How I Taught Myself Code
Thanks to one great resource
People are learning code because it’s fun and profitable. In the future of work, it may even be required. That much is clear. What’s unclear is the path to learning.
It took me two months (mostly weekends) and some weeks where I totally skipped and did nothing, but I’m done with one certificate (image below). Here’s how I did it.
I found a great resource 💞
I love freeCodeCamp. But look: I’m a teacher. I’ve gotten good at learning how to learn, vetting resources, and building course curriculum. I know how to teach myself and others. I can say with confidence: FCC stands out as a great resource for learning basic HTML/CSS. (Resources that didn’t make the cut: The Odin Project, Code Academy, Coursera.)
This table (below) is a breakdown of my time spent on FCC. You can see I started in September with lots of activity then slowed down a lot in October. Part of it is because the earlier tasks were easier to complete but I also lost motivation/interest.
This next part was key. I didn’t look at hours I put in because I didn’t want pressure or anxiety to creep into my main purpose of learning code (which was for fun — and to teach better). Still, I’m glad FCC offers these activity insights because it helps me breakdown my workflow and energy/motivation after the fact, play-by-play.
So, I recommend FCC for autodidacts, teachers, and people bored in quarantine. FCC is great for learning and teaching code. (A fifth grader I work with says it’s “the best thing ever.”)
And hey, it’s okay if productivity hacks don’t work for you, friend 💖
Writers tout tools like RescueTime and swear by the Pomodoro Technique for learning code. Be careful. There’s no magic to productivity. Recipe-style, bullet-point solutions to problems like focusing on a task or reaching a goal are superficial and profitable for writers. If David Allen’s Getting Things Done works for you, fine. It may not one day, though. And that’s okay! We phase in and out of attention all the time and require different props and tricks and hacks to stay sensitive to tasks.
That being said, FCC is fun to use. The first few challenges walk you through making a basic Cat Photo App. Each challenge you complete rewards you with a darling animation and “good job,” said in different words each time. Like “Nothing but net!” and “You’ve got the touch!” It’s fantastic.
Look What You Can Do With FCC!
By the end of the course, I was able to build this:
So, what, is this one long fanboy article for FCC? Yes. But I’ve saved the best for last: FCC is free! The community is great and it’s fun. So go, get crackin’!
Here are three quick tips to teach yourself code:
- Know why you’re doing it. I wanted to teach my students the fundamentals of code better. But there are many whys in this world! And as time goes on, I find more applications for code. Some call coding a force multiplier because computational thinking enhances other life/work experiences.
- Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. As I said from the get-go, there were weeks where I did absolutely nothing, code-wise. That’s fine! Your brain may be in the “diffuse” mode of learning, which my dear friend Dr. Barbara Oakley (she has no idea who I am — yet!) raves about in the free online course Learning How to Learn. As a teacher, I know the joy of learning is a real, and it can be for you, too!
- Find an accountability partner. Mine was my dad. I sent him emails of my work, and that made me feel really proud of myself (image below).
So, are you learning code? How’s it going? I’d love to hear from you! 👩💻💖
