Presented as a lightening talk at RubyConf 2013 in Miami

1. Mentoring From a n00b’s
perspective
Allison Sheren
Sunday, November 10, 13
@allie_p

2. Who Am I?
Rails Girls DC Organizer
N00b
motivated learner
community lover
Mentor and mentee
First time lightening talker
Sunday, November 10, 13

3. There have been
a ton of people
who have helped
me learn
Sunday, November 10, 13

4. Everyone had the best intensions
but some people were great to learn
from and some were not.
Sunday, November 10, 13

5. And that’s okay.
Sunday, November 10, 13

6. Here are my main
tips for being an
effective mentor
Sunday, November 10, 13

7. 1. At the beginning,
understand that it’s
hard to know what
to ask and every
word sounds like a
foreign language
Sunday, November 10, 13

8. so encourage
relentless
curiosity
what is terminal? What is the
command line? What is IRC?
Why should I not be terrified of
GitHub?
Sunday, November 10, 13

9. 2. Don’t go down
the rabbit hole
Sunday, November 10, 13

10. I have no idea what
you’re talking about
anymore and I’m now
really scared of coding.
Sunday, November 10, 13

11. 3. Understand if
you’re not
understood
Sunday, November 10, 13

12. People learn from
different people in
different ways. It’s not
personal, it’s just the
brain.
Sunday, November 10, 13

13. 4. The dreaded
answer to “what I
should read?”
Sunday, November 10, 13

14. Give direction.
Which book
should be read
first, why, and
what should we
be learning from
it
Sunday, November 10, 13

15. 5. Don’t put your
fingers on my
keyboard
Sunday, November 10, 13

16. Really really difficult,
but if you can have the
patience to explain and
say everything the
person should type,
they learn more
Sunday, November 10, 13

17. 6. Help celebrate
the small stuff and
motivate to do the
big stuff
Sunday, November 10, 13

18. Lightening Talk:
Thank You!
@allie_p
Sunday, November 10, 13