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3 of 8
Babbage University
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3 of 8
Babbage University
Metapolis' famed university. Named for the inventor of the computer, Charles Babbage: the first programmer.
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4 of 8
4 of 8Chapter 1: Inside a MetaCoder's Classroom
As you walk the quiet halls of Babbage University early on a Saturday morning, you stop to admire a painting of Charles Babbage himself, hanging on the wall.
Charles Babbage invented the computer, before there was electricity, before there were transistors, before there were LCD screens -- or so you learn from the plaque beneath the painting. You hear children laughing down the hall and you remember that you're here to observe a MetaCoders' class.
You hurry down to the classroom that MetaCoders rents from the university for weekend classes. Inside, you see a class of 10 students. The coach, Joseph, is at the front of the classroom, telling a story.
You stand in the doorway and listen, making the following observations:
- The students are really into this story. Only a few of them even notice you're standing in the doorway.
- Joseph is a fantastic storyteller. You realize, to your surprise, he's telling the story of Charles Babbage. It's the same story you began to read on the plaque beneath the painting.
- But Joseph is masterfully adapting the story to his audience of third through sixth graders. He asks them questions, like, "How do you think Babbage's computer worked if it didn't use electricity?" And "What do you think life would be like today if Babbage had never invented the computer?"
As Joseph wraps up the story, he announces, "Okay, that's it for Story Mode for now. If there's time at the end of class, we'll do another Story Mode, and I'll tell you how Charles Babbage and a woman named Ada Lovelace wrote programs for that computer before the machine was even built."
He then tells the class that they are switching to "Game Mode." All of the students seem to know what "Story Mode" and "Game Mode" mean -- and you too begin to get an intuition about the two modes as Joseph starts up a game he calls "Try It First." After a few minutes of writing on the white board and giving instructions, Joseph sets a timer and shouts "Go!"
The room goes quiet, save for the clicking of keyboards. Joseph takes this moment to come over to you.
"Welcome to Metapolis," he whispers. "I'm Joseph."
"You're good at telling stories," you say, shaking his hand.
"You will be too," says Joseph. "Stories and games are the heart of everything we do at MetaCoders. Then again, you've probably figured that out already -- given that we're both in a story right now."
"Yeah," you say. "I had a feeling that stories were important. What is Game Mode, though?"
"Ah," says Joseph. "At MetaCoders, there are exactly two 'class modalities' that a MetaCoders class should be in at any given time. As a coach, you get trained to facilitate those two modalities and to switch between them." He gestures at the students, all intently staring at their computers. "Each mode has a distinct 'feel' or 'energy.' As you can see, in Game Mode, every student's attention is on their task at hand. In Story Mode, their attention is on you -- unless you choose to redirect it, like when you ask questions to keep your audience engaged."
"Wow," you say, shaking your head. "Okay."
"Yeah, it seems like a lot right now," says Joseph, "but remember, this is only the very first chapter of your training! By the time you begin coaching, you'll have been trained on Story Mode, Game Mode, and how to transition easily between the two. Plus," he went on, "you'll learn how to read Classmaps and those are really helpful."
"Am I supposed to know what a Classmap is?"
"Not yet," he said. "I mention it now for the sake of foreshadowing; you'll learn about Classmaps in a later chapter. But in short, a Classmap is an outline of what stories you will tell and what games you will run for the duration of a class."
"So it's like a lesson plan?"
"Yeah. Well, Classmaps aren't quite the same as lesson plans -- just like coaches aren't quite the same as teachers. It may seem arbitrary now, but our specific words help define and clarify those differences."
"Okay, so let me see if I understand. A MetaCoders class is a sequence of Story Modes and Game Modes, and the map tells you what to do when?"
"Exactly!" said Joseph. "I'm impressed. Alright, let me give you the official guidelines for Story Mode and Game Mode." He rummages around in his pocket and finds a slip of paper that he hands to you. It reads:
Story Mode
Story Modes all have a few things in common.
Focal Points 1
All students share a common point of focus -- usually the coach, sometimes other students
Energy Level Normal
Students are engaged and interested -- but heartrates are low (compared to playing games). It's the kind of energy you experence when you watch an interesting show on television, or read an interesting book.
Comfort Zone Inside
Students are inside their comfort zone and able to pick up new information because they are relaxed and, ideally, in a state of narrative transportation.
Learning Gains Information and Values
During Story Mode, students may learn many things -- but the type of thing that stories teach is always the same. Stories communicate information and values.
Game Mode
Game Modes all have a few things in common.
Focal Points Many
Students have multiple points of focus -- a few may be focused on one computer and activity here, and someone working solo on another task over there, these two working with a coach here...
Energy Level High
Students are striving to achieve a well-defined goal -- and heartrates may be higher (compared to listening to stories). It's the kind of energy you experence when you have to finish a difficult but acheivable task under time pressure.
Comfort Zone Outside
Students are slightly outside of their comfort zone. Psychologists use the term "flow state" to describe what we experience when we play games -- when we are doing something that is not too easy (so we need to focus) and not too hard (so we stay engaged), challenging but acheivable.
Learning Gains Skills and Fluencies
During Game Mode, students may learn many things -- but the type of thing they teach is always the same. Games train skills and fluencies.
"Can I keep this?" you ask.
"Sorry," says Joseph. "I need it back. But the nice thing about us both being characters in a story is that we're not going anywhere. Metapolis is timeless. So is Babbage University. So is this conversation we're having. We'll always be right here, in Chapter 1, at Babbage University, having this exact conversation. That's how it works in Metapolis: As long as you remember where you learned something, you can always find it again."
"I suppose that makes sense..."
Joseph checks his coach timer. "Now I've gotta go around and check on my students. Gabbi over there has taken a few MetaCoders courses already, so I might have to give her an extra challenge before the timer beeps."
You follow Joseph as he walks to Gabbi and glances at her computer screen. It has a lot of code on it that you don't understand yet -- but you can tell that she has written everything on the whiteboard, and more.
"Gabbi, here's another challenge card," says Joseph. "You still have 2 minutes. See if you can add features of the code on this card to the code you've written already."
"Cool!" says Gabbi, taking the card and starting to read it.
When you and Joseph walk out of Gabbi's earshot, you ask, "So there are students of different levels in the same class?"
"Always," says Joseph. "Gabbi's mom is a software engineer at TechSquared and she's been sending Gabbi to MetaCoders for the last year or so. But many of the kids here just started. In fact, Gabbi has heard the Charles Babbage story before -- so I'm going to ask her to help me tell the last part of it at the end of class. It's a great way to engage advanced students."
"Is that on the classmap? Does it say: 'Give Gabbi extra challenges during Game Mode' and 'Have Gabbi help tell stories during Story Mode'?"
"Nope. I gave her an extra challenge during Game Mode because that's part of the definition of Game Mode -- a goal-directed activity that is just outside of their comfort zones. Gabbi has a different comfort zone, so I adapted. As for Story Mode, the sooner you get students to tell stories with you, the sooner you're developing their leadership skills. There are lots of skills we want to build in our students, not just coding ability."
With that, Joseph's timer goes off and he jumps back in to the group of students. You watch the rest of the class, a few more games in Game Mode, and then the final Story Mode that Joseph referred to at the beginning of class. Before you know it, class is over -- it did not feel like an hour and a half! Joseph rejoins you after saying goodbye to the last student.
"Well then," Joseph says. "That's about all I have for you here. You should head over to Hopper Library; you'll see Ruby and get to know one of our long-time students who has recently become a junior coach. I'll see you again soon: either back here or in a new story down the road!"
Joseph gives you a jaunty wave and heads off down the hall.
You wonder briefly if all characters in Metapolis are going to be this strangely self-aware...
Chapter 1: Inside a MetaCoder's Classroom
Sat, April 24 10:00 AM
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Dijsktra Elementary
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Dijsktra Elementary
Named for a cool dude.Story Table of Contents
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Lovelace Elementary
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Lovelace Elementary
Named for Ada Lovelace, one of the world's first programmers. Her life was tragically short, but her legacy shall live forever.
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Margaret Hamilton Elementary
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Margaret Hamilton Elementary
Named for the an American computer scientist, systems engineer and business owner. She was director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for NASA's Apollo space program.Story Table of Contents
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Pascal Elementary
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Pascal Elementary
Named for a cool dude.Story Table of Contents
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Bruce's House
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Bruce's House
Bruce is MetaCoder's newest Coding Coach in Metapolis; he was hired at the beginning of March. He lives here with his family.
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Jack's House
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Jack's House
Jack's place has an extra room that is used as an office space, this is where he will keep all the equipment.
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John's House
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John's House
John lives in a condo that has a side gate with easy access to his back door, inside he has a small room inside where he keeps all the equipment.
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Joseph's House
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Joseph's House
This is where Joseph lives. Or so he tells us.
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Kate's House
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Kate's House
Kate's house has a driveway and a garage where she keeps all the equipment.
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Ruby's House
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Ruby's House
This is where Ruby lives.
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Coder Cafe
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Coder Cafe
A quaint coffee shop frequented by coders of all sorts.
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5 of 8
Hopper Library
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5 of 8
Hopper Library
Named after Grace Hopper, who created the first computer language compiler, which led to the COBOL programming language.
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6 of 8
6 of 8Chapter 1: A Student's Journey
As you walk into Hopper Library, you see two pictures hanging on the wall. One is a photograph of a piece of paper with a moth taped to it. The plaque beneath it simply reads, "a literal computer bug."
The other is a portrait of Grace Hopper, according to its corresponding plaque, an American computer scientist who rose to the ranks of United States Navy rear admiral.
Her plaque lists several contributions -- inventing the first compiler, inventing the COBOL programming language, and for literally "debugging" the Mark II computer by pulling a moth out of it.
You continue into Hopper Library and, with the help of a friendly librarian, find your way to the room in the back where MetaCoders holds a weekly coding class.
You peer in and instantly recognize that the class is in Story Mode. But this time, the person telling the story doesn't look like a coach -- he looks like a teenager. He is wearing a MetaCoders hoodie that reads "Junior Coach" on the back. You half-expect him to be telling the story of Grace Hopper and the moth -- but as you listen, you realize that he talking about himself.
"I started at MetaCoders three years ago, in the last city I lived." he says. "I still remember my first class. I was nervous. I was a bit awkward. I was there because I wanted to learn how to code computer games. How many of you joined this class because you want to learn to code games?"
The majority of the seven students raise their hands. One kid starts to joke that he's here because he wants to learn how to be a hacker so he can --
"Good!" says the junior coach, directing the attention back to himself. "You'll definitely learn how to make games. And you'll definitely learn what 'hacking' means. But I want you to know that I learned a lot more than just coding in my three years at MetaCoders. Does anyone know what leadership skills are?"
Most of the kids raise their hands. The kid who wants to be a hacker stands up and starts to "helpfully" demonstrate what it means to be a leader by giving a mock speech: "Four score and seven years ago--"
This time the actual coach, whose nametag reads "Ruby", steps in. "Jonah, sit down please" she says. The other students, who had been starting to giggle, quiet down. "That's strike one. Remember what we discussed last week." Then to the class, "How many points of focus there should be during Story Mode?"
Several of the kids raise their hands -- as does Jonah. Ruby calls on another student, who answers "one."
"Correct!" says Ruby. "Who should have that focus right now?"
There is some confusion, as some of the students suggest the junior coach and some suggest Ruby.
"That was a tricky one! I have the focus right now. But, that's about to change as I pass things back over to Mateo to finish his story!" Ruby steps aside.
"Does anyone know what leadership skills are?" the junior coach, Mateo, asks again. He gets a couple answers from the students, before he continues with his story. "Since I want to work in video game development company, I am going to have to work with other coders, as a teammate and as leader. By learning more than just coding, but these leadership skills, and now practicing them as a junior coach, I'm becoming an even better programmer and future game developer! Do any of you think you might want to be a junior coach in a few years?"
Most of the students, including Jonah, raise their hands.
"Nice!" Ruby cuts in. "Learning to code and learning to coach go hand in hand. When you're learning to code, you always have to coach at least one person. Who is that?"
Jonah's hand shoots up.
"Jonah?" she says.
"Yourself?" he says.
"Correct!" she says. "MetaCoders coaches study coding and also how people's brains learn to code. That's an important skill even if you're just coaching yourself. Everyone here has a brain right?"
The kids laugh, and Ruby uses the shift in energy to transition the class to Game Mode. After she has explained the game, Ruby hands the reins back over to Mateo to run the game, then comes over to join you.
"Welcome," says Ruby. "I'm glad you got to see Mateo's story!"
"Yeah," you say. "He did a great job. I'm getting a little nervous about all these stories -- everyone seems to tell them so well and easily."
"Maybe now we do," Ruby says, "but it took practice for all of us! Mateo worked really hard on his story and storytelling skills to get to the point where he could tell this story today. I was pretty unsure about the whole thing myself, but now I find that I usually end up telling stories from my own life that get across the value I want to discuss, rather than one of the stories MetaCoders provide."
"Like what?" you ask. Ruby thinks for a moment before she answers.
"When I have a group that is struggling with resiliency and grit, I like to tell them a story about my first NaNoWrMo -- National Novel Writing Month-"
"But I thought you had to talk about coding..." you say.
"Nope!" Ruby says. "I have a lot of coding stories now, but when I started as a coach, I was very new to all that. I told a lot of stories about my experiences as a writer. I still use those stories, because the skills students learn here go far beyond a computer coding context and I want students to be thinking about that."
"That makes sense." You say. "Sorry I interrupted; what is the NaNo... Novel... Month story you were talking about?"
"Don't worry about it!" Ruby continues, "Several years ago, I was just starting to seriously think about becoming a novelist, but I kept writing the first page and getting stuck. I would get really discouraged that it wasn't perfect and quit. I didn't have any grit. But one year, I decided I was going to try National Novel Writing Month. Participants start a novel on November 1st and finish with a 50,000-word book on the 30th. I knew the only way I was going to get past the first page is if I just did it, and didn't ask myself whether or not it was good or bad until December 1st. I didn't even look back at anything I wrote; I just kept writing to reach that word count! By the end of the month I hated that story -- but I loved that I had actually finished it. At the end, I finally had a novel: even if it wasn't a good one."
You nod. "I guess your stories can also just be about life and learning."
"Right. MetaCoders pride ourselves that what students learn with us is more than how to code: it's how to learn. Metacognition, you know!"
"I'm sorry, I am not sure I know-" You start to say.
"Right. We are still in Chapter One; I forgot," Ruby says. "You'll learn more about metacognition later. Long story short, metacognition is thinking about your own brain and how it learns new things. Very meta."
You are still a bit confused, but as Ruby turns back to the class, you start to realize that MetaCoders has a consistent set of values -- ones that pertain in equal parts to the learning of coding and the science of learning. You figure that if these kids can be getting it, you should be able to too.
Chapter 1: A Student's Journey
Thu, April 29 3:00 PM
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MetaCoders HQ
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MetaCoders HQ
The mothership hovers benevolently over the city of Metapolis. The population thrives in the cool shade beneath.Story Table of Contents
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Kick Butt Martial Arts
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Kick Butt Martial Arts
A local business owned by Johnny Lawrence.
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1 of 8
Metapolis Welcome Center
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1 of 8
Metapolis Welcome Center
Where all vistors to Metapolis are encouraged to begin their journey.Hint: Most quests will start here...
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2 of 8
2 of 8Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time...
Welcome to Metapolis! As you can probably see by looking around, Metapolis is not a real city. Rather, it is a city created with code -- a model of reality.We created Metapolis as the imaginary site for your MetaCoders coach training for a few reasons:
- Human brains organize information better when it is organized spatially -- and we actually want you to remember this stuff! So as you traverse the city of Metapolis, one click at a time, we hope you'll imagine the places and characters you'll meet.
- Being a MetaCoders coach is about more than just being a coach. It's about being part of a coding ecosystem that includes coaches, students, parents, technology coordinators, curriculum developers, and more. Whether it's Metapolis or the real city that you're currently living in, we never want you to lose sight of the big picture.
- It's fun!
In Metapolis, there are several coaches and several places where coaches and students gather to learn the arts of coding: Babbage University, Hopper Library, and Lovelace Elementary -- just to name a few.
Your training will involve several chapters. Each chapter will include a journey through Metapolis, glimpsing first-hand inside the classrooms of the city, and even inside the minds of the students and coaches therein. We will travel through time and space to experience all the aspects of being a MetaCoders Coach.
Thank you for being here with us. We hope you enjoy your stay.
In this chapter, we are visiting Metapolis in early May -- Spring has sprung in Metapolis, and everywhere you look there are flowers, new life, and people outside, enjoying the warm, sunny days.
We will stop at a few places today:
- Babbage University, where we'll observe a smoothly-running coding classroom, with an excellent coach -- like the one you (one day) will be.
- Hopper Library, where we'll observe another classroom and we'll meet a long-time student who is also training to be a coach.
- Metapolis Welcome Center (where we are now) -- where we'll wrap up and help you prepare for this chapter's assessment.
Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time...
Sat, April 24 9:00 AM
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8 of 8
8 of 8Chapter 1: Epilogue
You're back! If you did the right thing, your progress bar should now be full. If not, you may have missed something.
Next up is the self-assessment. Since this will be your first official assessment, we'll remind you of a few things:
- If you don't know how to start an assessment, you missed something in the previous chapter (the Intro Chapter). Go back and learn how to install the software and run a deck of flashcards.
- Assessments are optional unless you are getting an official MetaCoders coach certification -- in which case they are mandatory.
- Submitting an assessment involves recording a video of your screen and audio while you have a flashcard deck running.
- The flashcard deck should be visible on screen at all times.
- All flashcards have a timer. Maybe 10 seconds for a simple vocabulary question. A few (in the later chapters) are 10 minutes and ask you to code something on screen.
- If the flashcard asks you to navigate somewhere in your browser or code something onscreen. Do so. And narrate what you are doing verbally.
- If the flashcard asks you to discuss something or tell a story: simply speak. We'll listen to the audio and assess your verbal answers for correctness and (as your training progresses) for vocal intonation and storytelling skill.
- The flashcards will not be a surprise. You may study the fronts and backs as much as you wish before submitting your video.
As is always the case at MetaCoders, we never ask anyone to do anything without knowing why. So if you happen to be nervous about recording yourself and happen to be asking "But why can't I just write my answers down and send them in?" The answer is simple: to be truely fluent, timing matters. When you step into a classroom, we need you to not just "know stuff." We need you do be deeply fluent in the things we're teaching you; so the information is ready for you when you need it.
Traditional education usually assesses you on what you are able to write down and turn in. But this means that students often never get assessed on how quickly or effortlessly you are able to recall that information. As we'll discuss in more detail in later chapters, that's part of the definition of "fluency" -- an ability to recall things quickly and effortlessly.
We hold our coding coaches to a high standard -- both as coders and as coaches. That's why we assess fluency instead of knowledge. Knowledge is slow; fluency is fast.
But that's why we also let you see the answers before you take the test, and we let you take as many practice tests as you want. We blur the line between test and learning. You'll learn even more from the act of studying for the assessments than you will from reading through the materials and watching our videos.
On that note, you should know one more thing. Assessments are sometimes tricky in two ways (so do not be alarmed when you come across cards of these types):
- Foreshadowing Cards Not every flashcard will have been answered in the chapter's materials. When we do this, the card is designed to be both easy enough for you to learn by looking at the back. And we expect you to look at the back and memorize the answer. These cards always foreshadow something that you will learn more deeply in a future chapter. There are two coding flashcards in this chapter's assessment that are of this sort.
- Flashback Cards Not all of the stuff you learn in a chapter will have a flashcard in that chapter's assessment. Often, a later chapter's assessment will assess you on content from a previous chapter. For example, there are no flashcards in this chapter's assessment about Game Mode and Story Mode -- but you can bet there will be in chapters coming up.
In cases like these, the flashcards are not broken. We've just designed them in a very particular way -- a way that we genuinely believe will make you more fluent faster.
Ultimately, that's what we care about at MetaCoders -- fluent coaches that train fluent students. We've seen it happen. We know you can do it. But we need your help. If at any time you need ours, don't hesitate to email us at training@metacoders.org. But also, don't be the kind of student who raises your hand (via email) every time you get stuck. Practice grit. Practice problem-solving.
Become the most fluent coder/coach you can. Do it for yourself -- because coding is one of the most sought-after skills on this planet today. Do it for your students for the same reason.
We're lucky to have you. Train hard so that your students will be lucky to have you too.
Here's a study guide video for this chapter.
Chapter 1: Epilogue
Fri, April 30 12:00 AM
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TechSquared
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TechSquared
A big business that does big, big things.
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Turing Recreational Center
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Turing Recreational Center
Named after Alan Turing -- considered the father of theoretical computer science and A.I.
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Assess
#lang mc-coach-assess
(view-deck (chapter-1))
(test-with-deck (chapter-1))Hints
- Start at the Metapolis Welcome Center
- Find the green icons in order: 1 of 8
- There are 4 stories to find in this Chapter.
- Stories without these icons will not be on the test.