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How to Become a Guest Teacher at Treehouse, Woodworking, and Bibiliophilia with Elizabeth Kozup
9:49 with Craig DennisIn this episode we talk about guest teaching with project manager and bibliophile, Elizabeth Kozup.
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Hi, I'm Craig.
0:00
Welcome to the Treehouse Show.
0:01
The Treehouse Show is our weekly
conversation with the Treehouse Community.
0:02
[SOUND] In this episode,
we'll be talking about guest
0:05
teaching with project manager,
Elizabeth Kozup.
0:10
Thank you so much for
being on the show today, Elizabeth.
0:15
>> Thanks for having me, Craig.
0:18
>> I was wondering if we could talk a bit
0:19
to the students about guest teaching and
what that means.
0:22
>> We have nine or
ten full-time teachers here at Treehouse.
0:25
But there is a lot of technology out
there, and we teach a lot of it.
0:29
And not all of it can be taught
by our internal teachers.
0:33
So what I do is when they determine that,
we want to teach a course.
0:37
I look for subject matter
experts to create that course.
0:43
And then I basically manage the project
0:48
from inception to
execution when we launch.
0:51
>> That's awesome.
0:54
>> Yeah.
>> How do you go about finding them?
0:55
>> Wow, so
there's a lot of different ways.
0:58
First of all, word of mouth is great.
0:59
>> Okay.
1:01
>> The Treehouse team has a lot of, that's
a really wide variety of experiences and
1:02
people that work in different areas.
1:07
So I get a lot of recommendations
from internal members.
1:10
>> Yeah.
1:12
But I also go and
look at who's speaking at conferences, and
1:13
I look at who's speaking
at a local meet up.
1:18
I spend a lot of time on Twitter and
Stack Overflow.
1:21
>> Okay.
>> To see who's answering questions.
1:24
There's a lot of different
ways that I look for people.
1:26
>> Awesome, if somebody at home
is watching this and like, wow,
1:29
I can do that?
1:32
I can teach in Treehouse.
1:33
How would they go about
getting a hold of you?
1:34
>> We have a couple different ways.
1:37
>> Okay.
1:38
>> We have on the Treehouse site, we have
a teachers page that really talks all
1:39
about the different
teachers that we have here.
1:42
They're all listed out.
1:44
So if you teach with us,
you get to be on that page as well.
1:45
>> Nice.
1:47
>> But there's a link there that basically
says I wanna teach a course or a workshop.
1:48
And you put in the subject
you'd like to teach,
1:52
the content that you'd be interested
in teaching, then it comes to me.
1:54
And I go through them all, myself.
1:58
>> Okay.
>> And
2:00
I do my best to respond
as quickly as possible.
2:01
>> Okay.
2:04
>> Depending on whether or not we're
interested in teaching the subjects.
2:05
>> Okay, so are there subjects that
we're chasing after right now,
2:08
very specifically?
2:10
>> Yes.
>> What's that?
2:11
>> Well, we're really trying to
build out our design contents so
2:13
we're trying to really refurbish that and
refresh that on the site.
2:17
We are also trying to do security courses.
2:22
>> Mm-hm.
2:25
>> We are doing QA content.
2:26
>> Okay.
2:28
>> We are teaching data analysis,
and database information.
2:30
>> Wow, okay.
>> So those are some of the areas, and
2:34
as you can tell,
2:37
it's a really wide variety of topics-
>> Right.
2:38
>> That we're currently trying to teach.
2:41
>> Right.
So then that brings up interesting
2:42
question that I've always had.
2:44
>> [LAUGH]
>> You can list that in a couple of these
2:46
meetings with you.
2:48
How did you go about doing that?
2:49
There's this new topic area,
here comes somebody to talk about it.
2:51
You have to help scope and plan.
2:55
How does that work?
2:57
>> So first and foremost,
I am not a programmer.
2:58
>> Okay.
>> I'm not a developer.
3:01
I am a project manager.
3:02
>> Okay.
3:03
>> And part of being a project
manager is understanding
3:04
the basics around every component of that.
3:08
So whether it's the actual teaching,
the video production,
3:11
the development pieces,
I have to know a little bit.
3:15
But I'm not an expert
on any of those areas.
3:18
So what I end up doing is just before
when I'm looking into a subject,
3:22
I spend a lot of time researching it.
3:27
>> Okay.
3:29
>> So not only am I researching
the potential teachers, but
3:29
I'm also looking into the subject itself.
3:33
>> Okay.
>> So I'm not an expert when I come into
3:35
any of these meetings.
3:36
And I'm usually pretty good at throwing
that out there at the beginning.
3:37
But I do have to be able to at
least have a conversation about it.
3:41
So I do look on Stack Overflow.
3:44
I do research into the technology and
the subject in advance so
3:46
that I can at least have a basic
understanding of what we're trying to get.
3:50
>> Right, yeah.
3:54
>> I also rely really heavily on you.
3:55
>> Right.
3:57
That needs specifically?
3:57
>> Well sometimes.
3:58
>> Okay.
Yeah, that's true.
3:59
That's true [INAUDIBLE] yeah.
4:00
>> Depending now if
we're working together.
4:01
>> [LAUGH]
>> But yeah,
4:02
I rely really heavily on our teachers.
4:02
>> Okay.
4:04
>> Cuz in the end, they understand our
curriculum and what our students need.
4:05
>> Right.
>> So,
4:09
I really do have our teacher's
guide those conversations.
4:10
>> Cool.
>> And
4:14
try to keep them within
the parameters of the course itself.
4:14
>> Right, and that's next cuz
nobody is doing that alone.
4:17
Cuz this is a new thing
to a lot of people.
4:20
>> For sure.
4:22
>> Some people might not like
being in front of a camera, right?
4:25
That might be a thing.
4:28
>> No, some people really don't
like being in front of cameras.
4:29
>> [LAUGH]
>> Yeah, so
4:31
we actually have a couple different
ways of working with our guests.
4:32
People that want to be on camera.
4:37
Absolutely can.
4:39
We just ask for demo videos from them.
4:40
>> Okay.
4:42
>> But
we also work with a lot of guest authors.
4:43
And so they will write the content that
is then presented by people internally.
4:46
A lot of times if you go on our site.
4:50
And you see two author names there.
4:54
One of those is the content creator and
the other is the presenter.
4:56
>> That's excellent.
5:00
>> Yeah.
5:01
>> So you can kinda get a taste of if you
want to get up in front of event, right?
5:02
>> Absolutely.
>> That's cool.
5:06
>> Absolutely.
5:07
Yeah, we start off with a demo.
5:09
>> Okay.
>> And with those demos,
5:11
which is a short little snippet of just
teaching something, something little.
5:12
>> Okay.
5:17
>> And that will kinda tell people whether
or not they feel comfortable with it.
5:18
>> Whether they like it or not, yeah.
5:22
It's an interesting art.
5:23
>> It is an art.
5:24
>> Yeah.
5:25
>> Yeah.
5:26
>> So if somebody out there right
now watching this, is like hey,
5:27
I wanna do that or I know somebody
who would be great at that.
5:31
What sort of advice would
you give to that person?
5:35
>> Yeah, first of all, I recommend it.
5:37
>> Okay.
>> But teaching is not for everybody.
5:40
>> Okay.
5:43
>> Teaching is a very challenging job.
5:44
We really do look for people that have
either written books on the subjects or
5:46
have prior teaching experience,
or have spoken at conferences or
5:53
even their local technology meetup.
5:56
>> Right.
>> So having done presentation or
5:59
put together a presentation in the past
is really important, because that way
6:02
you at least have a basic understanding
of what you're getting into with this.
6:06
There's a lot of amazing
developers out there.
6:11
Not everybody is in a position to teach.
6:13
>> Right.
>> So
6:15
it's really about what you're
interested in as an individual.
6:16
Some people really love
sharing their knowledge.
6:21
If you're the kind of person
that loves pair programming,
6:24
if you're the kind of person that is
constantly going to meetups and saying,
6:27
I really wanna learn
about this next thing.
6:31
And hey, I see you working on it too.
6:34
Let's work on it together.
6:36
That's the kind of person I think that
ends up doing really well teaching.
6:37
>> Awesome.
6:41
My favorite question that I get to
ask people like one of the show.
6:42
What is something that somebody
who went to the teacher's page and
6:46
filled out that form.
6:49
What might they not know
about you specifically?
6:50
I am really into wood working.
6:54
>> Mm.
Wood working.
6:57
>> Wood working.
6:58
Yeah.
>> How so?
6:59
What do you mean by that?
7:00
>> About a little over a year ago now,
I was looking for
7:02
something to do in the winter
months of Portland.
7:05
>> [LAUGH]
>> And
7:08
found a program where I could just kind
of learn how to build things out of wood.
7:09
So I've built pantry for my kitchen and
I just finished a rocking chair.
7:15
>> How do you build a pantry?
7:19
What do you mean you built a pantry?
7:20
>> I was lacking space in my kitchen.
7:23
>> Okay.
>> And I built some cabinetry.
7:25
[LAUGH]
>> Okay.
7:30
>> [LAUGH] And
made a full-out cabinet for my kitchen.
7:31
>> Awesome.
7:34
>> Yeah.
>> That's really cool.
7:35
And then, what was the other thing?
7:36
>> I just finished a rocking chair.
7:37
>> A rocking chair that works?
7:39
>> It does, it rocks.
7:41
>> Wow.
>> And it rocks the way it's supposed to.
7:42
Not just because it's uneven.
7:44
>> [LAUGH]
>> Yeah, that was a challenge.
7:45
Cuz you're working.
7:48
The big things for
me was working with new tools.
7:49
Like different blades and to get the right
angle for the rockers was really hard.
7:53
>> Okay.
7:59
>> But yeah.
8:00
>> Awesome.
8:01
Another thing that I
have noticed about you.
8:02
I can't seem to think of
a time when I haven't seen you
8:06
reading within five minutes.
8:09
You are always reading.
8:10
You're a bibliophile if you will.
8:11
>> I am.
8:14
[LAUGH]
>> [LAUGH] You love the Kindle,
8:15
you love the phone.
8:18
If there's ever a hard copy around,
you've always got a book in your hand.
8:20
>> I do.
I read a lot.
8:24
Some people really like watching
television, which is great.
8:25
Some people like watching YouTube videos.
8:27
I like to read.
8:29
I read a lot.
8:30
I like OverDrive.
8:31
The library app is great.
8:33
I love Kindle Unlimited.
8:35
>> Yeah, I think you're the only person
that I know personally that reads all
8:37
the time.
8:41
You're like,
at the all you can eat buffet,
8:42
you're the people who have
taken all those books.
8:45
[LAUGH]
>> Yeah.
8:48
No, my parents are both librarians so
8:49
I was-
>> Wow, that comes from a long life.
8:51
>> I do, a long life of reading so-
>> How many books?
8:54
>> It is okay.
8:58
It's impressive, I bet.
8:59
Do you think monthly that you read?
9:00
>> Monthly?
>> Yeah.
9:02
I probably read about 20 books a month.
9:08
>> [LAUGH] Wow.
9:13
>> But that's sometimes I reread books,
to be fair.
9:14
>> Okay.
9:18
>> Sometimes I do reread, so
if I've got a series and a new book and
9:19
a series comes out.
9:22
>> Might as well do it again.
9:23
>> I might as well just
start from the beginning.
9:24
Which is really bad cuz some series of,
I've already got 12 or 13 books in them.
9:26
>> [LAUGH]
>> So if I wanna get to the next one,
9:30
I've got a lot of reading to do.
9:32
>> [LAUGH] Awesome.
9:34
>> So.
[SOUND]
9:35
>> Thanks for watching the Treehouse Show.
9:39
To get in touch with the show,
reach out to me on Twitter, or
9:41
hit us up in the Treehouse Community.
9:44
20 books.
9:46
Man, I gotta catch up.
9:47
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