Lesson Plans - Colt & Juda - As of Nov 10, 2016          See Nov 17 Message following up on this one

I've come up with a plan for our sessions in Marion.

My best guess is that it's now time for a more stuctured, goal oriented, learning process. I'd like to try this approach - but I'm can be flexible and will stay open to adjusting whatever we do to what you guys think is best.

I have three specific goals:

• To teach some things that I think both of you need to learn. I will put together a list of these and we will spend time on at least one of them each session. The next one will be what I call "bits and bytes". It includes how computers store data and how to work with binary numbers. CSS may fall into this category.
  
  
• To spend some time with Juda specifically focused on things he is learning. I will maintain a list of possible assignments that he can work on, but he can also define tasks he want to pursue. I will spend some time in class related to whatever he is currently working on. In some cases this part of the class may be of interest, and useful, to both of you, but not always. I think Juda is ready to start working with PHP and MySql, but I think Colt needs to learn other things before he spends much time on those.

  Though Juda is ready for some PHP and MySql, which I consider advanced, I think he also needs to be able to handle some other aspects of JavaScript (such as data structures, prototypes and functions), and learn how to use CSS to do those things for which it is the best approach.

• To spend time with Colt following a lesson plan of topics I want him to learn. I will prepare a first cut of the what I think should be covered and we can revise it as we move through. Basically I want to start with HTML & CSS. Next up will be JavaScript. I want Colt to have a decent grasp of those three before we spend much time on PHP. We may do some simple things in PHP along the way.

  Though I can show some things I think are expecially important, my best guess is that we should try working with the W3Schools Tutorials initially. Colt, I will discuss with you whether you can do any work with those between classes. I'm OK with however that works out.

Other Comments

The experience today of trying to explain to Colt the PHP examples of an order form for tires, oil and sparkplugs was a primary motivation for my decision to set up a more structured learning process. That example had a somewhat advanced use of JavaScript functions as well as a separate PHP file. I recognized that way of handling JavaScript functions from study last spring, but I did not understand it well enough to explain it. It made me realize that it would be good to work up to that sort of thing rather trying to jump too far ahead.

I think my primary role as your teacher is to help choose what to learn next and to help you learn it. However, given the learning resources available on the internet, you could choose to learn other things related to web page development. That's fine with me. Though I can cover some things in our sessions and can answer, or get answers to, specific questions, I strongly encourage each of you to use the online tutorials, and Google, to help you learn those areas I suggest are next up for you.

I believe it would be of considerable value to each of us, including me, to work through the W3Schools tutorials for HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP.