Ask HN: I want to teach computer science. How do I accomplish that? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: I want to teach computer science. How do I accomplish that?

7 pointsmichael_fine8 comments

Hi, I'm Michael Fine, a junior in high school. I program in Haskell, Ruby, and Javascript. I've built a few web applications, and am also working on research into game theory. I really enjoy programming, CS, and teaching others. But I find the computer science education I've received has been horrendous. So, I would like to get my foot in the door of teaching.

Should I start as a TA and try to work up in middle/high school classrooms? Try to be a private tutor? Start writing tutorials on basic CS concepts, and hope I learn something from them or they catch on? I have this summer free, as well as space for a 3 hour internship (possibly in a school) during the day next year, and I may take a gap year. What is the best way to accomplish this goal?

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What do you want?

The prestige of being an accredited professor, helping those who really want to learn, a resume bullet or two (had to mention that, please do not take it personally)? Something else?

If I were you, I'd go after the critical age (7th, 8th grade) where life changing learning experiences can happen. Reach out and contact technology teachers or math/science teachers who teach in those grades in your relative geographic area. Tell them you want to help teach - maybe an after school program, maybe private tutoring, leave it open.

I think by just getting out there and teaching you will burst some of the romantic notions of what you think teaching will be like and be left with the salient aspects.

Maybe you have a gift, maybe you will meet a future technical co-founder, good luck!

Don't get hung up on credentialing. And like another poster said - volunteer to give talks to peers who may be more experienced than you.

Be bold and ask people for help, give!

Hi! I'm also in high school with some similar goals to you on teaching people CS. I'm going through my school directly, trying to set up introductory classes, but I imagine that could be pretty different from school to school. Mine's private so they have functionally unlimited discretion on how to arrange their curriculum, particularly their non-core ones.

Also, a big obstacle I've faced with my proposals is the AP Computer Science course. The course is taught in Java which is not great, but the curriculum is definitely not the best even for Java. Being a junior, you may or may not have taken that yet, but that might be a thing to think about.

If you want to teach professionally in a formal school setting you are going to need a degree and the appropriate teaching credentials.

There is a lot you can do to start spreading knowledge today. Start with presenting at your local user group. There is always a need for high quality screencasts.

Reach out to area colleges, contact the professors and tell them you're interested in offering help. Most profs have office hours where students come in to ask questions, so they might be able to use you to help students.

You might try following the lead of Salman Khan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Khan_(educator)

I own a startup in menlo park, looking for a web developer. Would love your help! email me, jrandall@scu.edu for info.

thanks

Do you want to teach programming or CS? They are quite different in terms of what they encompass.

You will need a teaching degree and a degree in CS to be considered. Have that planned out now.

Private tutoring in any subject will help immensely.

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