Contributing to this site

Maiden Speech

Identify a learning focus. Consider something that you want to grow in or a known area of weakness. Examples include "I want to write all my code using Test Driven Development" or "I want to write code that has less defects in it." or "I know that I can solve a software problem, but my solution isn't elegant." Borrowing from the Software Craftsmanship distribution list, this might be a "maiden speech" of the form "For me Software Craftsmanship includes the notion of 'X'. I want to get better at 'X'. What does the community think will help me improve 'X'" (1/15/2011 by Rare Pleasures aka email@acgreen.co.uk) Once you have identified this, please do a "blog post" that starts with "Maiden speech" in its title and tag it as a "Maiden speech" -- an example is here -- note that titles might be unique on this system. (Due by second class)

Learning Activity

An activity is a means to an end. Examples include specific Katas as well as any of the Apprenticeship Patterns (Hoover, Oshineye). 

For example, if you decided that you wanted to do the Prime Factors Kata. First see if anyone has posted in on this website. If not, create a blog posting describing what the activity is. In your own words, describe

  1. what the activity is,
  2. the purpose or goal of the activity,
  3. what you like about it and why you think others should try it

While you work on the activity, record how long it takes you to do it. If you are doing a coding exercise, record your work with a github account and do commits throughout the process so that you can see what your thought pattern was. Ask a peer to review your solution to see if there are improvements to be had. Once done, post a comment about the activity answer the questions listed here. If you do someone else's activity, post a comment on their blog as well:

  1. Would you recommend this activity to a peer? (and why)
  2. How many starts would you give it?
  3. How much time did you spend on the activity?
  4. What worked well?
  5. What didn't work well? (Suggestions for improvement)
  6. What programming language did you use?
  7. Where there any "ah-hah!" moments or unintendend consequences? (In other words, would you add something to the original goal list?)
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