Getting started

1. Working with Children Check (WWC)

We require all tutors to have a Working With Children Check - you can get one for free and the process is really easy! Before your first workshop send your node coordinator an email with your full name, WWCC number and the expiry date.

Get yours here: NSW | VIC | WA - Ask for your form

2. Signing up for a workshop

You should have received an email letting you know you have been added to the gpn-tutors Google Group. This is our mailing list that will let you know about upcoming events.

Make sure that your google group emails don't go to spam!

A month before each workshop we'll send out an email letting you know about the workshop. It will contain a link to a sign-up spreadsheet you need to fill in!

3. Keep in touch!

You'll also receive an email letting you know you have been added to the GPN Australia Slack. You can ask questions on here of all the tutors or get involved with helping us write content.

If you haven't used slack before it's just a messaging platform for teams :)

Slack: GPN Aus | GPN Perth

You can also find each node’s Facebook/Socials on their node page.

✅ DO be friendly, not friends.

A huge part of GPN is supporting the students, and making sure you’re approachable. Feel free to talk openly about yourself and share your experiences.

But keep in mind they still need to respect you and follow your instructions. - we have a duty over them .

They’re not your friends - they’re your students.

✅ Do let students work out how THEY want to solve a problem.

They’re writing their own code and solving it their own way - it’s your job to help them do that.

If they have a partial answer help them complete it, even if it’s not the “best” way.

🔴 DON’T touch the keyboard, unless you really, REALLY need to.

Students learn through doing, not seeing. If they are struggling, you can point at the screen to help them see which part of the code they might check.

Only touch the keyboard for non-learning problems, like if it’s more of a computer problem rather than a programming programming.

🔴 DON’T encourage imposter syndrome. (Including in yourself!)

Sometimes students will realise their mistake and say, “Oh, that’s a really stupid mistake.” When they do, don’t agree with them - try to make it positive, like “That’s okay! You’ll know next time.”

Lead by example and be confident in your own abilities! Never say “I’m not tecchy/smartenough” - focus on learning together instead.

✅ DO guide students towards the answer.

Ask them lots of questions about their code and help them decipher any error messages. We have some phrases that help below.

They’re writing their own code and solving it their own way - it’s your job to stand back and help them do that!

✅ DO admit when you don’t know the answer - and DO ask for help!

Admitting you don’t know the answer can be uncomfortable, but invaluable for students.

It shows them it’s ok not to know the answer and that we are all learning. Try saying something like “I’m not sure, let’s figure it out together!”

If you don’t know the answer to question, ask another tutor for help. We’re all here to learn together!

How to help kids fix their code

(Without touching a keyboard!)

Examples of how to talk to students in the classroom

A lot of the time, most of the trouble the students have is identifying where they’re getting stuck, working out how to continue, or working through errors. You can help by saying things like...

Hey, what are you working on?

Can you tell me what you want your code to be doing?

What does your code do at the moment?

Let’s break down the problem - what’s the first thing you need your code to do?

What does that line of code do?

These questions are great at getting kids to identify what they are trying to do. And by talking through their problem they often figure out the solution by themselves.

You’ll get the hang of tutoring, and you’ll develop your own style of tutoring over time.

Lecturing 101

A note about lecturing

Lectures at GPN are really short (around 5-10 minutes long) and interactive. The first lecture of the day is usually done by someone who’s tutored GPN before.

We really encourage new tutors to give a lecture. It’s totally fine if you don’t, but it’s the perfect opportunity to develop your public speaking skills and confidence. GPN tutors and students are really nice - they’ll never laugh at your mistakes, and everyone will respect and admire that you’re giving it a go. There will also be other tutors in the classroom who can help you if you get stuck.

You might notice that some GPN tutors are really good at lecturing. Keep in mind that not that long ago, they were giving their first ever GPN lecture. They probably had shaky hands, trembling voices, and might have muddled up some of their sentences. The more lectures they did, they better they got - and they’re still improving with every lecture they give!

If you’re interested, put your name down in the lecture page of the spreadsheet! You’ll do great! The only prerequisite for giving a lecture is wanting to give a lecture, lectures are there for anyone who wants to give it a go.

Communication skills we love practicing

Voice, body, projection

Leading the room

Grabbing attention

Presenting slides

Moving between activities

Setting the Direction sailing the ship

Reward and Correction

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business.

What to expect on the day

Most nodes run 4 workshops a year (1 per each school term) where tutors and students come together to make a cool project, play games and make friends!

An event may have anywhere between 30-170 students on a day, and our bigger nodes like Sydney might even run a 2-day workshop across both Saturday and Sunday.

What happens when?

Events typically run for 7hours. Your workshop signup sheet will have a detailed schedule for the day.

We usually have a morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea break. And after lunch there is always an offline (no computers) activity to perk our brains up, and a fantastic group photo!

Code to your level

To help everyone get the best out of the event, we split into 3-4 rooms, each with a different level of challenge in the code.

This typically looks like:

• Beginners Room (Print, Integers, if Statements, Variables, while loop)

• Intermediate (Functions, lists, for loop)

• Advanced (dictionaries, etc)

What do I need to bring?