About Jumpstart Lab

• What makes these courses different?
• Who are the Instructors?
• What is Great, Guaranteed?
• How does the pricing work?
• What are the requirements to participate?

Jumpstart Lab Instructors

Jeff Casimir

I taught Computer Science at César Chávez PCS High School and was the Director of Data & Technology at Maya Angelou PCS before starting the Jumpstart Lab. My expertise in teaching has been developed through my direct experience in the classroom, my work coaching teachers, and work as a school administrator. I believe that good teaching, like any “good idea”, is simple and obvious:

1. Define success
2. Figure out the starting point
3. Break progress down into several measurable checkpoints along the way
4. Write a plan the moves backwards from the goal through each checkpoint until you get to the beginning.

Most people don’t approach technical education that way, though. When I go to conferences they most commonly take the approach of “talking about.”

• “What are you doing for your session?”
• “Oh, we’re going to talk about [A], then talk about [B], and if we have time [C,D,E].”

“Talking about” something is pretty worthless. What do you want people to know, what will they be able to do, and what are their next actions? If you can’t answer these questions then it isn’t worth everyone’s time. I don’t believe that you learn much by talking — you learn by doing. That’s what our Lab classes are all about — getting into it as soon as possible, building, creating, discovering, and learning.

So that’s the philosophy. For technical background, I…

• have a degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Arizona State
• have been programming in C++, Java, and Ruby since I was a kid
• taught Computer Science and AP CS using both Ruby and Java
• have written large-scale applications in Ruby and Rails including a School Information System (SIS) and a content-management system
• love to experiment and tinker with things like robots, stereos, wood, photography, graphic design, RockBand and anything else creative

Guest Instructors

Amy Hoy & Thomas Fuchs

Amy is an interface designer and developer specializing in simplifying complex processes into enjoyable tools. Thomas is a Javascript mastermind who has helped pioneer user-interactive interfaces on the web. Together they speak at conferences around the world (like SXSW, OSCON, RailsConf, Kings of Code, and many others), have a consulting company named Slash7, and have created many cool projects including Twistori, Freckle, Scriptaculous and Scripty2, as well as writing the book Javascript Performance Rocks!.

Amy and Thomas will coming to DC in October for a special one-day Javascript Jumpstart workshop geared towards people already experienced with Javascript. If you’re someone who’s used some of the great libraries available (like Scriptaculous/Prototype, MooTools, or JQuery) and want to take your skills to the next level this course is for you.