Access Code 2.1

TA Training

Intros!

Who? What? Why?

Our Mission

C4Q is a non-profit that fosters the Queens tech ecosystem to increase economic opportunity and to transform the world’s most diverse community into a leading hub of innovation and entrepreneurship. 

Why Tech?

Access Code 2.2 Structure

Access Code 2.2 Structure

Access Code 2.2 Selection

Access Code 2.1 Class:

32 Developers

$16,938

Average Annual Income

53%

Women

60%

Black or Hispanic

40% 

Immigrants

40%

Associates or Less

Dev Facebook!

Curriculum

• Unit 0 - Programming Basics
• Unit 1 - Your First Android App
• Unit 2 - Diving Deeper into Android
• Unit 3 - Design, Build, & Launch your own Android App

Class structure - Class

• Lecture
• Pair exercises
• Solo exercises
• Group projects

Class structure - Office Hours

• Devs come with questions on homework / final project / side project

Teaching Team Roles

• Lead Instructor
• Teaching Assistant (You!)
• Teaching Fellow

Lead Instructor

• Develop & deliver lesson content

• Ensure dev adherence to the Code of Conduct

• Administer surveys as needed

• Track dev progress

• Lead Teaching Team debriefs after class

Teaching Assistant (TA)

• Provide in-classroom support for teachers and devs

• Work with devs during Office Hours

• Provide mentorship, support, advice to devs

• Review student code 

• Participate in Teaching Team debriefs after class

Teaching Fellow

• Provide in-classroom support for teachers and devs 

• Participate in Teaching Team debriefs after class

C4Q Code of Conduct

What do if...

• A dev violates the CoC?
• A dev reports that another dev violated the CoC?
• A dev reports that a Teaching Team member violated the CoC?
• You're not sure but you think someone somewhere is in violation of the CoC?

Classroom Policies

• No fraternizing with the devs  (-_-')

• Punctuality is key!

• Let AQ know if you're unable to attend class (give at least 24h notice) 

Classroom Culture

Access Code is more than coding, it includes other skills to prepare our students for success in tech:

• Leadership

• Teamwork

• Soft Skills

• Character building

Classroom Values

• Safe Space
• I don’t know is how you grow
• Teamwork makes the dream work
• Share your knowledge
• Work Hard
• Honesty is the best policy

• Leave it better than you found it
• Embrace the struggle
• Always be learning
• Lead the way
• Be Nice
• Make with love

Classroom Values

• Safe Space
• I don’t know is how you grow
• Teamwork makes the dream work
• Share your knowledge
• Work Hard
• Honesty is the best policy

• Leave it better than you found it
• Embrace the struggle
• Always be learning
• Lead the way
• Be Nice
• Make with love

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Classroom Values

• Safe Space
• I don’t know is how you grow
• Teamwork makes the dream work
• Share your knowledge
• Work Hard
• Honesty is the best policy

• Leave it better than you found it
• Embrace the struggle
• Always be learning
• Lead the way
• Be Nice
• Make with love

Humans learn in different ways and at different paces

Weaknesses To Be aware Of:

• Ability to break complex problems into smaller ones: devs can often get overwhelmed by large scale projects, especially those that are abstract.

• Abstract thinking skills: Few devs will come equipped to identify problems in terms of programming concepts.

• Confidence

• Time Management: Many devs have not worked on long, open ended projects and often do not foresee the sheer amount of work that must be done. Procrastination is also an issue.

Strengths To Be Aware Of:

• Motivated and passionate: The vast majority of devs in this program would have done anything to be here.

• Disciplined and take direction well: When given concrete tasks or asked to make concrete adjustments, devs work quickly. Devs are very focused.

• Creative and ambitious: Most of our devs do not know what is “impossible” at their skill level, so they aspire to build amazing things.

• Empathetic: devs appreciate collaboration over competition and are often eager to help one another.

Minimizing Weakness By Maximizing Strength:

• Make goals clear: Break things down into the smallest possible elements. As the weeks progress this becomes less and less required.

• Emphasize process over product: Devs will be more likely to effectively manage their time, break problems down into smaller ones, and think abstractly if they know that learning this process is more important than the outcomes of doing this process.

• Encourage students to move fast and break things.

• Encourage self-advocacy: i.e. Encourage devs to own their expertise, to write technical posts, to give talks.

Teaching Tools:

Debugging

• "Self, Google, Ask a Friend, TA, Instructor"
• "Break it down"
• "Do a sanity check"
• "Do not get stuck"
• "Walk me through your code"
• Don't give away the answer too soon

Teaching Tools:

Explaining

• Introduce devs to programming concepts using tangible, human examples
  • ​Conditionals: Where do we make choices?
• Use analogies
  • Variables: A variable is like a box.
• Draw it out
• Ask devs to explain concepts to you in their own words
• Ask devs to explain things to each other

Teaching Tools:

Things that don't work

• Explaining a concept the same way over and over again
• Writing a dev's code for them
• Getting frustrated at the machine
  • "XCode sucks!"
• Feigning surprise
  • "Oh wow you don't know how to do this?"

The less YOU do

The more THEY do

Share your Teaching Tips!

General tips:

• Talk about your background and your job! It is literally their dream job :)
• Always introduce yourself before working with a dev
• Never hesitate to go ask someone what they're working on
  • Devs are probably more intimidated by you than you are 

Communication!

• Teaching Team Google Group
• Teaching Team Google Calendar
• Access Code 2.1 GitHub organization
• Slack room
  • Demo!

TODOs:

1. Finalize your TA schedule (expect an email from AQ)
2. Sign up for all the communication systems before your first TA session (expect an email from AQ)
3. Get your friends + colleagues + loved ones involved!

Questions? Email me!

aq@c4q.nyc