WCCI Course Materials

We Can Code IT Remote Code Expectations

In order to provide you with the best educational experience we can in our virtual classroom, we require you adhere to the following guidelines.

Remote Classroom Technologies And Attendance

At the start of the Cohort your instructors will send out a Google Calendar invites, which will populate your Google Calendar with meetings for our daily classes. Those meetings will contain links to the corresponding Zoom meeting where the class will be held. Each day we will have a check in at 9:30AM and checkout at 3:15PM. You will always be in a Zoom Meeting during the hours between, with the exception of lunch from noon to 1:00PM. This does not mean you can’t run to the bathroom or grab a snack, but you need to be at your workstation like you would need to be in the classroom. For instance, if we give you time to work on an assignment during class hours, please do not take the dog for a 30 minute walk in the middle of the afternoon because you can work on the assignment at night. In addition to Google Calendar and Zoom meetings, we will be using Slack for communication. Slack is a messaging app that will allow you to communicate with your instructors and classmates, as well as stay up to date with announcements from staff. Between 9:30AM and 3:30PM you must be online, responsive, and attentive to new notifications. WCCI staff will be monitoring your attendance, for the sake of your education as well as to meet certain state regulations. Unexpected illness or calamity can arise, and we are understanding people, but know that consistent attendance issues will run you afoul of the State's requirements for your graduation.

Be Respectful

Since all of us will be working from homes, where we often feel most comfortable, do your best to remember to keep things above board. Make sure you are fully clothed (which we shouldn’t have to say, but here we are in 2020). Try to cut down on background noise, act professional with your language, and don’t talk over people. Additionally, our mission at We Can Code IT is to promote diversity and inclusion in the tech world, so it should not come as a surprise that you will find yourself working with someone who comes from a very different background than yourself. Be respectful and tolerant. Open up and maybe you learn something unexpected. As you could expect, bigotry and exclusivity will not be taken lightly in this program.

Keep Your Camera On At All Times

We get it. You’re stuck at home, there’s nobody to get dressed up for, no ability to get a haircut, nobody around to comment on how not shaving for two weeks makes you look like Tom Hanks in Castaway but not in a good way. No matter how scruffy, shy, or unkempt, we need to see your face at all times. Doing so will help you in several ways. First, it helps your instructors. While we are workshopping new technical material for the class, it is extraordinarily helpful to see how the information is being received. If we pause during the lecture and see a bunch of bewildered and terrified faces, we can walk it back and get more granular in explaining the concept. Second, it helps you. Working remotely is a big adjustment for most of us. The arrangement comes with more personal freedom, but also far more opportunity to get distracted and derailed. There may be a day where you are feeling burnt out and frustrated. You may just want to log into class, kill the camera, and settle in for a forty-second viewing of Tiger King. Unfortunately, the pace of this class is such that missing a day of technical instruction can be a major setback. Keeping the camera on removes the temptation.
Lastly, it helps the class. We are going to be spending a whole lot of time together over the next 14 weeks. Every bootcamp I have been through or instructed has become a very close community. The material will be extensive and the assignments demanding. Leaning on your fellow students and offering them assistance in turn will help you master the material much more easily. Group projects are arduous but become more exciting and rewarding when you feel you are working with real people and not just disembodied voices on the computer. Now that the bootcamp is fully remote, we have to do everything possible to facilitate the bonding. Keeping your camera on is a small but crucial step in making that happen

Virtual Tables

At We Can Code IT, we organize the students into small tables or breakout sessions. Each table works together on certain projects and assignments. Even when working on individual projects, table groups offer each other assistance with understanding material, squashing bugs, and providing moral support when the stress sets in. As you will never find yourself in a development job that does not have some element of collaboration, We Can Code IT considers maintaining this aspect of our program to be crucial.

  • Unless there is a workshop, career services training, or something else specified on the calendar, you should be in the breakout session on Zoom with your table group.
  • Communicate, collaborate, and don’t hesitate to show off your pets or post some memes. You’re welcome to stare at each other in silence, but that sounds uncomfortable to me
  • Helping a table mate through a problem they’re having with an individual assignment is encouraged, just avoid writing their code for them
  • Instructors will be periodically checking up on each table. If your group has hit a wall or are collectively confused about something, send a Slack message to your instructors and one of us will be there promptly.

Workshop Etiquette

In order to make you a professional fullstack developer in 14 short weeks, we are going to be covering a lot of technical material very quickly. The bulk of this instruction will take place during workshops. To ensure we can cover all the information you need to hear, we ask that you:

  • Keep your microphone muted
  • If you have a question, post it in the chat in the Zoom Meet and the instructor will answer as soon as there is a natural pause in the material
  • PLEASE ask questions or speak up if you are lost. Don’t feel self-conscious about being the first one to speak up, because it is a guarantee some of your classmates feel the same way. Your instructors are always happy to pause and ensure you understand the content
  • Keep your camera on

Communicate With Your WCCI Staff

You are entering a field as a total novice. If you work hard and stick it out, you will be a certified professional developer in 14 weeks. As amazing as that sounds, it is only possible through a process that cannot be described as gentle or relaxing. You will be stressed. We may enter a new Module and you may find yourself feeling more comfortable writing ancient Aramaic than writing in Javascript. You may find someone in your group insufferable. You may notice a number of people are profoundly confused about something technical and it needs to be covered more extensively in workshop. You may have unexpected trouble at home that is diminishing your ability to be present in class. Whatever the problem, don’t suffer in silence!

  • Communicate
  • Communicate
  • Communicate

Your staff members are always available on Slack. Direct message one of them, message all of them, or post it in the Cohort Slack channel. Whatever feels the most comfortable. WCCI also offers the option of an anonymous message, a virtual suggestion box if you will. Do not think your staff is too busy, or that we’ll judge you for struggling, or that we won’t be able to address the problem. Your staff have seen every personal and struggle imaginable. We are excellent at mediating or setting aside to time to make sure you are up to speed on the material. If you are overwhelmed and don’t think you can make it through the program, we’re here to offer support and the insight of experience. Not every class has the same needs. Not every student has the same needs. We are willing and able to adapt if it helps us help you become a confident and competent full-stack developer.