Problem first, then the tool: how I taught programming

Right after I graduated, my coach Sergey Ilyich Melnik invited me to teach at Progmeistars. Before every lesson he and I had a one-on-one seminar. At my first lesson I got through 60 minutes of material in 40, while the class was still busy with the task. Within a couple of lessons I found my feet: pauses, stories from life, noticing when the audience gets tired.

Over time I settled on a method: the problem first, then the tool. “We need to print a message a hundred times. Shall we write a hundred lines? Here’s a loop.” “The same code with different variants? A function with a parameter.” Then the tool answers a question the student already has.

I didn’t check understanding with “Is that clear to everyone?” I asked: “Raise your hand if you understood it completely.” If even one person didn’t, the others most likely just keep quiet.

I often stood in for another teacher and taught more than half of his group’s lessons, and towards the end the students in his group asked for me to take their lessons.

I was also the administrator of the school’s network. At night I ran LAN parties and brought together people from very different circles: olympiad kids, university groups, teachers, musicians.

What I took from it: as a fractional CTO I do the same thing: explain from the problem, not from the technology, and bring different people together.