Coaching at Codebar


Yesterday was my first day coaching at Codebar. Despo Pentara posted a tweet in the afternoon that they were short of a coaches due to unusually high number of students, and I have always enjoyed teaching, so I jumped in without hesitation. It’s also the best way to learn and uncover the gaps in my knowledge.

I coached Laura and Charlotte. Laura is a young web designer who wants to learn more about JavaScript so she can make her websites more interactive. Charlotte is a middle-aged woman, and coding is her hobby.

For 3 hours solid, Laura and Charlotte buckled down and went through the second part of Codebar’s JavaScript tutorial. They are so smart and focused, it was a real pleasure to pair program with them.

Here are couple of things I learnt about pairing:

  • Never touch the driver’s computer. It undermines confidence.

  • Avoid giving away the solution directly. Instead, act as a rubber duck, and ask the right questions so your pair can find the solution by himself. That builds self-confidence.

Next week: jQuery. Bring on the syntactic sugar!