Reflecting on roadblocks

How do you overcome roadblocks?

During the middle of the courses I teach, I have an assignment wherein I ask the learners (via a few prompts) to reflect on how they are doing in the course, and to consider what they need to do to accomplish their goals for the course by the end of the semester. 

The last prompt I provide in this assignment asks the learner if they have any questions for me. Seldom do I receive any serious questions as a result of that prompt. When I do, they are usually fairly simple and straightforward to answer. 

However, occasionally I receive a question that causes me to reflect a bit before I am able to respond with (what I hope will be) a helpful answer. I received one of those questions last fall, and decided to provide it and my response here for others to reflect on it as well, in the hopes that someone else may find it helpful. What follows is a transcription of the email I sent to the learner, along with their response.

My email response

I really appreciate the thoughtful reflections you shared in your Mid-semester self-assessment report. At the end of it, you wrote:

 My only question is if there was at any point in your career where you felt like you've hit a roadblock in CS; and if so, how did you overcome it? After my first year as a CS student in college, I felt like I hit a roadblock after feeling so behind compared to everyone else and I struggled to overcome this. I understand CS is an ever changing field with platforms and new advancements always being added so it is important to always hone your skills while remaining proactive and positive. Regarding this, I know at some point again in my CS career as a student finishing my last two years in undergrad with a plan to attend grad school, I know I will eventually hit another roadblock to overcome some obstacle. I was wondering if you have any advice about overcoming these “roadblocks,” if you've hit one during or had a similar challenge throughout your CS career thus far?

To which I’ll respond with a resounding YES! I’ve hit roadblocks and experienced imposter phenomenon many times. 

 

Thinking back to when I was an undergrad learning CS is a few too many decades for me to precisely remember my experiences, but I’m sure I had roadblocks and doubted myself then. After graduating, I landed a job as a programmer for a company here in Muncie. I was with that company for nearly 30 years—until they didn't need me anymore. I’ve written about that experience in a blog post that you may enjoy reading. Here’s another blog post that tracks my journey from HS to now, as well. (I’ll not continue to link to other blog posts, but if you have time and interest, there may be others you’ll find interesting to read.)

 

For the last 17 years, I’ve either been in grad school (2.5 years) or teaching here at BSU. I certainly questioned myself as a 50 year old going back to college as a grad student. How was a 50-something going to keep up and be accepted by the other 20-something learners? But I persisted, and discovered it was very doable, and people were very welcoming. I’m now in my 15th year teaching full time at Ball State University. Especially during the first decade of teaching—but still now—I experienced doubts about being “qualified” to teach. Do I know enough? Am I providing the best learning environment for the learners? Am I being understanding of their needs and challenges?

 

These questions all led me to focus my research on education and learning, more so than on CS research. But even with better understanding of ways of teaching and learning, I continue to explore what I might be able to do to be a better teacher. Those thoughts of “am I enough” and “am I delivering enough” always haunt me.

 

I think, to a large extent, people who doubt themselves are the ones who take time to reflect on their lives and what they are accomplishing. People who have no doubts about themselves likely are not doing much (any?) reflection. I’ve found that growth mostly comes to those who are seeking growth—those who reflect on their current experience and consider how they’d like it to change.

 

So, I see the fact that you are doubting yourself as a good thing—you’re wanting to grow! Keep doing that.

 

I’ll be glad to talk more, if you’re ever interested in doing so. I also want to thank you for posing your questions. It’s forced me to take a step back and reflect a bit.

The learner's response

(Included with the learner's permission.)

Thank you for your detailed response to my question. I appreciate you including your blog postings, I really enjoyed reading them.

After reading your blog from 2017, I was inspired how you overcame your unfortunate dismal from the company you were working at from 1979–2007. I am glad that the “last pieces fell into place” for you, and you were able to continue your journey in CS as an official graduate student at BSU. I understand why it must’ve been difficult learning new languages after working in the industry for nearly thirty years and how you felt conflicted to teach your students since the weight of not knowing if you were “qualified” enough was haunting you at the time. After reading this, I realized this was your version of hitting a “roadblock” along with experiencing a case of the imposter phenomenon. 

Your experience is similar to how I feel at times; unsure about my skills and not fully knowing if I’ll be able to achieve a certain project. Despite your “roadblock” and uncertainty, you continued forward on your journey and achieved many things thus far, such as: presenting papers, publishing in journals and books, along with helping all of your students, myself included, at BSU since 2010. From your second blog from 2022, it was interesting reading about your journey from high school to Manchester University, to graduate school, and to eventually your current position–a senior professor at BSU.

Reflecting on my initial “roadblock” question after reading about your experiences, I know now that there is no easy road to take when confronted with an obstacle–there is no clear left/right path. There is, however, an upward path to overcome that brick wall and simply climb over it. Of course, this is easier said than done, but after reading about your journey it is possible with discipline, perseverance, and determination. The next time I hit a “roadblock,” I will reach towards that upward path and climb over the brick wall to search for the silver lining–just as you have.

I want to thank you for your encouraging words; I do want to grow, and I will continue to have this mindset that doubting myself will allow me to prosper as an individual and a CS student by reflecting on my past experiences and accomplishments.

Your reflection and response

Now it's your turn to reflect.

• What would have been your response to the learner's question?
• What insights or advice would you have offered different from what I provided?
• How have you navigated roadblocks in your life? 
• Have they taken you in directions you did not expect?

I look forward to receiving your responses in the comments.

Image credits: https://stock.adobe.com/

Teachers need to struggle to learn

The towel was a gift from a student. I take it on all my trips now.

I’ve previously written about the empathy I’ve gained while traveling. In that post, I asked if you remember what it was like to first learn the body of knowledge which ultimately became your profession. I observed that much of the initial content we learned is second nature to us now. We don’t even think about the fact that there was a time when we didn’t know it, and we may have even forgotten how much we struggled to learn that which seems trivial to us now.

I’ve again had an experience that reminded me of the challenges that occur when facing something completely new. As a result, I’ve come to believe that every teacher needs to periodically have a similar experience. Beyond the learning that will occur, it will remind them what it’s like to learn, and make them better teachers. Stay with me for a few minutes, and I’ll explain.

As I write this post, I’m mid-way through an eight-hour airplane flight from Berlin, Germany, to New York, New York. My wife and I are at the end of a nearly three-week vacation in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Germany. We’ve previously traveled internationally a few times, but, except for one trip, our destination has been to England, Scotland, and Ireland—all countries where English is very prevalent. English was still fairly common this trip as well, primarily due to us being in tourist areas. None-the-less, we still experienced many challenges.

Our experiences

Visiting these countries meant that we were met with many different languages, and we don’t speak or read any of them. We experienced many different customs as we moved from one country to another. Each country had their own currency, and varying exchange rates with the US dollar. (To make things a bit more confusing, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden all call their currency by the same name, but they are each a unique currency.) Also, living in Muncie, Indiana, and having our own cars, we are not accustomed to traveling by busses and trains. We found that the transportation schedule tables were very confusing and difficult to understand.

Our feelings

As a result of these experiences, we often felt confused, frustrated, isolated, and occasionally, helpless. Not being able to read or communicate with others presented a significant challenge at times. We had to resort to non-verbal approaches. Not knowing local customs, currency, or how to read transportation schedules meant we had to ask questions. But who do you ask, and what do you ask? If you’re an introvert, or like being self-sufficient, reaching out to others can be a real challenge. And it can feel like you’re bothering others when you ask for help to do something that you “should” be able to do on your own—at least you could if you were back home. We must have looked as confused as we were at times, as locals often asked if we needed help.

Look for the helpers

Fortunately, a variety of things helped us work through the challenges and to enjoy our trip. We found resources, both technological and human. Translator programs were a great help for understanding individual words or short phrases. Most local people with whom we interacted were (at least) bi-lingual and seemed accustomed to communicating with us foreigners. Utilizing online maps and directions was a tremendous help. We sometimes had a local guide which was great, in that they could provide “color commentary” that we likely would have otherwise missed. They also were familiar with transportation schedules and venues and helped us experience the most we could in a fixed amount of time.

Aside from those specifics, we found other factors helpful. Consistency and structure were a tremendous help. Once we learned one thing, we could often apply that knowledge to something else that was similar, quickly furthering our learning. And most of all, it simply took patience, practice, time, and a willingness to learn.

Our learners in a “foreign” land

How similar were my recent challenges to those that our learners experience—especially our first-time learners? Students are arriving on campuses as I write this or will be soon. The experiences of those attending college for the first time may be very similar to what I experienced. They must learn to navigate new environments, cultures, expectations, and new-found freedoms. They will discover that earning in college is likely different than high school. Professors may teach in different ways and have different expectations. They will need to reach out for help from their peers and professors.

We can help!

Our learners need help navigating these challenges. We can provide consistency and structure in our courses. We can clearly communicate our expectations. We can be open and approachable so they will feel comfortable asking us for help. We can provide learning opportunities that build on their prior experiences so they have something to which they can relate it. We can reach out to them and offer help.

I needed to struggle!

I already knew this. There is nothing new here; I’ve learned it before. But after a few semesters I started to forget. I needed this vacation to remind me, yet again, what it is like to be a learner—especially a new one. I needed to struggle to understand the language, the schedules, everything. This will make me a better teacher in a few weeks.

What about you?

I firmly believe that all teachers should periodically experience a significant new challenge. Travel to a new country where a language is spoken that you do not know. Learn a new language. Learn a new skill that is unlike anything you already know how to do. Push yourself and expand your horizon. What will you do to become a better teacher?

The teacher becomes the learner: part 1

On August 12 of this year, I embarked on an intentional path to explore what I can learn to become a better teacher in a remote synchronous online learning environment. I am participating in a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) sponsored by the Division of Online and Strategic Learning of Ball State University. I will periodically post my reflections in this blog to document my progress, and to serve as a resource for a future me, as I come back to review these posts. Perhaps there will be something of use for other readers that aren't me.

This FLC is a semester-long professional development opportunity that consists of a series of modules containing readings, worksheets, and reflections to help us understand and focus on the best practices to remotely teach online in a synchronous fashion. Every three weeks, we meet (synchronously online--how appropriate!) as a cohort of thirteen learners, mentored by three facilitators. In between meetings, we are to complete the readings and activities in a module.

Module 1: Why synchronous learning?

The first module focused our attention on why we'd want to consider synchronous learning, and things to consider when starting a semester. The following notes summarize what I gleaned from the module.

Key things I need to consider

• Send a message to learners before each class (or maybe each week) setting expectations and letting them know what they'll be doing
• Building community is critical

Affirmation of what I already do

• Having used Flipped Learning for many years, I was encouraged to see it suggested, which opens the door for active learning during the synchronous learning classes

I feel good about

• Creating/sharing meeting info w/ learners
• Reminding learners and myself about the upcoming class
• Basic to moderate features of Zoom/WebEx
• Tech needs: camera, etc.
• Technical use of breakout rooms
• My flexibility

I'm not sure/worried about

• Not worried, per se, but need to constantly remind myself about accessibility challenges
• Advanced features of Zoom/WebEx
• Effective use of breakout rooms
• Tech issues the students will have

Welcome letter

I prepared a welcome letter for each class explaining my remote synchronous modality, and how I envision synchronous learning in the course. I also drafted a student survey to go along with your letter. The letter was substantially the same as what I've been using for many semesters, with the addition of the following.

This semester, the course will be conducted synchronously online. This means we’ll meet as a class online, using the Zoom platform, at specific times and days. You are expected to attend each of these class sessions, just the same as if class were being held in a campus classroom.

The survey sought to uncover challenges the learner might have with remote synchronous learning, in particular, focusing on technology-related issues. Due to my poor time-management, I did not implement the survey this semester.

Summary

Overall, nothing monstrous appears to be looming on the horizon. I do need to pay attention to technology and access issues for students, and continue to explore how best to utilize the time I will have with the learners in each course, but the latter is no different than normal.

Of lemons and lemonade on Friday, the 13th of March, 2020

[I started writing this post on Friday, March 13, 2020. It took me more than a month to get back to finishing it.]

 

It's been a weird day. 

No, actually, it's been a weird week. 

I sat in my office until 8:00 tonight, not interested in going home, but not sure why I wanted to stay. I was busy doing something, but not really being productive at anything. I felt a bit numb, but wasn't sure why.

Eventually, I did go home and started reflecting on the events of the last week or so. Perhaps they would shed some light on the weirdness I was feeling.

😊😟😕😞 I had a workshop I was leading at SIGCSE Technical Symposium in Portland, OR during March 11-14. I had been looking forward to attending for months. But with the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic looming, there were questions if I should attend, or if the conference would actually be held. Ultimately, I decided I would attend the conference, and flew to Portland Tuesday evening, March 10, arriving late that evening. I attended two preconference workshops Wednesday afternoon and evening, one via the web. The opening keynote was scheduled for Thursday at 8:15 AM. I received an email at 7:14 AM stating the conference was cancelled due to the Oregon governor mandating late the evening before that all gatherings of more than 250 people were banned. I was up and dressed and ready to head to the conference, but now it was time to reschedule my flight home, pack, and get to the airport. I was successful, and arrived home in the wee hours of Friday morning.

😟😕😞 While I was in Portland, I received word that all classes at Ball State University were going to transition to online due to the Pandemic, effective Monday, March 16. My first reaction was that I had some work to do in the next couple of days to be ready for that when I returned home from the conference. I then realized that when I physically met with students prior to flying to SIGCSE was likely going to be the last time this semester. I was a bit sad at that prospect. But then when the conference was cancelled, and I was able to get a flight back, I was able to meet with three of my four classes on Friday, March 13. Life was a bit better.

😊 I wore my yellow smiley-face tie on Friday in an attempt to spread a bit of cheer to my self, if not others. As I was leaving my house, I happened to think about the making lemons into lemonade proverbial phrase. That prompted me to stop at the store on my way to campus and buy some lemonade mix and cookies to share with the classes I was meeting with that day. The picture above is a result of that. It was appreciated by the students and some staff as well. Even though there were a lot of students missing, it was good to meet with the ones who attended one last time in person.

😊 Good news also arrived while I was in Portland. I was notified that a three-year internal Provost Immersive Learning grant proposal I submitted was being funded. This grant will allow me to continue for another three years the CS4MS+ immersive learning project I started three years ago. It is working with local schools to help them incorporate more computer science and problem solving topics into their curriculum by working with schools administration, teachers, and their students.

😕 As of this Friday, March 13, there was little information about how long we would be conducting emergency remote learning. It was known that it would be for at least two weeks, but could well extend to the end of the semester. Uncertainty often leads to fear and frustration. I can't say I got to that point, but it would have been nice to know for sure what to expect. The situation simply did not allow for that level of knowledge, however.

😟 My wife had been out of town for two weeks, caring for her parents. Her father was having some medical issues that resulted in him being in the hospital for an extended stay. He was usually the one to watch after her mother, who has dementia. With her father in the hospital, my wife took on that role, while also attending to his needs. She hoped to be able to return home soon, but the exact date was uncertain.

😕 So there I sat in my campus office at the end of a long day that had seen me arrive home around 2:00 that morning, after eleven hours of travel. I slept a few hours, then got up in time to be on campus by 9:00 for a 90-minute Zoom meeting with colleagues. I had taught three face-to-face classes one last time that afternoon, sharing lemonade and cookies with the students who were able to be present. I had projects which badly needed evaluating. Not only did I have classes to prepare for the next week, but I needed to figure out how I was going to transition them to emergency remote learning, yet continue the learning process and keep the students engaged.

😕😟 And then the flood of questions started piling up. What tools was I going to use to transition the classes? Would I use asynchronous or synchronous learning, or some combination? How would I administer an exam which was usually administered on paper? Would the students have access to adequate internet bandwidth to participate? What other challenges might the students experience that could interfere with their learning? What could I do to keep them engaged? What could I do to help with their personal circumstances? When was my wife going to be able to return home? How, if at all, will I report on my vita the conference workshop that was accepted to be delivered, but was not delivered, due to the conference cancellation? Would my university reimburse me for expenses I incurred to attend a conference that basically did not happen? How long would we be doing emergency remote learning? Would we be back in the classroom by the end of the semester? Will the Pandemic spare my family and friends?

😕 And so, I sat in my office for five hours after I had met with my last class. Why did I stay? Why did I not go home? No one was expecting me to arrive at home at a particular time, since my wife was out of town. If I stayed in my office, I had the affordances of two large monitors to evaluate projects and prepare for classes the next week. I couldn't focus enough to do either task justice though. Nor was I excited about doing either task. Yet, I didn't want to leave my office. There was no one at home to interact with, so why not just stay in my office and try to get some work done? Was my office somehow comforting me? Was it providing a sense of normalcy amidst the weirdness I was experiencing? 

😕 I eventually convinced myself that 8:00 PM was late enough, and forced myself to head home. I changed my Facebook and Twitter cover photos to the picture on the left to remind me of the classroom in which I often teach. I also left the picture to the right on my office door.

😕😊 Upon arrival home, I ate a bit of supper, and started writing this post. I fell asleep part way through. The next morning provided the good news that my wife's father was doing well enough to care for himself and her mother, and that my wife would be home that afternoon. It was also a new day after a good night's sleep. Time to get busy on the tasks at hand. I had student projects to evaluate and classes to plan for Monday. It was time to get my desk set up for working from home. And my wife was coming home after two weeks' absence. This had to be a good day.

As evidenced by the variety of emoticons prefacing each paragraph above, there were a lot of emotions I experienced this week in March. Some were up, some were down, and some in some unknown direction. Life also became busy, and I never quite completed this post--until now.

So, how's your week been? Was your experience similar a month ago, or since?

Of plants and students; a community conversation in the stairway

Grab yourself a cup of tea or hot chocolate, or coffee, if you insist. Find a comfortable seat and settle in. You’re about to read an epic, allegorical story of a plant and students. 

Rupert, 

the red pepper plant

It all started on a warm day back in May 2019. As I often do, that day I walked up the stairs from my office on the third floor of the Robert Bell Building at Ball State University to the Computer Science department office which is located on the fourth floor. As I got to the top of the stairs, I discovered a small clay pot with an even smaller plant in it sitting on the windowsill. Read on to find out what became of the plant, and what that has to do with students.

Rupert's birth

Not having any idea why there was a plant on the windowsill, or who placed it there, I decided to start a conversation via sticky-notes. I wrote a message and stuck it on the windowsill in front of the pot, and left a pad of sticky-notes and a pen laying on the windowsill. I soon had a response, so I continued the conversation, a transcription of which follows.

Me (M): Hello little plant. What are you going to be when you grow up?
Response (R): Big pepper.
M: What color?
R: Red!
M: Do you have a name you prefer to be called by?
R: Rupert!
M: Interesting name. Is there a story behind it?
R: Yes.

At this point, a third person (P) entered the conversation, providing what turned out to be rather prophetic advice. I’ve simply labeled the posts from all others as (P) from here on out.

P: Grow little plant grow!! Stay healthy.

Intrigued and amused by the exchange thus far, I continued the conversation.

M: What is the story?
R: I know a dog named Rupert (signed Rose, 7)
M: Rupert, is someone giving you the water you need?
R: Yes! I am being taken care of! Thank you for asking though!

Rupert's early life

By now, it’s June, and a few others entered the conversation. (The chronological sequence of these messages is not likely as listed.)

P: Dear Rupert, we are so happy you are growing. Enjoy the dead bug next to you.
P: You are a light in darkness.
P: I C U R still hangin in there Rupert!!
P: Plant a seed. Watch it grow by watering it and the sun from God up above. Plant called Lyfe, pronounced Life.
M: Rupert, congrats on your new leaves!
P: Grow for me!
M: I See you’ve grown a couple more leaves since I saw you last week!
P: Rupert hopes to grow up to be Seymore. Hopes to see everyone then.
P: I hope it’s not Audrey II.
P: Happy first day of summer, Rupert/Seymore!

Rupert made it through the excitement of Independence Day, and now had quite a few leaves. Lots of new messages had been left as well. A few of which were dated.

P: Rupert! You look lovely!
P: I hope you grow well.
P: Atta boi Rupert! I have no idea what you are but I’m excited to see you grow.
P: You’re my hero!
P: Rupert, you can do this! (Don’t die!)
P: Good to see you’re still with us Rupert!
P: Share the love!
P: Your pot needs rotated x1 per day or you will grow lopsided.
M: Rupert! It looks like you got thirsty. (07/16/2019)
P: One must imagine Sisyphus smiling.
P: Go plant go!
P: Be happy little plant.
P: Rupert, where do you see yourself in 5 years?
M: Rupert! It looks like you got thirsty. (07/26/2019)
P: Rupert, I love you and would die for you. You’re doing amazing buddy. Keep growing. (08/27/2019)

Rupert's demise

But then tragedy strikes during September 25-26, 2019.

P: WATER YOUR PLANT.
P: This bug has more life than me.
P: [F]
P: RIP
P: Why is the bug literally me?
P: We should take a lesson from this plant and realize that our relations need love and nurturing to grow!
P: RIP friend.
P: NO!
P: Poor plant.

Rupert's resurrection

 For whatever reason, no one chose to remove the leafless body of Rupert or the notes that had been left. And then suddenly—eight days later—there was new growth!

M: New growth!!!
P: I can get past being thirsty and I hope y’all can too.
P: You’re doing great sweetie!
P: We are cool.
P: Ah, ah, ah, ah, staying alive, staying alive.

Rupert gives birth?!?

So then my Mom and I decided to have a bit of fun. She provided me one of the red peppers she had grown in her garden, and I left it in the pot with a note on it.

M: So, this pepper showed up last night. I asked Rupert if it was his, but he wouldn’t respond, other than to say he hopes someone will take it and enjoy it. (10/07/2019)
P: Thanks Rupert. I loved the pepper. You are a cutie.
P: Rupert is like baby Groot!
P: Grow!! We watered you.
P: Hope you’re enjoying the new fall weather Rupert.
P: This note made possible by destroying Rupert’s parent tree. Thank you, deforestation.
P: I love plants. This made my day.
P: LIVE!!!
P: We be-leaf in ya.
P: Grow through what you go through little man.
P: I’ve only just met Rupert, and I am in love, I would do anything for Rupert. Rupert is everything.
P: I envy Rupert! He’s living the life I want to live! #inspiration
P: I love you Rupert!
P: Hang in there Rupert.
P: Dearly beloved Rupert. You’re doing amazing. We believe in you. We love you. We cherish you.
P: Grow on Rupert.
P You got dis!
P: I'm glad to see Rupert is coming back to LIFE!!!
P: Tuesday, Oct 29: I added some water since soil looked dry.

Rupert's year-end celebration

So, by now we’ve reached the end of 2019, and this thing has obviously taken on a life of its own, with relatively little input from me after the first few days.

P: Happy new year!!
P: Go little plant go.
P:  I gave Rupert some water. 12/27/19 –Janitor Joe.
P: Thank you Janitor Joe
P: Happy Holidays!
P: It’s been a roller coaster semester. First you were great, then you almost died, now you’re good again. Keep going Rupert.
P: Rupert!!! Juan was here.
P: Y’all crazy.
P: Thank you for being something I could look forward to seeing. Dec 5
P: Stay safe this winter, friend. May your caretaker take you home over break.
P: Go Head Rupert!!! Good to see you’re still here with us.
P: Photosynthesis
P: Let’s go, Plantboi!
P: My Rupert, nice to see you’re still doing well.
P: God making sure Rupert is OK.
P: Happy semester break everyone!!

Rupert starts a new semester

Fortunately, Rupert survived the break, and we continued into spring semester!

P: Who waters Rupert and how often? 1/8/2020
P: I have a class up here now MWF ending 1 PM, and I’ve started watering him after class. Not flooding it. 1/13/20.
P: Neat origami.
P: Keep on keeping on, Rupert.
P: Survive. You got this boyyyy.
P: I only came up to fourth floor to see Rupert.
P: Just keep growing. Just keep growing. Just keep growing growing growing.
P: Lydia and Ashlen love you.
P: Rupert can get this DUMPY!
P: This is my first time meeting Rupert… I am honored to be in the presence of such a legend… Love you Ru. Grow strong!
P: What it do Rupert?
P: Grow up!
P: Rupert, you were my first love. I fell for you like a child. You must live or I don’t think I will make it in this cruel world without you.
P: Rupert loves my SQL.
P: Watch BSU Tonight.
P: We are happy to see you are inspiring so many students. Keep growing big and strong.

Rupert's birthday

And today a large piece of paper appeared with an important announcement.

Save the date to celebrate! A big party for a resilient little plant. Rupert’s birthday is April 27th. Watch this space for more information coming soon.

After nine months, a simple conversation I started with an unknown person has expanded to include many more people. I’m guessing (based on handwriting) there have been a dozen or two different people who have participated in the conversation, and almost certainly many dozens more who have stopped for a moment and read the messages. A community of caring people has formed, although I have no idea who any of the other people are, and I suspect that is true for them as well. Yet we’ve all come together to nurture and encourage this one little plant, and dare I say, each other.

Is this about more than a plant?

So, what can we learn from this experience? What if we were to imagine that Rupert the red pepper plant was one of our students? Do we show as much care and concern for them? What if we don’t make the effort to help them to learn? Might they then shrivel up and withdraw, like Rupert?

How many times have we given up on a student that was too far behind to catch up, just wasn’t getting it, or was too needy? Once Rupert dropped all of his leaves, I suspect we all thought that was the end of the plant. Yet one of us decided to continue watering it. And a week later, new growth appeared. What if we keep working with those struggling students—who might have even given up on themselves—to help them through the tough parts of their days and lives, whether that be our course content, or helping them juggle priorities in their life. 

What if we involve others to help support the student as well, just like the community that has formed around Rupert. Then we can all celebrate the student’s success—completing an assignment, a course, a semester, or a degree—just like we’re going to celebrate Rupert’s birthday in a few weeks.

When asked what I do, I like to say that I strive to turn on light bulbs. By this I’m referring to those “ah ha” moments learners have when something suddenly makes sense. Maybe I also need to say that I strive to keep things adequately watered and nurtured.

How about you? What are you doing to nurture those with whom you come into contact?

1,623 e-mail messages and 44 days later...

So, what did 1,623 e-mail messages and 44 days get me? I don't have all the answers yet, but let's explore.

First, a bit of background. I am one of a dozen individuals from colleges and universities located around Indiana who decided they would collectively submit a proposal in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the State of Indiana. One thing we all have in common is an interest in helping people learn the mysteries of computer science.

The RFP was posted 44 days prior to the deadline for submission of proposals. Fortunately, it was during the summer when we faculty-type people have "nothing" to do and could thus devote our time to developing our proposal. (Actually, this is a myth for most of us. Summer is when we try to do everything we didn't accomplish during the rest of the year, while we're teaching.)

So, we started off slow, holding an online meeting to see what direction we all wanted to take the proposal. Gradually, some overlapping themes started to emerge, and we were off and running. Well, we thought we were running at the time, but by the time we got to the end of the race, we discovered we were just jogging--or maybe even walking--at the start.

I think we treated our journey in preparing this proposal as a bit of a road trip. And "what a long strange trip it's been!" (Sorry, I couldn't resist using a Grateful Dead album name.) We had a starting place, and a destination we had to arrive at by a certain date and time, but what we did in between was not planned for those other 42 days. Along the way, we picked up a couple more travelers (we started out with ten) and took a variety of turns we didn't anticipate when we started out. Some of those were based on choices we made, and at other times we ran into "detour signs" along the way and were forced to take a different route. Most (but maybe not all) of our re-routing ended up resulting in a stronger proposal.

As you've likely experienced, designing something by committee is always an interesting, and usually slow and frustrating process. I experienced that a bit this time, but not as much as I expected. We were relatively focused and headed in similar directions, and knew we had a looming deadline we had to meet. The challenges and frustrations I experienced were largely thrust upon us from external factors. It was a genuine pleasure to work with this group.

As one measure of our workload, I present the following chart showing how many e-mail messages I have sitting in a folder for this proposal. This counts both messages sent to me, and messages I sent. As you can see, we got a whole lot more serious about completing the proposal during the last few days!

So, what did these 1,623 e-mail messages and 44 days get me? I don't have all the answers yet (for instance, I don't know if we're going to be awarded the project), but let's see what I do know at this point.

After working with the other eleven professors (and a myriad of other supporting staff) for over a month (approaching 24 x 7 the last few days), I believe I've developed some new collegial friendships. At any rate, I've expanded my collegial network. I now have tremendous respect for many of these individuals, and (although I'm likely biased) I believe the others now have more respect for me.

I repeatedly practiced patience, listening, negotiating, cooperating, leadership, taking chances, and making myself vulnerable. I was able to fight my imposter syndrome a bit, realizing others value what I have to offer at times.  I found many new resources, both people and otherwise. Most importantly <grin>, I was also able to use my sense of humor (however strange it may be!) at key moments in our journey.

Was it worth it? Would I do it again?  The answer to both is a resounding "YES, in a heartbeat!" Even if we aren't awarded the project, I gained so much more from the experience. Having said that, I do hope we get the award, as I want to continue working with this group to spread computer science knowledge.

It is amazing how hard and long we will work when we're passionate about something. This was definitely a labor of love. I've come away from it with renewed energy and excitement! 

What have your received in similar circumstances? Leave me a message below, or email me.


Image credits:
E-mail: http://www.publicdomainfiles.com
Calendar: http://www.publicdomainfiles.com

Am I in the right major?

Last fall, a student from my CS 222: Advanced Programming course sent me an email expressing concern about them choosing computer science as their major. The email said:

I just had a question concerning life outside of college. This first project that we just completed: is that what real work will be like in the real world? With 20+ hours of research for a small part of code? I’m just starting to question if I’m in the right major considering I couldn’t get this first project to work.

The student appeared to feel like they were “drowning,” and not accomplishing what they needed to be doing for the course. This was causing them to doubt their choice of major, wondering if they were really going to enjoy it in the future.

I’ve written some about the CS 222 course before. (What we learned—Fall 2017, and Spring 2018, and Popular achievements—Spring 2018 and Spring 2019.) The course, by design, tends to “throw the students in the pool, and encourage them to (learn how to) swim, while I stand by the side with a reach pole in case someone starts to drown.” This does not mean that I don’t provide instruction and scaffolding, but one of the objectives of the course is for the students to learning how to learn, something computer scientists are going to have to do their entire profession. As such, the course is structured such that the students have to find much of the details and skills themselves as the semester progresses.

So, how did I respond to the student? Here’s my response.

Fair question. Mostly, the answer is a resounding no.

As you become more experienced, there is less you will need to research. If you don’t recall how to do something you’ve done before, you’re likely to understand the overall idea, and just need to be reminded of the details. If you’re needing to do something new, it’s not likely to take you as long to find a solution because your past experience will lead you to an answer quicker, or often provide some of the background knowledge you need to understand the new task.

When you first learned how to tie your shoes, you likely struggled greatly, and had to keep going back to Mom or Dad for reminders. At some point you were able to reliably do it on your own—if you really concentrated. Days/weeks/months(?) later you got so experienced with tying your shoes you could do it without even thinking about what you were doing.

But then there was likely something else you needed to learn, and the process started again. Life is about continuing to learn. Stop learning, and you stagnate.

Am I suggesting you’ll never struggle getting code to work, and end up spending 10-20-30 hours trying to figure out why? No. Inevitably that will happen on occasion. I believe it will happen less and less as you become more experienced, however.

Hang in there. If you enjoy challenges, problem solving, and coding, I believe you’ll do well. If you want to talk more some time, let me know. I’m always glad to do so.

Did I provide the right response to this student? Would you have responded differently? Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think.

By the way, the student finished the course with an A, continued with the computer science major, and landed a very successful internship this summer. When I contacted the student for permission to include their quote, they also replied with the following:

With my internship experience now I have had to research things to be able to complete a program, but I have found that it doesn't take up as much of my time as I thought it would. I thoroughly enjoy the position I am at now and found that your response was very true in relation to this internship. I am very glad that I reached out to you and received your response in the fall, without it I may have changed majors.

Sometimes you have more of an impact on others than you realize at the time.

Student quotes are included with permission.
Image credits:
Doubting girl: https://publicdomainvectors.org
Boy tying shoe: http://www.clker.com