tons more at:
    http://lqbs.fr/suchcomments/
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11. http://bit.ly/1fOgBSB
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12. “In the beginner’s mind there
    are many possibilities, in the
    expert’s mind, there are few.”
    -Shunryu Suzuki
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13. I am a beginner teacher
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14. full of possibility
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15. the one thing...
    Next time you answer
    a beginner’s question
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16. take a moment and consider...
    How will the beginner feel
    when they hear your
    answer?
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17. I’ve been involved in FOSS
    Since 1995
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18. PyLadies
    Get women who code together
    In September 2012, I joined...
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19. our first project...
    A Coursera Class
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20. Walk away
    or
    Figure out how to teach?
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21. beginners:
    Open to possibility
    and overwhelmed
    by choice
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22. TMTOWTDI
    the best part of beginners mind
    adventure, possibility, inclusive
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23. or...
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24. Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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25. Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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26. our job as teacher is to answer...
    “What do I do next?”
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27. And to consider:
    How do people feel while
    they’re taking the next step?
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28. What does learning how
    to program feel like?
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29. Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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30. When experience is a
    dead end
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31. Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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32. Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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33. Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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34. When PyLadies
    succeeds
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35. OSDC.tw - April 19, 2013
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36. Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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37. OSDC.tw - April 19, 2013
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38. Engineering
    experiences
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39. “The unwritten first chapter”
    Big goals
    Early wins
    In-person connections
    Cultivate a learning environment
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40. Tools for engineering
    great beginner
    experiences
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41. From Hacker School:
    No “Well, Actually...”
    No Feigning Surprise
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42. pairing
    best teachers are
    those that just learned
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43. 1:3 ratio
    instruction to doing
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44. listen carefully
    learn from how students rephrase
    and ask questions
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45. PyLadiesPDX
    250 women
    1-2 meetings per week
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46. • New skills
    • Peer support
    • Structure and routine
    • Confidence
    What PyLadies say they get:
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47. teaching people to
    review code
    the postgresql.org way
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48. PostgreSQL is
    intimidating.
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49. https://wiki.postgresql.org/
    wiki/Reviewing_a_Patch
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50. “You don't have to ask
    for permission...”
    commitfest.postgresql.org
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51. • Submission review
    (skills needed: patch, English comprehension)
    • Usability review
    (skills needed: test-fu, ability to find and read spec)
    • Feature test
    (skills needed: patch, configure, make, pipe errors
    to log)
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52. • Performance review
    (skills needed: ability to time performance)
    • Coding review
    (skills needed: guideline comparison, experience
    with portability issues, minor C-reading skills)
    • Architecture review
    (skills needed: experience with whole-PostgreSQL-
    project architecture)
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53. • Review review
    (skills needed: ability to follow the Review A Patch
    documentation)
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54. Key skill: code reading
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55. “[N]on-trivial change should be
    discussed (potentially before the
    code is even written) on the pgsql-
    hackers list before being
    submitted as a patch.”
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56. “Design your interface first.”
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57. “Follow the style of the
    adjacent code!”
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58. So, code reading.
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59. How have I benefited
    and what have I learned
    from teaching?
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60. write better code
    write better docs
    gain perspective
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61. recruit diverse
    members to your
    communities
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62. adainitiative.org
    openhatch.org
    pyladies.org
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63. and...
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64. an informed public
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65. Julie Horvath’s blog post
    http://julieannhorvath.com/2013/07/09/a-different-perspective.html
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66. “I didn’t grow up
    thinking I could do
    anything I wanted to.”
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67. I see this every day teaching adults.
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68. People don’t know
    what’s possible.
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69. make a better world!
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70. teach!
    <3
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71. What beginners teach us
    Selena Deckelmann
    @selenamarie
    Data Architect, Mozilla
    Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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72. 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.
    Tuesday, May 13, 14
    

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