Happy July!
I love how I can just code upstairs at a desk or downstairs at a couch.
I am super excited for the weekend! It’s going to be my first long weekend and I’m definitely ready for it; it’s been pretty tiring adjusting to the “adult” life and I’m ready for a break. Yesterday, I participated in my company’s monthly Hackathon: every month, every member of the team gets a day to work on any project they’d like related to CodeHS, coding, or computer science education. Since I spend most of my day coding, I decided to try my hand at working on the curriculum instead. Our Intro to Python Course just got launched, and we are still working on increasing the number of exercises for the course. I added a few more modules where students can learn about creating the Sierpinski triangle using turtle, a Python framework that incorporates graphics using Python. It is definitely a lot more difficult to create graphics using Python in comparison to say, Java or Javascript, but I think I still managed to play around and create some pretty cool stuff! I essentially take the user through each step until they’re able to create their final product.
It was definitely nice to take a break from my usual work, but I also think that sticking with programming may be best for me. It’s pretty stressful to try coming up with activities that are both interesting yet informative. It reminded me of last summer where I would have to come up with programming activities for my high school students; I never knew if the activity would be fun or challenging for them. After a couple of tries, I think I got the hang of creating some fun exercises for my web development class, but basic python is very different from HTML/CSS and PHP.
A lot of members of the team created some really cool projects! One of the other interns created a program that allowed students to pair program so that they could both work on one project. The sales team got to work through the curriculum and learn some programming of their own as well! I’ll be going to Golden Gate, Ghiradelli Square, and many other touristy areas the next few days so I’ll make sure to blog all about it this weekend. Looking forward to a nice break!