MDF(smash)

The second round of Girl Develop IT classes is more than halfway through along now. The HTML class is working on making multiple style sheets for our GDI home page (if we really like one, we will use it!) The Javascript class is learning about different types of events in JQuery and manipulating  page elements. We have been really excited at the enthusiasm and participation of this HTML/CSS class, and the advanced knowledge level of the students in the current JavaScript class.

Next month we will be doing our second JavaScript class and our first Databases and Data Driven Applications class.  The wonderful folks at 10gen are helping us to build our curriculum as we are using MongoDB to drive our apps. The JavaScript classes will be Tuesday nights at 7pm at New Work City, and Databases and Data Driven Applications will be at the Hive at 55 on Wednesday nights.

However, something that we’re even more excited about is our new series, Foundations for Founders. In our first HTML/CSS class we noticed that a lot of women in the class were not there to learn to be developers, they wanted to learn to develop their businesses and they figured that learning to be a developer was the only way.  Girl Develop IT is all about teaching women who want to become developers, but more than that we’re about empowering women in pursuits that they don’t feel at home in. A lot of the feedback we have gotten from investors we have had dialogue with has been that many of the women that they meet with don’t have the background and knowledge to give them confidence to believe in them.

That’s why we’re bringing you the Foundations for Founders series. Noted started founders will be teaching our ladies how to get their businesses off the ground and into an arena where they can expect success.  Foundations for Founders is not a traditional GDI series, each class is its own entity and students can pick and choose what is important to them. These classes are two hour master classes, cost $30 a piece, and they take place on Saturday afternoons. Tickets will go on sale two weeks before each event. 

 Here is our Foundation for Founders schedule:

October 09, 2pm: Lauren Leto “Getting Funded” Lauren founded the popular site Texts from Last Night and just got her second startup Bnter funded as well. She knows what it takes to be a successful woman in this field and get what you need to get your idea going. Finding people with resources is a huge step, Lauren will share her experience and pass on this wisdom to students.

October 16, 2pm Spencer Fry “Hiring and Communicating with Developers” One of the largest frustrations I have seen with various founders I have met with is that they don’t know how to get their site actually built. It’s rough understanding what is needed when technology is a big black box. Spencer was not a developer when he started his site Carbonmade, however, he has learned how to sustain a great working relationship with a team while they create his vision.

October 23^rd 2pm Campbell McKellar “Writing a Business Plan” This most basic part of starting a business is getting your ideas on paper. The founder of Loose Cubes has lots of practice. For those of us without our MBAs in business this can be a daunting task.

November 13, 2pm Whitney Hess “Wireframing”  A close friend of the Girl Develop IT! and a well recognized UX expert. She is  going to walk our ladies through the process of becoming aware of the user experience. She is going to be showing them tooling that will help them do so and giving them a peek at her process.

We are now nearing the end of our mid-session break, and planning is going full hilt for the next two sessions that are approaching. We have our first Javascript series starting next Wednesday (9/1) and the following Tuesday begins our second round of HTML/CSS classes. 

After our recent postmortem we will be making some curriculum changes. We decided that instead of doing small projects each class, we would create one project. We will introduce the finished version at the start of classes, and also show them what they will know how to do by the end of each class. We think this will add consistency. We also will be adding homework, which will only be suggested and not enforced. We thing that especially in the Javascript classes, retention between classes is an imperative. 

We also have identified some needs. Now that we will be having double the classes we will have half the teacher’s assistants (we may offer math as the next course). We will be needing more for this round, we like having 2 or 3 per class. This is what we look for in TA’s:

• Developers, you don’t have to be a rockstar, you can even be a baby. However you will need to be able to walk people through some remedial stuff. 
• Either gender is ok, we do not discriminate. 
• We ask that you be someone who is patient and generally understanding. 

If this is you and you would like to volunteer some time to GDI reach out to us here. Classes are Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 7:00pm in the downtown area. 

Our second ask is for books. We want to empower these ladies to teach themselves, and we feel that especially in the JS classes books are a necessity. We haven’t determined a good beginner HTML/CSS book yet. However, we’re either going with the Crockford Bible or JQuery: Novice to Ninja. Currently we are in debates of the advantages/disadvantages of teaching JQuery to those who don’t know Javascript.  

Our classes are low cost, and we are currently only covering cost. We would have to raise rates a large percentage to cover books as well. We are hoping to find a company that thinks our cause is as awesome as we do that would be willing to donate the books. Maybe even more than one. We think these ladies are worth it. If you are that company, or know one that is please reach out here. We plan on emailing a few places that we think may be open to this as well. 

More updates soon, including a really exciting new addition to the GDI family.