For high school students who love to program, a great activity is competing in the qualifying competitions for the USA Computing Olympiad (USACO). Even if you aren’t advanced or don’t have a lot of practice, you can enjoy the bronze and silver levels of competition. If you do really well, you can move up to the gold or even platinum competitions.
I specialize in training students who are just starting out or have enough experience to enjoy the bronze and silver levels of competition.
Experience in these competitions is a good way to stand out on a college application.
I help you discover what you can really do
Whether you are struggling or already advanced, I don’t believe in judging your abilities ahead of time or putting you in a box. I’m here to be your guide to discovering what you can really do when given encouragement.
Personalized attention with freedom to find your way yourself
As we work together, I’ll put focused attention on your learning needs and also give you permission to find your way and freedom to have your own insights, which I believe is the best way to go beyond memorization to a real understanding.
Make connections
I explain ideas so you can really understand them and make larger connections. I'll also connect ideas to the world of professional programming.
General programming topics we’ll cover
I’ll give you a thorough grounding in
- Basic and important programming concepts
- The unique features of the language and how to take advantage of them
- Problem solving skills, particularly the strategy of breaking down problems and finding solutions one at a time
- Debugging skills, which many courses and teachers neglect
Homework
I’ll give you homework assignments and recommend a companion course that you can use between our sessions.
If this sounds good and you’d like a free consultation about how I can help you, contact me today!
Contact meMy qualifications
My computer science degree from Caltech is only part of what makes me a good teacher. I’ve been interested in teaching my whole life, in particular developing the soft skills of patience and the ability to see things from the perspective of a student.
- Degree in computer science from Caltech
- 19 years as a professional coder in five different languages, including 16 years at NASA
- 500 hours of training in mindfulness and learning strategies
- Lifelong interest in teaching strategies, in particular how to make the experience enjoyable for beginners