gturmel
commented
8 years ago 20 Question Answers:
- [x] Best Way to ask a Question:
Poorly researched questions get ignored. The best way to ask a question is to start by asking myself if I can handle the question on my own. Lets take the question apart and see if there are smaller pieces to solve. Lets examine the other facets of the question and see if a few judicious moments on google can clear things up. Learning happens best when I take an active role is solving the problems that appear.
- [X] How can you explicitly schedule time with your instructor to review a problem?
There is a link to the Calendly for both instructors under the Syllabus section of the class wiki. Instructors will also be available during lab hours, but 1 on 1 time isn't guaranteed during that time. There may also be further availability, but that's still to be determined.
- [X] Are there any other times that we're available?
Instructors will always want to be contacted in case of an emergency. There are also 15 minute meetings scheduled throughout the cohort to touch base.
- [X] What are the three possible grades? What do they mean?
Red, Orange, and Green. Incomplete, Not Yet, and Satisfactory. Red is code that doesn't work, and isn't meeting the requirements of the homework assignment. It's also getting file names incorrectly named - clear communication is important! Orange is code that's taking shape. Might be buggy, might aim for a tree but miss the forest, and might show that I'm missing some of the skills needed for that assignment. Green shows competence in the skill, good understanding of the underlying concepts, and may have some extra functionality.
- [x] What is the link to your GitHub profile? Your profile image?
My GitHub Profile. My Profile Picture
- [X] In what week do we plan to review material?
Week 6. At this point, we're halfway through, and it's time to take a breath, look at where we've come, and prep for a strong finish.
- [X] At what time does class begin? Is attendance mandatory?
Class is 9-12:30, lab time from 1:30 to 5:30. Attendance is very important, and after 4 missed instruction days, there are going to be issues recommending me for a job. Two tardies in a week count as an absence. Attendance is not 'mandatory' per se, but it's so important, why would I not show up?
- [X] After what amount of time are you counted late?
While an explicit number isn't spelled out in the student handbook, if lecture has started and my late arrival interrupts it, I can be considered late. Ultimately, my tardiness is up to the instructors discretion.
- [X] When are you counted absent? Does that matter?
Two tardies in one week count as an absent. Four absences is a serious problem. The take home message here is to come to class on time and ready to dive in.
- [x] What is the most common kind of mistake in programming?
This is a tough question to answer. I know that typo's are going to be rife and tricky to deal with. Forgetting a semi-colon has caused my Javascript to not work (Code School does a great job pointing this out, Codecademy just sits back and waits for me to review my code again and again), and referencing a misspelled function will definitely throw any program for a loop. These issues are also going to be tricky for me to spot, since I thought that they belonged in the first place. This is part of the reason we should show others our code - they'll catch what I won't. I'm also going to say that the other mistake to watch out for is communication based. Am I making what I want to make, or what my instructor/client/boss wants me to make? The best code in the world isn't going to be useful if it does a completely different job than intended. Once upon a time, I used a Chromebook for all of my computering needs. It was a great uni-tasker - web browsing like a boss, really bad for anything else. Any time I worked in google Docs, it backed up constantly. I'm going to have to keep an eye on how often I save work now that I'm away from the auto-backup.
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[x] What are some strategies you can use to work through a difficult problem?
First, see if the difficult problem isn't a series of smaller problems that can be tackled individually. Breaking the size of the problem into smaller chunks is going to present facets of the solution as those small pieces are solved. If I'm having issues, bringing a fresh set of eyes to look at what I'm stuck on will bring a new perspective and way of thinking to the issue.
- [x] What exactly is the ⌥ key, anyway?
The Option Key is useful for a variety of tasks on the Mac. It's PC equivalent is the 'Alt' key. Using the option key opens up a wide variety of characters and extra keyboard shortcuts. This article scratches the surface, and states that it helps open up a different boot partition upon startup, but doesn't have a whole lot of other good information.
- [x] What do you think will be the biggest barrier to your success in this class?
I see two personality traits coming between me and my success in the class. I like for things to have an order, and I can see myself looking at a problem, and focusing so much on one direction that I forget to shift my angle of attack. Focusing is good, and working on a problem is also good, but I am worried about taking a sledgehammer approach to something that needs more refined tools. I also prefer to close problems, to arrive at a solution and package it all very neatly. Leaving things undone or unfixed will bother me. Also not a bad thing in and of itself, but if it stops me from effectively moving on to the next issue, then that splits my attention. This is part of the reason I like the Pomodoro technique so much - work time is broken into chunks, and after the time is up, I'm to get up, take a minute or two to reset. This break is letting me come up for air and not get too focused on the minutia of a problem, and stops me from disappearing down a rabbit hole.
- [x] How can you identify with the Growth and Fixed Mindsets? In what areas do you feel fixed? Where do you see the most potential for growth?
I've always liked the Growth mindset, I grew up with it, and I've always enjoyed education and learning. I was also told that I was 'smart', so when I was younger I had problems following a difficult project through to the end. Since I was 'smart', this thing was beyond me. I've taken steps to accommodate that, and I'm working on seeing problems as opportunities instead of roadblocks. I see a lot of potential for Growth in both my own mindset and in my future as a Front End Developer.
- [x] Do you consider yourself a top-down or bottom-up thinker and why?
I consider myself a top-down thinker. Whenever I set goals for myself, they always start off really big and a bit vague. 'Learn Spanish', 'Go Climbing', 'Apply to Iron Yard'. I'll make a list, then start making sub-lists of the main one. What activities do I need to do to make these things happen? What's a bite-sized chunk or two that I can work on right now? Breaking the problem into lots of little problems lets me find something to work on regardless of the time limits that I'm facing.
- [x] What do you think about your "learning style" and the debate about their validity? Which would you categorize yourself as and why?
I was very surprised to learn that learning styles are up for debate. I had previously considered them to be very established and respected theories. While it does seem that some of the theories are respected, it seems like there are very real limitations to the theories. I've always done my best learning by being in class and hand-writing physical notes. Having been a life-long reader, I can go back to the words that I've written for review. Hearing a lecture, then distilling that to hand-written notes, also helps me assimilate and think about the information that's being presented. I'm not particularly sure what this means in terms of my own learning style, other than I like writing notes.
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