My last post was in August … 7 months ago.
So, what have I been doing? Well … a lot.
In August, my manager left, and I became the interim DevOps Manager. Around the same time, I bought a house. And because I apparently wasn’t busy enough, I decided to take on a new “pandemic hobby” over the winter: teaching introductory computer science courses at DePaul University.
Teaching Runs in the Family
I come from a family of educators my mother, father, aunts, and uncles covering everything from primary school to higher education.
Growing up, I learned two things from them:
- How to make a great martini.
- That teaching is more of a vocation than a profession.
I’ve always known teaching is challenging, but experiencing it firsthand was something very different.
Reteaching Myself to Teach Others
I can’t remember everything and many nights I was reteaching myself the material I was about to present to 30+ students, all while preparing for a litany of unpredictable questions.
It felt a bit like this:
From Instructor to Entertainer
Initially, I thought lecturing would be the hardest part. Figuring out how to fill hours of content and keep students engaged. But after my third lecture, I realized something: I wasn’t just an instructor. I was also an entertainer.
Sure, students could just read the textbook and do the practice problems. But learning is easier when it’s engaging. That’s why people remember episodes of MythBusters or The Magic School Bus long after they’ve forgotten what they read in a chapter.
Once I realized this, lecturing became fun. Designing examples and slides became a mental puzzle I looked forward to solving.
The Hardest Part: Grading
The toughest challenge? Evaluating students’ work.
It hadn’t been that long since I was a student myself, worrying that failing a class meant wasting both time and money.
For students who clearly didn’t try, giving a low grade was straightforward. But for those who did try, worked hard, and still struggled, it was much harder. Unfortunately, effort alone isn’t enough. Students still need to meet a certain skill level to pass.
I talked to a fellow instructor about this and realized something important: grading too leniently is an injustice.
- It’s unfair to students who did the work and earned their grade.
- It’s unfair to struggling students because it sets them up for failure in the next course.
- It’s unfair to yourself because it damages your credibility with other instructors.
The Best Part: Students Improve
On the flip side, there’s nothing quite like watching a student grow.
Some start the quarter nervous and confused, with low grades to match. Then they begin asking questions, attending office hours, and slowly improving. By the end of the quarter, that same student who earned Cs the first few weeks might earn a B or better by end.
Seeing that change happen makes you want to teach again.
Final Thoughts
Teaching was a lot of work, but incredibly rewarding.
Since DePaul runs on the quarter system, most intro computer science courses are offered in the autumn and winter. That means the earliest I could teach again would be autumn 2021.
I hope I do! Though it will depend on enrollment, life circumstances, and time.