- Volunteers should be contacted before 4 am on the morning of the camp, with parking directions and the name of someone to contact when they arrive.
- Students who are trying to catch up to the instructor are not really learning. hi
- Parents are very grateful when their child gets the help they need.
- I really do like helping kids learn to code.
I love programming, and it’s nice to be able to share my enthusiasm. I signed up for the morning session at a Kids Code Camp, something I’ve never done before.
The early morning email sounded a little desperate. The hour suggested that someone was either up late or up early making last minute preparations.
I made my way downtown and discovered that there was no parking at the school. I found a parking garage and eventually made it back, walking in with families who were bringing their kids to the camp.
Nobody seemed to know who I should talk to, so I just found a classroom and started helping kids get set up.
It’s got to be hard to determine how much you can do in an hour or two. This instructor had far too much material to cover. The only way to follow along was to keep typing quickly and correctly.
Kids were struggling to keep up, and didn’t have enough time to track down errors and learn how to fix them. Ideally, if you must do a class this way, you would have breaks where anyone could catch up along the way by opening a folder of prepared files.
I did my best to help kids get back on track, giving them hints on ways to debug the code. The instructor had to give the students a URL where they could find the completed code, because they didn’t finish the project.
After the morning was over, a few of the parents thanked me for helping their kids. It was really nice to see several fathers there with their daughters.
While I do wish the camp was more organized, I’m glad I volunteered. It’s nice to work with young people who are curious and creative, who have parents who are encouraging and involved.
I could see myself doing this again, maybe even getting involved earlier and organizing or teaching. Why not?