Follow-up Task from Global Review Meeting: Adapt coaches guidelines for learners

Organising
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@robert - On Mondays I have plans already.

However, I will paste it in here cc @starkcoffee Please keep in mind that it’s a first draft and has gone through no edits; more like a brain dump.
Edited to add: I typed out things I would say but I had in mind more of a slide format for this, so I would bullet point the big ideas rather than have so much text.

I specifically want some help with the community aspect. I focus a lot on having the right mindset to learn and get over being ignorant and lost, but I also want to focus on the community aspect of OTS. I thought someone more from a coaching perspective could help.

Also, I put in some "DON’T"s that sound kinda negative and would like to phrase them positively and not in my usual too-direct manner.

Feedback welcome!

Learners’ Manifesto

Suggestion for a learning mindset

  1. Destigmatize discomfort.

You’re here to learn. That means, you don’t know everything. If you do, you can coach!
That also means, there might be concepts where you don’t know, where you struggle, where there is discomfort.
That is ok.

Look around you. You are not alone. We’re all here to learn. We’re all here to go from zero SQL knowledge to a little bit more SQL knowledge.
So it’s normal to feel uncomfortable when you’re learning.

Even your coaches once upon a time had same or even less knowledge about SQL than you. So it’s ok to feel frustrated and uncomfortable and not the “smartest” in the room about SQL. And most likely your coaches are STILL learning about SQL. This is actually what I find so cool about the tech world: there’s always more to learn.

Not knowing is normal and natural, almost expected. Everyone feels like this once in a while. This is where you belong.

  1. Neutralize negative thoughts.

It’s ok to make mistakes. Pros do so too!
It’s ok to take breaks.
Any critical thoughts you have is like graffiti on the wall, radio murmurs, and electrical impulses.
Pay only attention to the thoughts that serve you.

  1. Persist using your reason why.

Knowing why you’re here for this afternoon can keep you going through the hard times.

So WHY do you want to learn?

I want to live in the future. One of my favorite thinkers about technology, Alan Kay, said: The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
So that’s why I do this: I want the future of technology to be diverse and welcoming.
What you can envision and describe can be built.

slides from #codingbecause

Practical Tips:

  • Ask questions. Rephrase questions if the answer you get you don’t get. There are no dumb questions.
  • If it’s something you’re not sure you get, explain it back to the coach in your own language to check if you really got it.
  • You may not know much about SQL, but you are an expert in how you learn. Ask for a drawing if you learn best visually. Ask for an example or a metaphor.
  • Typing IS also learning. Type on your own keyboard even if your coach has to spell out what to type so that you learn where backticks, open brackets, and other programming-only keys are and what they’re called.
  • There is no “behind.” The coaches and community 100% support you in going through the material at a pace that feels right to YOU.
  • Learning is more important than getting through all the material at hand. If you chart your own way by taking ‘detours’, you are directing your own learning. That’s a useful skill too.
  • At OTS we create a welcoming environment for hands-on, experiential learning at your own pace. Learn through exploration.
  • You may have zero knowledge about SQL but you have infinite intelligence.
  • Whatever you make today is great! And beautiful. You really CAN do it.
  • Coding is collaboration.
  • Coaches are not perfect. They may not know everything. They could be accidentally insensitive, laughing at questions or rolling their eyes. or they could be inappropriately hitting on people or advertising their own companies. This is NOT ok. Feel free to call them out ?
  • Most programmers have preferences for tools and languages, just like anyone. Don’t ask them for their preferences, however, as they may lead to an outright war between coaches! ?
  • Do not put up with ego-centric personalities or downer attitudes.
  • Reaching the mountaintop is rewarding because it is hard.
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