June/July: Teaching at iD Tech; Mr. Riley from high school!

Last summer, I had my first paid job in several years! I was an instructor at iD Tech, a summer camp. You can learn more about iD Tech here. In a nutshell, I would spend 7 weeks at a local college teaching kids and teens, 8–18, about computer programming and game design.

This is "c-jump," a board game about skiing … and computer programming. Only at a tech camp. =) The game is supposed to teach programming and logic, and I thought it was worth a try. But the kids didn't play it much because there were always more exciting options. (This was not just programming class but also summer camp, after all!)

During break times, there was always a physical-activity option, like the kickball game in the background, and a non-physical option, like playing cards while staying in the shade….


Here, I'm moderating a game called "Dictator!" This game was amazing.

Dictator! plays like Mafia/Werewolf/Witch Hunt, with a twist: Rather than vote someone out, the group elects a Dictator, who can then kick someone out. It's a small but profound change. All the kids liked it, young or older. Best of all, Dictator was created by a fellow instructor, Sandman! (Each instructor had a camp nickname.)

While I taught for 7 weeks, each week was a different group of campers. One of the highlights at the end of each week was this. Can you guess what's happening?








It's a pieing! Each week, one lucky camper gets to choose one unlucky instructor. That camper gets to pie the instructor!

Yes, one week even I got pied!






One of my classes. A core feature of iD Tech is no more than 8 students per instructor. This was funny hat/hair day.





Another class. The whiteboard says "Fusion" and "Homulan." That week's class was Multimedia Fusion 2 Developer, and Homulan was my camp name. (It's a play off of Star Trek's "Romulan.") What's neat is that we strived for each camper to create her or his own project/game, in only 5 days! And some campers were only 7 or 8 years old! (Of course, we taught different software to different age groups.)

A third class. Some kids are so good at making funny faces. =) Good times.






My smallest class, with only 4 students. (One had to leave early.)

This was our "tough camper" photo. Don't mess with us! =)

You know, it was tough saying goodbye each week to all the wonderful campers. Fortunately, it seemed like each week another group of wonderful kids and teens would arrive. Still, it could easily be physically or emotionally draining.

This was my first time really teaching. (I had tutored before.) And many weeks I had to learn completely new software/curriculum. By the end of the summer, I had learned and evolved a lot.

I think this was a whiteboard on Friday of my 2nd-to-last week: 3-D Game Design: Role-Playing Games. Each camper learned the Neverwinter Nights 2 engine and used it to make her own RPG module. That was my 2nd time teaching the course, so I actually had a plan. =)

From iD Tech

This is the whiteboard of my last week: Adventures in Game Design. Most of the whiteboard is filled with a giant table, with one column for each of my campers. I made the table because I wanted to track each camper's progress, and I wanted each camper to know her own progress. All things considered, it worked well!

How was my summer-camp teaching experience? Overall, I definitely owe iD Tech a huge "Thank you!!!" I learned a ton, had a lot of fun and I met a lot of people/kids/teens. The pay is good––for a college kid (many instructors are still in college or just graduated).

Though I had never taught a class before, I've always been interested in "education." And some have suggested I'd make a good teacher, perhaps in high school or college. While I feel more drawn to educating via making apps, I'm glad I got to try teaching. And I definitely learned a few things.

It a bit of a sad twist, later last year I took an online course on "How to Learn/Teach Math," and that was even more eye-opening. I really wish I had taken the course before iD Tech, as it would've made me an even better teacher. Oh well, I can still apply the lessons to my apps! (Tip: A "growth" mindset is much better than a "fixed" mindset.)

From Mr. Riley

Finally, I had an improbable occurrence while teaching. iD Tech camps are always at colleges and universities, which is cool because the campers get a little taste of dorm/college life. While eating in the college cafeteria, I saw a familiar-looking older gentleman at another table. I went over and, sure enough, it was Mr. Riley!!

Mr. Riley was a science teacher at my high school. He also ran the "Chess and Games Club," which was my home at school. Whatever day was "Chess and Games" day was the best day of the week.

What was Mr. Riley doing in a college cafeteria almost 20 years later? He was taking a teacher-training course because he was going to teach one last time at another school, for his granddaughter. Isn't that sweet?

I spent many hours each week, for four years, in the "Chess and Games" club with Mr. Riley. But only at that brief meal in the cafeteria did I really get to talk to him as one adult to another.

It's improbable events like that that help me know I was where I was supposed to be. On the other hand, maybe I wasn't supposed to be there, and God was just being gracious. Hmm…. Either way, I'll take it. =)