anObservation and anIdea

Michael Guenter michael at ns.kanazawa-h.ed.jp
Tue Jul 3 22:45:21 UTC 2001


Hi,

I submit this with all humility and respect.


anObservation: The Squeak community is open to new members/users and in
fact, is trying to gain greater recognition.  The Squeak community is not
only polite, but friendly, and very helpful too.


aProposal:  a StudyBuddy system / SempaiKohai system for teaching/learning
Squeak.

aPossibleMethod:  

Experienced Squeakers take on Newbies for the purpose of workingClosely
(i.e., answering questions and offering suggestions through individual
e-mail correspondence) with Newbies regarding theTutorials or
beginnerProjects.  

informalContractsOrGoals are agreed upon to limit the duration and nature of
theCommitment by both parties.  Correspondence is saved in aDocument to be
edited and posted at a later date as anAdditionalTutorial on aSpecificTopic.


possibleOutcomes:  

1.  Newbies who lose their "newbie-ity" a little quicker and become
contributingMembers of the community.

2.  additionalTutorials, topic specific, that can be made available to other
Newbies and those who mightBeInterested.

3.  anOpportunity for experienced members to share theirKnowledge and
experience theRewards of watchingSomeoneGrowAndLearn.

A little about Me:

I have finally reached the point where I feel like I have the Rosetta stone.
I am currently going through the Objects for SameGame and FreeCell and am
trying to understand and mimic the objects, and create my own application.
Though the tutorials have helped me tremendously (they are my Rosetta
stone), I would learn quicker if I could ask specific questions regarding
the language and tasks of which I am familiar. I don't feel comfortable
asking all of my questions on the Squeak mailing list (some of them are too
basic, and others are "too numerous").  I value everyone's time, just as I
value my own.

My name is Michael Guenter.  I have a B.Ed in Elementary Education, M.Ed. in
Educational Psychology, Deafness Studies, and am finishing my Ph.D. in
Special Education.  I am currently teaching English in Japan.

Goals:  My immediate goals are: a) to develop understanding and skills in a
pure form of Object Oriented Programming (thus I have chosen Squeak), and b)
to develop a simple database for student information, and a program for the
administrative tasks of a game called Trailblazer.  My long term goals are:
a) to develop deep understanding of, and proficient skills in, Object
Oriented programming, and b) to introduce my son, who is now 4 1/2, to
computer programming when he and I are both ready.

Is anyone interested in being my Sempai / Study buddy?  What do you think of
the proposal?  

Sincerely,
Michael









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