| Teach them using Scheme and some other language, but begin with Scheme. * explain what a variable is and how to create and assign a value to it * explain what a list is * explain what a lambda is * explain and show if else loops... * explain what a closure is * show them how to build a struct out of closures * explain what a class is * show them how to build a class out of a struct * explain what an interface is * explain what a module is and why it exists * now show your trainee another programming language * point out that the other language contains more or less the same building blocks as Scheme * talk about how to format code * explain a bit the command-line * talk about basic patterns, like builder and singleton * talk and show how some pieces of code could be written in different ways and why one solution might be "cleaner" than another * read some code on the internet together * do an excursion to databases (sqlite) * point out what your trainee knows and where he could study topics by himself further * show them some tools you like and some other popular tools * talk about what kind of languages, frameworks different programming disciplines a.k.a. dev-stacks are being used today (this is important to get a rough overview, as beginner, you don't know what you don't know) Don't: * throw a million buzzwords at your trainee * don't try to be neutral, be opinionated about the topics/technologies you teach and tell your students why you think/act in a certain way * don't teach a topic by going through every point in existence (this approach takes long and is confusing as hell, because it mixes too much information targeted at different skill levels into one stream of unsorted information - doing this is a major failure) * don't do math (math is a sub-field, it is not needed to understand how-to program) * don't show off that you are smarter by throwing too complex problems or solutions at your students * don't reach for the limit, a relaxed mind is capable of more |