4
The
news
Evergreen
Alum creates online coding course cont’d from page 1
“I had essentially been trying to learn to code since I was in fourth grade, but I never really learned until my freshman year of college,” Zach explains on his website zachgalant.com. “I’m making CodeHS for me eight years ago.” After Zach and Jeremy learned coding at Stanford, they quickly advanced through the coding classes available to them. As undergraduates, they became section leaders and head teaching assistants. “I learned the most [by] teaching others how to code,” Zach said. “Learning by teaching is incredibly valuable.” Zach has been teaching coding for nine years. “Coding can be a very foreign skill to many people and one of the main challenges of teaching is that it is difficult to remember what it is like to not know how to code,” Zach said. An important lesson he learned was the power of human interaction, even in a discipline that is technology-centered.
Photo courtesy of Zach Galant
PROGRAMMING PRODIGY: Alum Zach Galant ‘08 (above) developed CodeHS, a business that offers virtual lessons in computer coding for high-school students.
“Through our experience of teaching at Stanford we knew the importance of the teacher, so we set out to create a website that connects online learners with real people who will answer their questions and give them feedback,” Zach said. They designed their teaching program accordingly: The program is taught online using a short instructional video and two to three exercises (“challenges”) per concept. Tutors offer help and feedback on the challenges the students submit. Zach says he enjoys running his own business because he can arrange his own schedule and have a sense of ownership. Additionally, he loves the variety of responsibilities, from programming and teaching to pitching ideas and Anybody can doing sales. learn it. You “This helps me stay out of a routine absolutely don’t need a that could bore me or get old,” he writes background in on his website. “There are always new it, nor do you things that come up, and I get to change have to be a what I focus on all the time.” Zach and Jeremy are currently ‘math person.’ working to partner with Dallas Independent School District (DISD) high schools, as they have with schools in the Bay Area. Although many people interested in computer science skip college and jump straight into the business, Zach emphasizes the value of his college experience. “I really think people interested in coding should go to college for two main reasons. One, college is really fun and you don’t want to miss out on that. You have the rest of your life to work and only four years of college. And two, college gives you the opportunity to meet other incredible, intelligent people and learn from them,” he said. Zach insists that the only thing one needs to learn coding is curiosity and a love of learning. “Anybody can learn it. You absolutely don’t need a background in it, nor do you have to be a ‘math person,’” he said. “I guarantee that if you try out CodeHS, you’ll learn. You just have to try.”
“
wednesday, december 19, 2012
Morning playground time focuses students for class Amna Kaiser Views Editor
The Lower School administration put into effect a new rule this year allowing Lower School students to play on the playground when they get to school before 7:45 a.m. instead of waiting on the front porch or in the Extended Day room. “It gives them time to have conversations, play, and get the energy from breakfast out,” said Kim Barnes, Head of Early Childhood. According to Mrs. Barnes, the results of the change have all been positive: students come into the hallway quieter are more ready to concentrate in class, and get to school earlier than before. There are also social benefits to the new playground hours. “My favorite part is watching the different grade levels play together,” she said. “I feel like they’re benefiting from being out there together.” For Mrs. Barnes, the change was almost a necessity. “I was getting a little frustrated with having to say ‘You can’t throw a ball’ or ‘You can’t run around’ on the front porch too frequently,” she said. “They need to get that energy out. They need a time to run and play.” The new rule has been well-received by both parents and students. “Our daughter has adjusted well to recess in the mornings,” said Marisa Bertocchi, Greenhill parent. “Greenhill did a good job with the kids.” Mrs. Barnes started looking into the possibility of a change when a teacher alerted her to other schools’ practices. She began talking to principals and discovered a commonality: most of the schools she visited incorporated physical activity either before school or to open the school day. Once she decided to implement a similar system, Mrs. Barnes said the change “was fairly easy to put into play.” “I feel like it’s been a good move for us, because I think the kids have enjoyed it,” she said. “This has done what we needed it to do.”