From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Fri Aug  6 05:33:19 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2010 22:33:19 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] brainstorming new ways to teach Python 101
Message-ID: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>

A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
we avert disaster?

Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
intentions. So why not risk trying something different?

I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
consideration. Here goes:

Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.

According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
specific student questions.  Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
step up to the challenge.

One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
student needs to know. Here's how it might go:

0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
etc.).
2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
each color for the part they needed to learn.
3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
specific curriculum item.
4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.

This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.

From andre.roberge at gmail.com  Fri Aug  6 12:07:00 2010
From: andre.roberge at gmail.com (Andre Roberge)
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 07:07:00 -0300
Subject: [python-advocacy] brainstorming new ways to teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTikq76CEJias-E3OkMPEPq3_NbBYNeWXymcvLezX@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 12:33 AM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:

> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
> we avert disaster?
>
> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
>
> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
> consideration. Here goes:
>
> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
>
>
According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
> specific student questions.  Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
> step up to the challenge.
>

Here's a (biased) idea:  have people install Crunchy (
http://code.google.com/p/crunchy) and have student go through the official
Python tutorial in a pair-programming kind of environment.

You still need to cover the installation process (Python & Crunchy)
separately first - for those that have their laptops, but you then ensure
that all tutors go through the same material with which they should be
familiar.

Andr?


>
> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
>
> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
> etc.).
> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
> each color for the part they needed to learn.
> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
> specific curriculum item.
> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
>
> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
> _______________________________________________
> Advocacy mailing list
> Advocacy at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>
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From Cameron at phaseit.net  Fri Aug  6 15:03:07 2010
From: Cameron at phaseit.net (Cameron Laird)
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 13:03:07 +0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] brainstorming new ways to teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20100806130307.GA24276@lairds.us>

On Thu, Aug 05, 2010 at 10:33:19PM -0500, Brad Allen wrote:
			.
			.
			.
> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
> we avert disaster?
> 
> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
> 
> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
> consideration. Here goes:
> 
> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
> 
> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
> specific student questions.  Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
> step up to the challenge.
> 
> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
> 
> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
> etc.).
> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
> each color for the part they needed to learn.
> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
> specific curriculum item.
> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
> 
> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
			.
			.
			.
Good ideas.

I could be available at the end of August, and it's not
a long trip for me.

From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Fri Aug  6 17:20:09 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2010 10:20:09 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Texas] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to
	teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=AtMJVNbYD8MWN_2ebLT-ixWJF8An96i43F2jV@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=VYA1z2WKeq33BTHBfYRWk3tuGSdgvAW22E0Qa@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=AtMJVNbYD8MWN_2ebLT-ixWJF8An96i43F2jV@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTikTA=tmaBnc=Es-Wc8ypk4mCC1v1WtG=TozF+a8@mail.gmail.com>

That ratio could change if we get the expected last minute student
signups. Most of the students won't be finding out about the PyTexas
till they return from summer vacation to see the flyers and
(hopefully) receive email announcements from their profs.

For those unfamiliar with the survey, "DK" is short for "don't know"
at the time of the survey. I'll follow up with them this weekend to
remind them to update their status on the wiki registration page.


On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:00 AM, Arthur Aguirre
<aguirre.arthur at gmail.com> wrote:
> I pulled the latest survey results - there are 41 confirmed attendees 28 of
> which are advanced/intermediate pythoneers - that is then 2:1 ratio.? There
> are 35 folks who are a DK to show but the ratio is the same.
>
> Arthur
>
> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 9:50 PM, Kevin Horn <kevin.horn at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
>>> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
>>> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
>>> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
>>> we avert disaster?
>>>
>>> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
>>> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
>>> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
>>> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
>>> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
>>>
>>> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
>>> consideration. Here goes:
>>>
>>> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
>>> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
>>> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
>>> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
>>> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
>>> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
>>> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
>>>
>>> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
>>> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
>>> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
>>> specific student questions. ?Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
>>> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
>>> step up to the challenge.
>>>
>>> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
>>> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
>>> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
>>>
>>> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
>>> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
>>> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
>>> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
>>> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
>>> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
>>> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
>>> etc.).
>>> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
>>> each color for the part they needed to learn.
>>> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
>>> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
>>> specific curriculum item.
>>> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
>>> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
>>> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
>>> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
>>> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
>>>
>>> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
>>> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
>>> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
>>
>> I think a lot will depend on what the ratio of beginners to experienced
>> pythoneers is.
>>
>> Did the survey tell us that?
>>
>> Kevin Horn
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Texas mailing list
>> Texas at python.org
>> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/texas
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Texas mailing list
> Texas at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/texas
>
>

From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Sat Aug  7 18:06:39 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 2010 11:06:39 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] brainstorming new ways to teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=K+RfdcA0Mv6wTxjwatCdi_=PmfNTe7AjjrtEV@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=jGovDheKnTXZz-RqsvfokrG593rXe4CtfxYG-@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=K+RfdcA0Mv6wTxjwatCdi_=PmfNTe7AjjrtEV@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTiknQLSjvEV+YwoCH_jm1yMSVivFH-Sk1Xkpicu0@mail.gmail.com>

Wow, thanks, Greg and Katherine. The Python Koans will make an
excellent addition to our beginner track. Given the lightness of the
preparation required, hopefully we won't have any difficulty getting
volunteers to run it.

I'm uncertain whether Python Koans could be the first class of the day
for students having zero Python experience. Maybe we still need a
Python 101 to provide a basic orientation. What do you think?  Also,
how much time do you recommend we allot to allow students pass all the
koans?

On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:37 PM, Greg Malcolm <greg at gregmalcolm.com> wrote:
> Hi guys!
> Some info about Python Koans:
> Python Koans sessions are very easy to run. They come in the form of a suite
> of of unit tests that confirm the functionality of Python itself. It starts
> with the extreme basics: Asserts, None, strings, lists, eventually leading
> to more complex subjects such as Generators and Decorators. The tests are
> all initially in a state of not working, or need values filled out, so the
> process of fixing them teaches the student how Python behaves.
> The code for it is all available on both bitbucket and ?github:
> ??http://bitbucket.org/gregmalcolm/python_koans
> ??http://github.com/gregmalcolm/python_koans
> I've run this as a session a couple of times now, once at my local user
> group, and once at PyOhio. Both times it seems to go down pretty well,
> particularly among beginners. My approach is to give a very short talk/demo
> at the beginning explaining the concept of TDD, how it relates to the Koans,
> followed by a quick demo of solving the first couple of problems. From there
> on in most of the work is wondering around the room making sure everyone got
> set up ok and helping anyone who is stuck or has questions. I've brought an
> assistant with me on both?occasions.
> As long as the assistant has at least spent a couple of ?hours working
> through the koans and knows their way around Python they should be good to
> go.?Having more than one assistant for a large audience is not a terrible
> idea.
> It also helps to have the koans available on cd and flash disk if the
> wireless access cannot be relied on.
> On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 12:10 PM, Catherine Devlin
> <catherine.devlin at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Sounds intriguing - if you do it, please report back on how it goes.
>>
>> Another possible approach: at PyOhio this year, Greg Malcolm led a session
>> based on the Python Koans.? Greg, do you have any comments about how that
>> went?? Since the Koans are already prepared and the students work through
>> them on their own, you might be able to get somebody to lead it without too
>> much advance work.? The big thing (it seems to me) would be making sure
>> students are getting help to get them over humps, which your circulating
>> instructors could do as with your ticket system.
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 11:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
>>> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
>>> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
>>> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
>>> we avert disaster?
>>>
>>> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
>>> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
>>> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
>>> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
>>> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
>>>
>>> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
>>> consideration. Here goes:
>>>
>>> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
>>> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
>>> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
>>> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
>>> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
>>> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
>>> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
>>>
>>> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
>>> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
>>> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
>>> specific student questions. ?Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
>>> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
>>> step up to the challenge.
>>>
>>> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
>>> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
>>> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
>>>
>>> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
>>> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
>>> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
>>> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
>>> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
>>> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
>>> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
>>> etc.).
>>> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
>>> each color for the part they needed to learn.
>>> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
>>> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
>>> specific curriculum item.
>>> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
>>> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
>>> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
>>> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
>>> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
>>>
>>> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
>>> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
>>> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Advocacy mailing list
>>> Advocacy at python.org
>>> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> - Catherine
>> http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
>> *** PyOhio 2010 * July 31 - Aug 1 * Columbus, OH * pyohio.org ***
>
>

From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Sun Aug  8 17:30:24 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2010 10:30:24 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
	Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:54 AM, Jeremy Dunck <jdunck at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
>> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
>> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
>> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
>> we avert disaster?
> ...
>
> I see that was Greg Lindstrom. ?Do we have any materials he'd prepared
> for that?

No, he didn't have a chance to prepare any Python 101 materials. He
had prepared for "So you just took Python 101; what next?", and I
asked him if he also do the Python 101.  He said he could do it if we
couldn't find any other volunteers, but later, some major work-related
issues came up and he had bow out due to lack of time to prepare. It's
my fault for setting the CFPs date so late (July 15), and asking him
at what amounted to the last minute.

>Are there common 101 materials available from the PSF or
> similar?

I don't know. There are plenty of online Python tutorials which could
be mined for source material (for example, see
http://www.awaretek.com/tutorials.html ) Anyone want to volunteer to
research that and help assemble the appropriate materials?

Right now we don't have enough volunteers involved to make this a
success, so anyone willing to help should step forward.

If you are willing to help with this, add your name as an instructor
or a lab assistant on this wiki page:

    http://pytexas.org/PyTexas2010Python101

I will try to rearrange the schedule so that Python 101 instructors
and lab assistants don't have to miss the talks they are interested in
(that probably means pushing the Rackspace OpenStack talks later...but
let me know and I'll work with you on that).

> How many 101 people are expected?

Arthur answered that earlier in this thread, saying it's expected to
be about 1/3 of attendees who are either beginners or have no Python
experience. However, we don't know how many students will register at
the last minute. We've sent out email announcements to profs asking
them to notify students when they arrive from summer vacation, and
we're planning to distribute flyers next weekend at Baylor.

To help nail this down, I'll encourage people to start putting their
names down on the wiki for the presentations they plan to attend.

> Where are the results of that survey? ?Sorry I've only been sporadicly
> paying attention to PyTexas.

The survey results are here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=y_2bGUGjyJn9S3p2J1v0luoC16liVIRYiAzwnR3gwyPO8_3d

Arthur's survey analysis is here:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AscL5At5nr5FdFJXaTdnS2sxZl9hTDNZX2ZFOHpsbmc&output=html


>> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
>> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
>> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
>
> This fits closely with a way of teaching I've been thinking about, but
> I agree the laptop coverage could be an issue.

Use of a pair programming approach could help resolve that. We could
bring some old PCs running Linux to help with that, if we can find
wireless adapters.

We have from 8am-10am on the schedule before any classes and
presentations start, which should give people time to get situated and
hopefully during that time we can also make sure everyone has a
computer, network access, Python installed, etc.

> What about a start-of-class quiz to figure out who is more experienced
> of the group and have that person lead a pair of greener people?

I don't know if a written quiz will make sense in the chaos of
preparatory setup. Probably an informal hand raising will do the job.

> Don't need full coverage that way, and I think small groups of 2 or 3
> would still be useful for collaborating.

Sure, I agree.

> One problem with this is that there will be a bunch of bootstrapping
> issues that can't be waited on -- installing and intro to REPL is one
> of them. ?I think front-of-class instruction for the starting stuff
> that can't be deferred would still be useful, with follow-on support
> for people that got lost in that intro. ?Otherwise I think the idea is
> pretty good. ?Perhaps an add-on would be if people are able to teach a
> topic, they safety-pin that ribbon to their shirt. ?Less waving, more
> hailing.

Yes, that sounds great...I'm having visions of our more experienced
attendees covered in dozens of multi-colored ribbons and possibly
medals. Maybe we can also come up with special stackable hats, with
each color or pattern corresponding to an area of expertise. Whoever
leads this session can do it however they want as far as I'm concerned
:-)

From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Sun Aug  8 17:32:13 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2010 10:32:13 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] brainstorming new ways to teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <20100806130307.GA24276@lairds.us>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<20100806130307.GA24276@lairds.us>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=cPma_GVHRfTQB5DQgP6BAe9hGCMju6csJ_6bm@mail.gmail.com>

On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 8:03 AM, Cameron Laird <Cameron at phaseit.net> wrote:
> I could be available at the end of August, and it's not
> a long trip for me.

That would be great, Cameron, and vastly appreciated. What do we need
to do to make that work for you?

From carl at personnelware.com  Sun Aug  8 18:53:10 2010
From: carl at personnelware.com (Carl Karsten)
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2010 11:53:10 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
	Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>

I have a 2 hour Python Syntax talk, which is really abou 150 things to enter
at the python prompt, with a few things to say about each.

When is the event?  What is th AV plan?

On Aug 8, 2010 11:49 AM, "Brad Allen" <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:

On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:54 AM, Jeremy Dunck <jdunck at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:...
> ...
>
> I see that was Greg Lindstrom.  Do we have any materials he'd prepared
> for that?

No, he didn't have a chance to prepare any Python 101 materials. He
had prepared for "So you just took Python 101; what next?", and I
asked him if he also do the Python 101.  He said he could do it if we
couldn't find any other volunteers, but later, some major work-related
issues came up and he had bow out due to lack of time to prepare. It's
my fault for setting the CFPs date so late (July 15), and asking him
at what amounted to the last minute.

>Are there common 101 materials available from the PSF or
> similar?

I don't know. There are plenty of online Python tutorials which could
be mined for source material (for example, see
http://www.awaretek.com/tutorials.html ) Anyone want to volunteer to
research that and help assemble the appropriate materials?

Right now we don't have enough volunteers involved to make this a
success, so anyone willing to help should step forward.

If you are willing to help with this, add your name as an instructor
or a lab assistant on this wiki page:

   http://pytexas.org/PyTexas2010Python101

I will try to rearrange the schedule so that Python 101 instructors
and lab assistants don't have to miss the talks they are interested in
(that probably means pushing the Rackspace OpenStack talks later...but
let me know and I'll work with you on that).

> How many 101 people are expected?

Arthur answered that earlier in this thread, saying it's expected to
be about 1/3 of attendees who are either beginners or have no Python
experience. However, we don't know how many students will register at
the last minute. We've sent out email announcements to profs asking
them to notify students when they arrive from summer vacation, and
we're planning to distribute flyers next weekend at Baylor.

To help nail this down, I'll encourage people to start putting their
names down on the wiki for the presentations they plan to attend.

> Where are the results of that survey?  Sorry I've only been sporadicly
> paying attention to PyTexas.

The survey results are here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=y_2bGUGjyJn9S3p2J1v0luoC16liVIRYiAzwnR3gwyPO8_3d

Arthur's survey analysis is here:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AscL5At5nr5FdFJXaTdnS2sxZl9hTDNZX2ZFOHpsbmc&output=html



>> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
>> pairing up the students wit...
> This fits closely with a way of teaching I've been thinking about, but
> I agree the laptop coverage could be an issue.

Use of a pair programming approach could help resolve that. We could
bring some old PCs running Linux to help with that, if we can find
wireless adapters.

We have from 8am-10am on the schedule before any classes and
presentations start, which should give people time to get situated and
hopefully during that time we can also make sure everyone has a
computer, network access, Python installed, etc.

> What about a start-of-class quiz to figure out who is more experienced
> of the group and have that person lead a pair of greener people?

I don't know if a written quiz will make sense in the chaos of
preparatory setup. Probably an informal hand raising will do the job.

> Don't need full coverage that way, and I think small groups of 2 or 3
> would still be useful for collaborating.

Sure, I agree.

> One problem with this is that there will be a bunch of bootstrapping
> issues that can't be waited on -- installing and intro to REPL is one
> of them.  I think front-of-class instruction for the starting stuff
> that can't be deferred would still be useful, with follow-on support
> for people that got lost in that intro.  Otherwise I think the idea is
> pretty good.  Perhaps an add-on would be if people are able to teach a
> topic, they safety-pin that ribbon to their shirt.  Less waving, more
> hailing.

Yes, that sounds great...I'm having visions of our more experienced
attendees covered in dozens of multi-colored ribbons and possibly
medals. Maybe we can also come up with special stackable hats, with
each color or pattern corresponding to an area of expertise. Whoever
leads this session can do it however they want as far as I'm concerned
:-)

_______________________________________________
Advocacy mailing list
Advocacy at python.org
http://mai...
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From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Sun Aug  8 19:16:43 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Sun, 8 Aug 2010 12:16:43 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
	Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 11:53 AM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com> wrote:
> I have a 2 hour Python Syntax talk, which is really abou 150 things to enter
> at the python prompt, with a few things to say about each.

Cool, that sounds useful. Where can we find it?

> When is the event?? What is th AV plan?

Saturday, August 28  (see http://pytexas.org).

Tim Freund volunteered to drive to Texas and help with AV. We're still
waiting for other volunteers to step forward and assist, and I think
we'll probably have some locals be forthcoming pretty soon. (My wife,
Bonnie, will be on hand to help though she doesn't have any AV
experience).

Personally I'd enjoy having a video covering the event more like a
news crew, rather than strictly one video per talk.

 Tim? Do you want to say anything about AV-related planning?

From carl at personnelware.com  Mon Aug  9 16:42:21 2010
From: carl at personnelware.com (Carl Karsten)
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 09:42:21 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
	Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=oUOuCXy1-GUM2_ezKq43A7hFJZHOMwke5UnkS@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 12:16 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 11:53 AM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com> wrote:
>> I have a 2 hour Python Syntax talk, which is really abou 150 things to enter
>> at the python prompt, with a few things to say about each.
>
> Cool, that sounds useful. Where can we find it?

good question.  I think it is on a desktop box that I haven't unpacked
yet.  (just moved, may be a few weeks.)  Why isn't it in a public
repo?!?

>
>> When is the event?? What is th AV plan?
>
> Saturday, August 28 ?(see http://pytexas.org).
>
> Tim Freund volunteered to drive to Texas and help with AV. We're still
> waiting for other volunteers to step forward and assist, and I think
> we'll probably have some locals be forthcoming pretty soon. (My wife,
> Bonnie, will be on hand to help though she doesn't have any AV
> experience).
>
> Personally I'd enjoy having a video covering the event more like a
> news crew, rather than strictly one video per talk.
>
> ?Tim? Do you want to say anything about AV-related planning?
>

Is there a pyTx list?  maybe should move this there.  but then again,
py vids do help with advocacy.

http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/wiki/

http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/wiki/conference/

I have also just discovered
http://wiki.softwarelivre.org/TV/SltvProject

but have only talked to one of the developers, have not looked at the
code or anything.

-- 
Carl K

From carl at personnelware.com  Sun Aug 15 20:14:40 2010
From: carl at personnelware.com (Carl Karsten)
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:14:40 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Ripley: py101 Syntax talk for PyTexas
Message-ID: <AANLkTikOFyFwVFAVnPwwEQXUBW44HrKYfYZBJS7ymSo+@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 12:16 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 11:53 AM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com> wrote:
>> I have a 2 hour Python Syntax talk, which is really abou 150 things to enter
>> at the python prompt, with a few things to say about each.
>
> Cool, that sounds useful. Where can we find it?

http://github.com/CarlFK/Ripley


-- 
Carl K

From carl at personnelware.com  Sun Aug 15 20:30:09 2010
From: carl at personnelware.com (Carl Karsten)
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:30:09 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
 Python 101
In-Reply-To: <4C5F244B.7020202@freunds.net>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
	<4C5F244B.7020202@freunds.net>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=8mRzWpiAiersvZNu_m=nMfbXoWYXT2_+w37Nn@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 4:40 PM, Tim Freund <tim at freunds.net> wrote:
> On 08/08/2010 12:16 PM, Brad Allen wrote:
>>>
>>> When is the event? ?What is th AV plan?
>>
>> Saturday, August 28 ?(see http://pytexas.org).
>>
>> Tim Freund volunteered to drive to Texas and help with AV. We're still
>> waiting for other volunteers to step forward and assist, and I think
>> we'll probably have some locals be forthcoming pretty soon. (My wife,
>> Bonnie, will be on hand to help though she doesn't have any AV
>> experience).
>>
>> Personally I'd enjoy having a video covering the event more like a
>> news crew, rather than strictly one video per talk.
>>
>> ?Tim? Do you want to say anything about AV-related planning?
>
>
> Sure -- ebay has been good to me, and I was able to pick up three DV video
> cameras and two mixers for very little cash. ?That plus the equipment I
> already owned should get us pretty far. ?I'm planning to do a few dry runs
> over the next week just to test the new equipment.
>
> I will also add some details to the recording page in the PyTexas wiki
> including:
> - what we have
> - what we may need
> - what volunteers can do to help.
>
> I'm new to video, so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. ? Thanks!

http://dvswitch.alioth.debian.org/wiki/docs/

-- 
Carl K

From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Mon Aug 16 02:54:25 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:54:25 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
 Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=8mRzWpiAiersvZNu_m=nMfbXoWYXT2_+w37Nn@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
	<4C5F244B.7020202@freunds.net>
	<AANLkTi=8mRzWpiAiersvZNu_m=nMfbXoWYXT2_+w37Nn@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTik_L72coCLvUBfc3r3afHXKyQwTMwRip+hkvqVv@mail.gmail.com>

After having a discussion with a friend who ran a university tutoring
center, I'm convinced that an coordinated tutoring approach is worth a
try for PyTexas. Let's call it the "Python Teach-In", unless anyone
has a better name. The benefits include:

* Beginners experience an engaged and helpful Python community
* Beginners can be routed to tutorials relevant to their individual
skill level and interests
* Beginners can seek help in specific areas of need
* Tutors can help beginners get setup for the Python Koans lab
exercises later in the day
* "Breaking the Ice" -- Forming social connection between beginners
and veterans early in the day will break the ice for the "hallway
track" and the RackSpace party in the evening
* One-on-one tutoring is generally more effective than a lecture
format, and I'm convinced that the result will create a lot of
interest in Python at local universities.
* Tutors who understand a subject well will find that they understand
it better after tutoring
* Tutoring greatly enhances your ability to communicate what you understand.
* Tutoring volunteers experience the satisfaction of helping make
PyTexas a success, and of building the local Python community.

Of course, this effort requires a lot of volunteer tutors and a few
volunteer tutorial coordinators. I won't ask them to do a lot of
advance preparation, especially with only two weeks notice. Instead,
let's put together a plan which will allow tutors to rely upon their
existing knowledge and set an expectation that tutors are merely
designated knowledgeable individuals with a willingness to help.

Here's the plan I have in mind:

* During the next two weeks, we'll select a repertoire of suggested
tutorials, including the Python Koans. As the tutorial selection
develops, we'll setup a wiki page to create links to the content. Any
tutor volunteer will be free to add a favorite tutorial to the list.
* The day before PyTexas, I'll burn a handful of CDs containing the
tutorial content, to be given to tutorial coordinators. The plan for
distibution will be to copy the content to flash drives and pass them
around. There will also be an easily type-able download link.
* Tutor volunteer preparion can be minimal; they will mainly draw upon
their existing knowledge and briefly familiarize themselves with the
content of one or more of the suggested tutorials. On the wiki they
will register their name as a tutor volunteer, expected arrival time,
and summarize any areas of special interest or expertise.
* At the registration desk, attendees will be asked if they are
beginners, tutors, or neither.  Tutors will be given a badge with a
distinctive color, and directed to the see the tutorial coordinators.
Beginners will also be given a distinctive badge color, and be asked
to go to the tutorial room and start getting setup. If they don't have
a laptop, Baylor students will be told they can check one out at the
library.
* At least one tutorial coordinators will handle receiving beginners
into the tutorial room and interviewing them about what kind of
tutorial they need.
* Outside the tutorial room, a different tutorial coordinator will
initially meet with tutors briefly discuss which tutorials or subject
areas each tutor has the experience.
* As new beginners and tutors arrive, the coordinators will move back
and forth between areas handling introductions and assisting in
getting people situated in the right places.
* The tutorial coordinators will attempt to arrange one-on-one
tutoring as much as possible, but will keep tabs on what is happening
and may be able to adjust if several students all want the same basic
tutorial.
* The main tutorial room will probably be the large 70 seat room; that
should ensure everyone is mostly in the same place at by 11am for the
main part of the conference to be kicked off. However, we need to do
some analysis on this; other rooms may be better suited for
rearranging desks along the walls into a formation which better
encourages collaboration.
* By 11am, most tutors will be released from tutoring, while a few
hardy tutors remain to help students as they progress on additional
lab exercises over the next hour or two. Some tutors may find the
experience of tutoring so rewarding and interesting that they have
more than enough energy to carry on additional tutoring through the
day. Of course, they'll get a break as the various beginner talks
start up.

Now that this is forming into a specific plan, we can take this
discussion back to the main PyTexas mailing list into a new topic
thread to facilitate the details of this effort and round up
volunteers. Anyone outside the Texas region interested in following
the progress of this effort should stay tuned to the PyCon blog, where
we'll occasionally post status updates. And of course, those of you in
Texas not signed up to the PyTexas list...should register here:

http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/texas%20mailing%20list

From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Mon Aug 16 05:08:37 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:08:37 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
 Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTik_L72coCLvUBfc3r3afHXKyQwTMwRip+hkvqVv@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
	<4C5F244B.7020202@freunds.net>
	<AANLkTi=8mRzWpiAiersvZNu_m=nMfbXoWYXT2_+w37Nn@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik_L72coCLvUBfc3r3afHXKyQwTMwRip+hkvqVv@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTinjB=nnXkZ7z-AdeysHRoqOjvW6pGTaz2myTj4e@mail.gmail.com>

I've gotten the relevant wiki pages for this posted, including
outgoing links for tutorial selection and volunteer registration.

http://pytexas.org/PythonTeachIn2010

On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 7:54 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:
> After having a discussion with a friend who ran a university tutoring
> center, I'm convinced that an coordinated tutoring approach is worth a
> try for PyTexas. Let's call it the "Python Teach-In", unless anyone
> has a better name. The benefits include:
>
> * Beginners experience an engaged and helpful Python community
> * Beginners can be routed to tutorials relevant to their individual
> skill level and interests
> * Beginners can seek help in specific areas of need
> * Tutors can help beginners get setup for the Python Koans lab
> exercises later in the day
> * "Breaking the Ice" -- Forming social connection between beginners
> and veterans early in the day will break the ice for the "hallway
> track" and the RackSpace party in the evening
> * One-on-one tutoring is generally more effective than a lecture
> format, and I'm convinced that the result will create a lot of
> interest in Python at local universities.
> * Tutors who understand a subject well will find that they understand
> it better after tutoring
> * Tutoring greatly enhances your ability to communicate what you understand.
> * Tutoring volunteers experience the satisfaction of helping make
> PyTexas a success, and of building the local Python community.
>
> Of course, this effort requires a lot of volunteer tutors and a few
> volunteer tutorial coordinators. I won't ask them to do a lot of
> advance preparation, especially with only two weeks notice. Instead,
> let's put together a plan which will allow tutors to rely upon their
> existing knowledge and set an expectation that tutors are merely
> designated knowledgeable individuals with a willingness to help.
>
> Here's the plan I have in mind:
>
> * During the next two weeks, we'll select a repertoire of suggested
> tutorials, including the Python Koans. As the tutorial selection
> develops, we'll setup a wiki page to create links to the content. Any
> tutor volunteer will be free to add a favorite tutorial to the list.
> * The day before PyTexas, I'll burn a handful of CDs containing the
> tutorial content, to be given to tutorial coordinators. The plan for
> distibution will be to copy the content to flash drives and pass them
> around. There will also be an easily type-able download link.
> * Tutor volunteer preparion can be minimal; they will mainly draw upon
> their existing knowledge and briefly familiarize themselves with the
> content of one or more of the suggested tutorials. On the wiki they
> will register their name as a tutor volunteer, expected arrival time,
> and summarize any areas of special interest or expertise.
> * At the registration desk, attendees will be asked if they are
> beginners, tutors, or neither. ?Tutors will be given a badge with a
> distinctive color, and directed to the see the tutorial coordinators.
> Beginners will also be given a distinctive badge color, and be asked
> to go to the tutorial room and start getting setup. If they don't have
> a laptop, Baylor students will be told they can check one out at the
> library.
> * At least one tutorial coordinators will handle receiving beginners
> into the tutorial room and interviewing them about what kind of
> tutorial they need.
> * Outside the tutorial room, a different tutorial coordinator will
> initially meet with tutors briefly discuss which tutorials or subject
> areas each tutor has the experience.
> * As new beginners and tutors arrive, the coordinators will move back
> and forth between areas handling introductions and assisting in
> getting people situated in the right places.
> * The tutorial coordinators will attempt to arrange one-on-one
> tutoring as much as possible, but will keep tabs on what is happening
> and may be able to adjust if several students all want the same basic
> tutorial.
> * The main tutorial room will probably be the large 70 seat room; that
> should ensure everyone is mostly in the same place at by 11am for the
> main part of the conference to be kicked off. However, we need to do
> some analysis on this; other rooms may be better suited for
> rearranging desks along the walls into a formation which better
> encourages collaboration.
> * By 11am, most tutors will be released from tutoring, while a few
> hardy tutors remain to help students as they progress on additional
> lab exercises over the next hour or two. Some tutors may find the
> experience of tutoring so rewarding and interesting that they have
> more than enough energy to carry on additional tutoring through the
> day. Of course, they'll get a break as the various beginner talks
> start up.
>
> Now that this is forming into a specific plan, we can take this
> discussion back to the main PyTexas mailing list into a new topic
> thread to facilitate the details of this effort and round up
> volunteers. Anyone outside the Texas region interested in following
> the progress of this effort should stay tuned to the PyCon blog, where
> we'll occasionally post status updates. And of course, those of you in
> Texas not signed up to the PyTexas list...should register here:
>
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/texas%20mailing%20list
>

From mtobis at gmail.com  Mon Aug 16 05:22:12 2010
From: mtobis at gmail.com (Michael Tobis)
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:22:12 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
 Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTinjB=nnXkZ7z-AdeysHRoqOjvW6pGTaz2myTj4e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
	<4C5F244B.7020202@freunds.net>
	<AANLkTi=8mRzWpiAiersvZNu_m=nMfbXoWYXT2_+w37Nn@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik_L72coCLvUBfc3r3afHXKyQwTMwRip+hkvqVv@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTinjB=nnXkZ7z-AdeysHRoqOjvW6pGTaz2myTj4e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTimpg5Y0DBZLQStCmfK8A+Rrr=Z1yQv1jjVDnxTf@mail.gmail.com>

I'm game, I suppose, but where are the students coming from that make
this level of effort justified?

Is there any indication that more than a handful of people will show
up to learn?

mt

From bradallen137 at gmail.com  Mon Aug 16 06:25:16 2010
From: bradallen137 at gmail.com (Brad Allen)
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:25:16 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
 Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimpg5Y0DBZLQStCmfK8A+Rrr=Z1yQv1jjVDnxTf@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
	<4C5F244B.7020202@freunds.net>
	<AANLkTi=8mRzWpiAiersvZNu_m=nMfbXoWYXT2_+w37Nn@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik_L72coCLvUBfc3r3afHXKyQwTMwRip+hkvqVv@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTinjB=nnXkZ7z-AdeysHRoqOjvW6pGTaz2myTj4e@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTimpg5Y0DBZLQStCmfK8A+Rrr=Z1yQv1jjVDnxTf@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTikLYPauu_v8aAe3Bub5F22+RmPTzLVNugfokwr9@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 10:22 PM, Michael Tobis <mtobis at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm game, I suppose, but where are the students coming from that make
> this level of effort justified?
> Is there any indication that more than a handful of people will show
> up to learn?

Thanks for that opening for me to crow about our attendance and
outreach efforts. :-)  Also, it points out that we need a section on
the registration page for attendees to indicate their interest in
tutorials. I've added a "Learners" registration section to
<http://pytexas.org/TeachInRegistration2010>. Right now, that page is
pretty bare, so let's fill it up!

We have reason to expect over 70 attendees, and possibly over 100. The
registration page has no indication of which are beginners coming to
learn Python, but it provides a hint about baseline attendance (58
confirmed and 28 maybes); see <http://pytexas.org/SignUp2010>.  The
survey indicated a 2:1 ratio of experienced (intermediate or advanced)
to beginners (zero or beginning Python experience).

However, the current registration page and survey won't be able to
capture the last minute effect of our faculty/student outreach
efforts. We have responses from two professors at Baylor who indicated
they will promote the event to their students, who are arriving the
Monday before PyTexas. In addition, professors at several area
universities have been notified, and they may respond at the last
minute.  Flyers are being distributed at local universities, and we're
planning to send out a PyTexas promotional announcement soon to be
widely forwarded, tweeted, etc.

Also, let's not forget that the TeachIn will also hold some appeal
intermediate Python developers. The tutorials don't have to be only
for beginners. Lots of intermediate Python developers would appreciate
help with things like generators, itertools, decorators, descriptors,
etc. If you're willing to register to teach advanced tutorials, that
would surely garner some interest!

From carl at personnelware.com  Tue Aug 17 01:03:19 2010
From: carl at personnelware.com (Carl Karsten)
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:03:19 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Ripley: py101 Syntax talk for PyTexas
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikOFyFwVFAVnPwwEQXUBW44HrKYfYZBJS7ymSo+@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikOFyFwVFAVnPwwEQXUBW44HrKYfYZBJS7ymSo+@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTimXRZAnW=e6zX0xbCsgdMeXintSg7O0BxXGe+ZD@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 1:14 PM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 12:16 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 11:53 AM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com> wrote:
>>> I have a 2 hour Python Syntax talk, which is really abou 150 things to enter
>>> at the python prompt, with a few things to say about each.
>>
>> Cool, that sounds useful. Where can we find it?
>
> http://github.com/CarlFK/Ripley
>
>

Can someone review

http://github.com/CarlFK/Ripley/blob/master/ripley.txt

It all makes sense to me, but I wrote it.  having a 2nd person look it
over now would be better than in front of a class full of people.

I may be giving it in a week or so.

-- 
Carl K

From carl at personnelware.com  Tue Aug 17 01:15:06 2010
From: carl at personnelware.com (Carl Karsten)
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:15:06 -0500
Subject: [python-advocacy] Ripley: py101 Syntax talk for PyTexas
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=jXAV_oRmp8HXOmyani69C5tiwrCPhitOwkXqi@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikOFyFwVFAVnPwwEQXUBW44HrKYfYZBJS7ymSo+@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTimXRZAnW=e6zX0xbCsgdMeXintSg7O0BxXGe+ZD@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=jXAV_oRmp8HXOmyani69C5tiwrCPhitOwkXqi@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTinMuxViRcNyxzhPRduvB+WUT2qfZBWEOb1=NK7h@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 6:09 PM, Jeremy Dunck <jdunck at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com> wrote:
>> Can someone review
>>
>> http://github.com/CarlFK/Ripley/blob/master/ripley.txt
>
> Will do.
>

Thanks.

>> I may be giving it in a week or so.
>
> At PyTexas, or elsewhere? :-)
>

Here in Chicago.  Chance of me making it to TX are slim to none.



-- 
Carl K

From kevin.horn at gmail.com  Fri Aug  6 05:50:17 2010
From: kevin.horn at gmail.com (Kevin Horn)
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:50:17 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
	Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=VYA1z2WKeq33BTHBfYRWk3tuGSdgvAW22E0Qa@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:

> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
> we avert disaster?
>
> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
>
> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
> consideration. Here goes:
>
> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
>
> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
> specific student questions.  Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
> step up to the challenge.
>
> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
>
> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
> etc.).
> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
> each color for the part they needed to learn.
> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
> specific curriculum item.
> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
>
> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
>

I think a lot will depend on what the ratio of beginners to experienced
pythoneers is.

Did the survey tell us that?

Kevin Horn
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From aguirre.arthur at gmail.com  Fri Aug  6 17:01:18 2010
From: aguirre.arthur at gmail.com (Arthur Aguirre)
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:01:18 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Texas] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to
	teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=VYA1z2WKeq33BTHBfYRWk3tuGSdgvAW22E0Qa@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com> 
	<AANLkTi=VYA1z2WKeq33BTHBfYRWk3tuGSdgvAW22E0Qa@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=AtMJVNbYD8MWN_2ebLT-ixWJF8An96i43F2jV@mail.gmail.com>

I pulled the latest survey results - there are 41 confirmed attendees 28 of
which are advanced/intermediate pythoneers - that is then 2:1 ratio.  There
are 35 folks who are a DK to show but the ratio is the same.

Arthur

On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 9:50 PM, Kevin Horn <kevin.horn at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
>> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
>> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
>> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
>> we avert disaster?
>>
>> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
>> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
>> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
>> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
>> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
>>
>> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
>> consideration. Here goes:
>>
>> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
>> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
>> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
>> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
>> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
>> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
>> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
>>
>> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
>> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
>> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
>> specific student questions.  Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
>> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
>> step up to the challenge.
>>
>> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
>> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
>> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
>>
>> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
>> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
>> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
>> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
>> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
>> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
>> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
>> etc.).
>> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
>> each color for the part they needed to learn.
>> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
>> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
>> specific curriculum item.
>> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
>> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
>> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
>> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
>> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
>>
>> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
>> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
>> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
>>
>
> I think a lot will depend on what the ratio of beginners to experienced
> pythoneers is.
>
> Did the survey tell us that?
>
> Kevin Horn
>
> _______________________________________________
> Texas mailing list
> Texas at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/texas
>
>
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From jdunck at gmail.com  Fri Aug  6 17:54:39 2010
From: jdunck at gmail.com (Jeremy Dunck)
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:54:39 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
	Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:
> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
> we avert disaster?
...

I see that was Greg Lindstrom.  Do we have any materials he'd prepared
for that?  Are there common 101 materials available from the PSF or
similar?

How many 101 people are expected?

> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
> specific student questions. ?Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
> step up to the challenge.

Where are the results of that survey?  Sorry I've only been sporadicly
paying attention to PyTexas.

> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:

This fits closely with a way of teaching I've been thinking about, but
I agree the laptop coverage could be an issue.

What about a start-of-class quiz to figure out who is more experienced
of the group and have that person lead a pair of greener people?
Don't need full coverage that way, and I think small groups of 2 or 3
would still be useful for collaborating.

> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
> specific curriculum item.

One problem with this is that there will be a bunch of bootstrapping
issues that can't be waited on -- installing and intro to REPL is one
of them.  I think front-of-class instruction for the starting stuff
that can't be deferred would still be useful, with follow-on support
for people that got lost in that intro.  Otherwise I think the idea is
pretty good.  Perhaps an add-on would be if people are able to teach a
topic, they safety-pin that ribbon to their shirt.  Less waving, more
hailing.

From catherine.devlin at gmail.com  Fri Aug  6 18:10:49 2010
From: catherine.devlin at gmail.com (Catherine Devlin)
Date: Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:10:49 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] brainstorming new ways to teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=jGovDheKnTXZz-RqsvfokrG593rXe4CtfxYG-@mail.gmail.com>

Sounds intriguing - if you do it, please report back on how it goes.

Another possible approach: at PyOhio this year, Greg Malcolm led a session
based on the Python Koans.  Greg, do you have any comments about how that
went?  Since the Koans are already prepared and the students work through
them on their own, you might be able to get somebody to lead it without too
much advance work.  The big thing (it seems to me) would be making sure
students are getting help to get them over humps, which your circulating
instructors could do as with your ticket system.

On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 11:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:

> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
> we avert disaster?
>
> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
>
> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
> consideration. Here goes:
>
> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
>
> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
> specific student questions.  Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
> step up to the challenge.
>
> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
>
> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
> etc.).
> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
> each color for the part they needed to learn.
> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
> specific curriculum item.
> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
>
> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
> _______________________________________________
> Advocacy mailing list
> Advocacy at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>



-- 
- Catherine
http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
*** PyOhio 2010 * July 31 - Aug 1 * Columbus, OH * pyohio.org ***
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From greg at gregmalcolm.com  Sat Aug  7 05:37:20 2010
From: greg at gregmalcolm.com (Greg Malcolm)
Date: Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:37:20 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] brainstorming new ways to teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=jGovDheKnTXZz-RqsvfokrG593rXe4CtfxYG-@mail.gmail.com>
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Hi guys!

Some info about Python Koans:

Python Koans sessions are very easy to run. They come in the form of a suite
of of unit tests that confirm the functionality of Python itself. It starts
with the extreme basics: Asserts, None, strings, lists, eventually leading
to more complex subjects such as Generators and Decorators. The tests are
all initially in a state of not working, or need values filled out, so the
process of fixing them teaches the student how Python behaves.

The code for it is all available on both bitbucket and  github:

  http://bitbucket.org/gregmalcolm/python_koans
  http://github.com/gregmalcolm/python_koans

I've run this as a session a couple of times now, once at my local user
group, and once at PyOhio. Both times it seems to go down pretty well,
particularly among beginners. My approach is to give a very short talk/demo
at the beginning explaining the concept of TDD, how it relates to the Koans,
followed by a quick demo of solving the first couple of problems. From there
on in most of the work is wondering around the room making sure everyone got
set up ok and helping anyone who is stuck or has questions. I've brought an
assistant with me on both occasions.

As long as the assistant has at least spent a couple of  hours working
through the koans and knows their way around Python they should be good to
go. Having more than one assistant for a large audience is not a terrible
idea.

It also helps to have the koans available on cd and flash disk if the
wireless access cannot be relied on.

On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 12:10 PM, Catherine Devlin <
catherine.devlin at gmail.com> wrote:

> Sounds intriguing - if you do it, please report back on how it goes.
>
> Another possible approach: at PyOhio this year, Greg Malcolm led a session
> based on the Python Koans.  Greg, do you have any comments about how that
> went?  Since the Koans are already prepared and the students work through
> them on their own, you might be able to get somebody to lead it without too
> much advance work.  The big thing (it seems to me) would be making sure
> students are getting help to get them over humps, which your circulating
> instructors could do as with your ticket system.
>
> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 11:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
>> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
>> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
>> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
>> we avert disaster?
>>
>> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
>> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
>> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
>> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
>> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
>>
>> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
>> consideration. Here goes:
>>
>> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
>> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
>> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
>> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
>> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
>> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
>> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
>>
>> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
>> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
>> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
>> specific student questions.  Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
>> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
>> step up to the challenge.
>>
>> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
>> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
>> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
>>
>> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
>> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
>> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
>> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
>> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
>> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
>> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
>> etc.).
>> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
>> each color for the part they needed to learn.
>> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
>> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
>> specific curriculum item.
>> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
>> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
>> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
>> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
>> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
>>
>> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
>> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
>> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Advocacy mailing list
>> Advocacy at python.org
>> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
>>
>
>
>
> --
> - Catherine
> http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
> *** PyOhio 2010 * July 31 - Aug 1 * Columbus, OH * pyohio.org ***
>
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From greg at gregmalcolm.com  Sun Aug  8 04:47:42 2010
From: greg at gregmalcolm.com (Greg Malcolm)
Date: Sun, 08 Aug 2010 02:47:42 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] brainstorming new ways to teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTiknQLSjvEV+YwoCH_jm1yMSVivFH-Sk1Xkpicu0@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=jGovDheKnTXZz-RqsvfokrG593rXe4CtfxYG-@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=K+RfdcA0Mv6wTxjwatCdi_=PmfNTe7AjjrtEV@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTiknQLSjvEV+YwoCH_jm1yMSVivFH-Sk1Xkpicu0@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTimWDF0zit80t6RPd+SA1TUCSCgxJ-P_r2eSDSgz@mail.gmail.com>

I have to admit that when I ran Python Koans at PyOhio I did have to spend a
few minutes apiece helping a couple of complete beginners getting started.
It was mostly environmental issues, such as getting Python installed,
pathed, and running the test suite through the command line. Although I'm
not really sure what you can do to get around that kind of thing.

I guess my conclusion is whatever you run as the first Python 101 tutorial
of the day, make sure you have lots of helpers at hand!

That aside Python Koans has worked fairly well for beginners so far. It does
have a bit of a stumbling block in one of the 'about_none' exercises where I
have explain it on the projector, but the first few tests the user has to
fix are as simple as stuff like changing Assert(False) to Assert(True).

Regarding session size, I really doubt anyone will get even close to
finishing them. Theres a lot of content! So far with Python Koans I have
only ran the sessions in 2 hours timeslots but that actually seems to work
really well. Many students will continue working on them at home. I kinda
did the same thing with the Ruby equivalent that the Python version is based
on.

On Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 12:06 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Wow, thanks, Greg and Katherine. The Python Koans will make an
> excellent addition to our beginner track. Given the lightness of the
> preparation required, hopefully we won't have any difficulty getting
> volunteers to run it.
>
> I'm uncertain whether Python Koans could be the first class of the day
> for students having zero Python experience. Maybe we still need a
> Python 101 to provide a basic orientation. What do you think?  Also,
> how much time do you recommend we allot to allow students pass all the
> koans?
>
> On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 10:37 PM, Greg Malcolm <greg at gregmalcolm.com>
> wrote:
> > Hi guys!
> > Some info about Python Koans:
> > Python Koans sessions are very easy to run. They come in the form of a
> suite
> > of of unit tests that confirm the functionality of Python itself. It
> starts
> > with the extreme basics: Asserts, None, strings, lists, eventually
> leading
> > to more complex subjects such as Generators and Decorators. The tests are
> > all initially in a state of not working, or need values filled out, so
> the
> > process of fixing them teaches the student how Python behaves.
> > The code for it is all available on both bitbucket and  github:
> >   http://bitbucket.org/gregmalcolm/python_koans
> >   http://github.com/gregmalcolm/python_koans
> > I've run this as a session a couple of times now, once at my local user
> > group, and once at PyOhio. Both times it seems to go down pretty well,
> > particularly among beginners. My approach is to give a very short
> talk/demo
> > at the beginning explaining the concept of TDD, how it relates to the
> Koans,
> > followed by a quick demo of solving the first couple of problems. From
> there
> > on in most of the work is wondering around the room making sure everyone
> got
> > set up ok and helping anyone who is stuck or has questions. I've brought
> an
> > assistant with me on both occasions.
> > As long as the assistant has at least spent a couple of  hours working
> > through the koans and knows their way around Python they should be good
> to
> > go. Having more than one assistant for a large audience is not a terrible
> > idea.
> > It also helps to have the koans available on cd and flash disk if the
> > wireless access cannot be relied on.
> > On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 12:10 PM, Catherine Devlin
> > <catherine.devlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> Sounds intriguing - if you do it, please report back on how it goes.
> >>
> >> Another possible approach: at PyOhio this year, Greg Malcolm led a
> session
> >> based on the Python Koans.  Greg, do you have any comments about how
> that
> >> went?  Since the Koans are already prepared and the students work
> through
> >> them on their own, you might be able to get somebody to lead it without
> too
> >> much advance work.  The big thing (it seems to me) would be making sure
> >> students are getting help to get them over humps, which your circulating
> >> instructors could do as with your ticket system.
> >>
> >> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 11:33 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> A couple of days ago we learned that our PyTexas 2010 volunteer teach
> >>> Python 101 had to drop out. Since the event is on Aug 28, we don't
> >>> have much time to find an instructor, or for that instructor to
> >>> prepare. We know students and other beginners are coming, so how can
> >>> we avert disaster?
> >>>
> >>> Maybe it's time to come up with a different approach. Having an
> >>> instructor speak in front of a class has never sensationally
> >>> effective, anyway. Students often have trouble paying attention and
> >>> retaining lecture material, even when starting class with the best of
> >>> intentions. So why not risk trying something different?
> >>>
> >>> I'd like to call for some new ideas, and to offer one for
> >>> consideration. Here goes:
> >>>
> >>> Instead of burdening one volunteer to be the single teacher, let's
> >>> schedule one or two hours at the beginning of the day for *all
> >>> attendees* to be involved in the Python introduction for beginners.
> >>> The entire lot of experienced PyTexas attendees could act as tutors
> >>> simultaneously in an ad-hoc arrangement. Sound crazy, a recipe for
> >>> chaos? Maybe...but if we could figure out the right structure to make
> >>> it effective, everyone would be challenged and have fun.
> >>>
> >>> According to our survey, over half of the respondents are experienced
> >>> Python developers, most of whom I think are capable of teaching, if
> >>> asked to explain a particular topic or faced with a chance to answer
> >>> specific student questions.  Those who can't be bothered to volunteer
> >>> can just show up late, but I would expect most of the attendees to
> >>> step up to the challenge.
> >>>
> >>> One idea for making this work would be to develop a strategy for
> >>> pairing up the students with the teachers who can explain what the
> >>> student needs to know. Here's how it might go:
> >>>
> >>> 0. We define a loose curricula in advance, listing all the core
> >>> fundamentals a student needs to understand. We can reference the
> >>> wealth of existing tutorials to build this curriculum.
> >>> 1. This curriculum could be divided up into variously colored paper
> >>> tickets, each representing important learning milestones (red tickets
> >>> for installation basics, green tickets for how to run scripts, white
> >>> tickets for language fundamentals, blue tickets for collections,
> >>> etc.).
> >>> 2. At the beginning of class, each student would pick up a ticket of
> >>> each color for the part they needed to learn.
> >>> 3. During class, students raise their hands waving a colored ticket in
> >>> the air to attract a tutor to come by and help them learn that
> >>> specific curriculum item.
> >>> 4. When a student is satisfied they understand that item well enough,
> >>> the ticket is given to the tutor to keep, like a trophy.
> >>> 5. At the end of class, success is gauged by how many tickets the
> >>> students still have. If any are left over, maybe time later in the day
> >>> can be found to resolve the remaining tickets.
> >>>
> >>> This plan assumes that all the students bring a laptop, but I am not
> >>> sure that is going to be possible. We might have to ask tutors to use
> >>> their own laptops for teaching students who don't have one.
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Advocacy mailing list
> >>> Advocacy at python.org
> >>> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/advocacy
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> - Catherine
> >> http://catherinedevlin.blogspot.com/
> >> *** PyOhio 2010 * July 31 - Aug 1 * Columbus, OH * pyohio.org ***
> >
> >
>
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From tim at freunds.net  Sun Aug  8 23:57:57 2010
From: tim at freunds.net (Tim Freund)
Date: Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:57:57 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to teach
 Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4C5F244B.7020202@freunds.net>

On 08/08/2010 12:16 PM, Brad Allen wrote:
>> When is the event?  What is th AV plan?
>
> Saturday, August 28  (see http://pytexas.org).
>
> Tim Freund volunteered to drive to Texas and help with AV. We're still
> waiting for other volunteers to step forward and assist, and I think
> we'll probably have some locals be forthcoming pretty soon. (My wife,
> Bonnie, will be on hand to help though she doesn't have any AV
> experience).
>
> Personally I'd enjoy having a video covering the event more like a
> news crew, rather than strictly one video per talk.
>
>   Tim? Do you want to say anything about AV-related planning?


Sure -- ebay has been good to me, and I was able to pick up three DV 
video cameras and two mixers for very little cash.  That plus the 
equipment I already owned should get us pretty far.  I'm planning to do 
a few dry runs over the next week just to test the new equipment.

I will also add some details to the recording page in the PyTexas wiki 
including:
- what we have
- what we may need
- what volunteers can do to help.

I'm new to video, so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.   Thanks!


Tim

-- 
Tim Freund
913-207-0983 | @timfreund
http://achievewith.us | http://tim.freunds.net


From kevin.horn at gmail.com  Mon Aug  9 06:36:31 2010
From: kevin.horn at gmail.com (Kevin Horn)
Date: Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:36:31 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] [Texas] [dfwPython] brainstorming new ways to
	teach Python 101
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikZYx2H4ndurLRsJSQ=OxpTr7zbqkZUh=n1muMw@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=6nbW0ZHOFDDDFxN7Ooyp+0upjmg4JRi2_xGMs@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=B_9=RmiH7i91AdzOPpZTx7VumhSyxKv3bDyhh@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTikZOP-K04yCf_PzwQPPjviPty+5FPZhp4EY0ei0@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=H_48ENb8y_486OsV3Wpa_NwywLMMN-j+_0tDr@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTik+Ry24tSVKuSXFcKXa5Xz6rCpOP8DM7kF=XvZx@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTi=-F+o5uTka7pmWesYKMOYtQpWdPeDpKfmsWCE3@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTim5Nxu=MSkP7sD+u31C+WOT7HVcpOqGmd5Rhqyj@mail.gmail.com>

On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 12:16 PM, Brad Allen <bradallen137 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 11:53 AM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com>
> wrote:
> > I have a 2 hour Python Syntax talk, which is really abou 150 things to
> enter
> > at the python prompt, with a few things to say about each.
>
> Cool, that sounds useful. Where can we find it?
>
> > When is the event?  What is th AV plan?
>
> Saturday, August 28  (see http://pytexas.org).
>
> Tim Freund volunteered to drive to Texas and help with AV. We're still
> waiting for other volunteers to step forward and assist, and I think
> we'll probably have some locals be forthcoming pretty soon. (My wife,
> Bonnie, will be on hand to help though she doesn't have any AV
> experience).
>
> Personally I'd enjoy having a video covering the event more like a
> news crew, rather than strictly one video per talk.
>

This is a cool idea, but there's a lot to be said for having one video per
talk as far as archival purposes are concerned.

I often like to kick back and watch videos from conferences I wasn't able to
attend (or for talks I missed) while waiting for long db builds or
compilation sessions.

Do we have the resources to do both?

Also, do we know what that groovy video-mixing software they use at PyCon is
called?

 Tim? Do you want to say anything about AV-related planning?
> _______________________________________________
> Texas mailing list
> Texas at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/texas
>
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From jdunck at gmail.com  Tue Aug 17 01:09:50 2010
From: jdunck at gmail.com (Jeremy Dunck)
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:09:50 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] Ripley: py101 Syntax talk for PyTexas
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimXRZAnW=e6zX0xbCsgdMeXintSg7O0BxXGe+ZD@mail.gmail.com>
References: <AANLkTikOFyFwVFAVnPwwEQXUBW44HrKYfYZBJS7ymSo+@mail.gmail.com>
	<AANLkTimXRZAnW=e6zX0xbCsgdMeXintSg7O0BxXGe+ZD@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=jXAV_oRmp8HXOmyani69C5tiwrCPhitOwkXqi@mail.gmail.com>

On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 6:03 PM, Carl Karsten <carl at personnelware.com> wrote:
> Can someone review
>
> http://github.com/CarlFK/Ripley/blob/master/ripley.txt

Will do.

> I may be giving it in a week or so.

At PyTexas, or elsewhere? :-)

From catherine.devlin at gmail.com  Thu Aug 19 11:39:32 2010
From: catherine.devlin at gmail.com (Catherine Devlin)
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 09:39:32 -0000
Subject: [python-advocacy] Ohio LinuxFest table suggestions
Message-ID: <AANLkTi==8HG2So-crLDMJ+pLbLWtwibxocPpjrK9wJQX@mail.gmail.com>

PyOhio is renting a table in the exhibitor area of Ohio LinuxFest again this
year.  We always use it to pitch Python in general as well as PyOhio in
particular.  I'd love your ideas for what to display at the table, what to
hand out, and so forth.

Thanks!

-- 
- Catherine
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