I want to make more friends who also code
~Becoming a Kamiyama Monosasu Cram School Instructor~

This is Maruyama from the Coding Factory Department.

Since January of this year, I have been working as a lecturer at Monosasu Juku, a course in Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture, where students can learn website coding.
This time, I would like to talk about leaving my workplace in Tokyo to become a lecturer, what it's like living in Kamiyama, the difficulties I've faced, and more.

I raised my hand because I wanted to make more friends who code.

I think it was around fall of last year.
From the manager, Ito:

"At Kamiyama Juku, Monosus will also be holding a class to train coders. Is there anyone interested in being a teacher?"

The following suggestion was made.
When I heard this word,

"How exciting that we can increase the number of people who can code at once!!"

I thought, and raised my hand.

It happened to be a time when I was thinking that it would be great if there were more people at Coding Factory who could code, so perhaps I was unconsciously hoping for such an opportunity.

Excitement alone is not enough,
Accepting reality and moving forward

I have always dreamed of giving technical presentations in front of an audience at web-related study groups.
Also, in our in-house study sessions with other coders, we liked sharing technical information that we had obtained from external study sessions or technical websites, so

"How can I help people who want to learn coding grow through my teaching?"

I was so excited at the thought.
I was also filled with unfounded confidence and motivation.

Looking back now, I think that the lack of evidence was what backfired.

In December, as part of my instructor training, I taught at the podium with the help of the previous instructor and supported students during practical exercises.

I thought I was helping them to a certain extent (though looking back, I wasn't helping them at all), but I received a message from Ito, the previous instructor who was also my supervisor.

"I don't think this is the attitude of someone who is serious about being a teacher. What will you do? Will you quit (teaching)?"
I was really shocked when I was told this.

From there, we firmly look at reality,

"What do students need to become coders?"
What fields of technology should I teach?
"What is the schedule interval?"

I began to think clearly and concretely about these things.

I am very grateful to my superiors who worked with me and gave me advice about the schedule and curriculum.

Curricula and textbooks created with great difficulty

Groping in the dark

In January, I took over from Ito and finally made my debut as an instructor.
When I debuted I was extremely nervous, and my lines were so monotone and monotone that it made me want to hold my head in my hands.

During the transition period, I received advice from the previous instructor, but I gritted my teeth and, despite the sometimes harsh words, continued to try to find my own way of teaching, striving to help the students enjoy coding and understand it better.

Before long, I was so worried that I was reading through university papers on education and jumping at any blog post I came across from a cram school, and my thoughts were completely lost.

A lecture style I discovered by chance

I had completely run out of ideas, but when I searched on Google, the word "active learning ^*1 " caught my eye.

Well-known styles of active learning include interactive debates between teachers and students (lecture style like that of "Harvard Business School") and group learning.

However, I felt that it would not be possible to incorporate this into the current Monosasu Juku as it was.

I believe that the results of coding can vary greatly depending on whether or not you have the prerequisite "knowledge" and "rules of thumb."

The instructor first taught the students the coding patterns used in the field for the target layout, as well as the reasons, theories, and implementation methods behind the implementation ("knowledge" and "rules of thumb"), and then had them work on short exercises.
During this time, we tried to create a flow where whenever students had questions or concerns, we would answer them and help them resolve them.

Because the reasons are explained thoroughly before implementation, students' understanding is deepened, and because instructors can standardize the source code to a certain extent, it is easier to manage and give advice. We were able to establish a style that has many advantages. I gained a lot from this program and think it was a very good experience.

Incorporating students' ideas

Lecture in earnest

As we had a little more time in the curriculum, starting in February we created a special class day called "Power Up Day" to help students improve their strengths and overcome their weaknesses.

We wanted that day to be a day where students could actively learn, different from regular classes that proceed according to a curriculum.
"I want to use WordPress."
"I want to learn more JavaScript."
"Is it okay to study like this?"
By listening to the students' requests and suggestions, such as those mentioned above, I was able to guide them in the right direction by creating technical textbooks, finding reference pages and books, and creating assignments.

I think incorporating their suggestions was a good idea, as it helped us to increase their motivation to code without discouraging them, and also to understand each person's strengths and weaknesses.

Good changes that have happened to me

There is much to teach and much to learn

As I've been working as a coding instructor, I've seen some positive changes in myself.

・I used to have difficulty reading other people's source code, but now I can. ・I can now read source code from reference books and the like more easily than before. ・I no longer get confused about my own coding methods and theories.

When students get stuck during exercises, I have to quickly interpret the different source code and give them appropriate advice. It's like doing source code reviews dozens of times a day.

Also, sometimes the students would teach me things like "Apparently this means this," so the knowledge was imported back into me, and I thought it was good that there was a cycle of input and output going on in a good way.

In addition, among the questions posed to me by the students every day, there were quite a few about coding techniques that I was unsure about and found difficult to decide upon, as well as techniques that I had used in the field without being clear about them. However, if the instructor was unsure about the answer, it would be difficult for the students, so I tried to state my answers clearly, providing reasons and theories.
As I have done this, I feel like my judgement has improved since then, to the point where I can "research something if I'm unsure" and "say it decisively if I'm not sure."

I believe that these positive changes have been an extremely useful experience for me in my future career as an engineer.

Life in Kamiyama

Me (left) and Yama-chan (right) shoveling snow together on a day of heavy snowfall. Photo by Kim-san

Now, I'd like to change the subject and tell you about life in Kamiyama.

Currently, I share a room with another student, Yama-chan, and another student, Kim-san, in a house about a five-minute walk from the Rural Improvement Center in Kamiyama Town, where Monosasu Juku is held. Basically, whoever notices something cooks, washes the dishes, takes out the trash, etc., and we share the responsibilities, and we are able to live a very well-balanced life.

Speaking personally, I lived with my parents until I graduated from university, and then I started living alone after moving to Tokyo.
I was the kind of person who would spend the whole weekend holed up in my room watching anime and coding alone, leading a gloomy life, so when I heard about the plan to live with a roommate,

"Hmm... When I searched online for information about room sharing, all I saw were negative reviews, and I've never done anything like that before, so there's no way!"

However, I found the gratitude of having food available when I came home tired from work, and the security of being able to chat with friends in a relaxing environment to be very comfortable and satisfying, and I grew to the point where I thought, "Maybe room sharing isn't so bad after all."

Through my life as a lecturer in Kamiyama

Sunset in front of Kamiyama Jinryo Elementary School with snow still remaining

"My only teaching experience is training my juniors through on-the-job training."
"I've actually spent more time diligently coding alone."

Now I am teaching coding to students at my school in Kamiyama.
If I hadn't decided to become a teacher, I probably wouldn't have changed so much.
After I decided to become a teacher, I faced a mountain of difficulties and hardships, but I am truly grateful that it gave me the opportunity to change myself.

I only have one month left as a teacher.
"Everyone grows, and I grow too."
I will do my best to make it something meaningful!