Girl Develop It

Empowering women in the Chicago area to learn how to program in a judgement-free and fun environment.

Volunteering

Below is some information about getting involved with GDI as a teaching assistant or instructor. If you have additional questions, reach out to your Chicago chapter leaders Maddie Kasula and Arelia Jones at: chicago@girldevelopit.com.

Teaching Assistants

Girl Develop It teaching assistants are awesome people who love sharing their knowledge with others and helping people one-on-one. You're not afraid of difficult questions, saying "I don't know", or Googling it. You don't have to be an expert, just an enthusiastic person with experience in the field.

TAs are required to be present for the entire class unless otherwise requested. Note that some classes take place in a single session, while others are multiple sessions.

General

GDI uses nationally cultivated curriculum with modifications made by each class teacher. Materials will be emailed to you a week prior to class. Please be sure to review any material prior to volunteering as a teaching assistant for a course.

Please note that this is an unpaid position. However, if you are heavily active as a TA or have TA'd for the same class multiple times, we encourage you to become an instructor for our chapter! See the "Teachers" section below for more details.

Prior to TAing for a class, review our TA Tips as well. This should answer a lot of questions you may have, but always reach out to your chapter leaders if anything is unclear.

Onboarding

To register as a TA, visit our Teaching Assistant Management System (TAMS) here. Once we receive your application, we would like to get to know more about you! We ask that in order to officially be onboarded as a teaching assistant for GDI Chicago, you either: 1) attend a TA Info Session, or 2) TA at a Code & Coffee.

How TAMS works:

  • About once a month, you'll receive a reminder email with a list of upcoming courses. RSVP for whatever you want to TA for. We recommend that TAs either work regularly with, or are very familiar with whatever language/concept is being covered for that class.
  • Bookmark the unique URL you receive as a result of registering. You can go to it at any time to check out what upcoming courses are available for sign ups! (Even newly added classes that have not yet been sent out to our TA network. A good rule of thumb is if you see the class announced to members on Meetup, we will be adding the class to TAMS shortly.)
  • If you sign up to TA a class, you will receive a reminder email a few days before class with details and a link to the curriculum. Please review all slides and exercises prior to class.

Commitment

  • TA one class per calendar year
  • Provide feedback to chapter leaders on class teachers (as requested)
  • Take roll from class roster

Cancellations

If, for any reason, you are unable to TA your class, you are required to remove yourself from the TA list in TAMS and notify your chapter leaders at least five days in advance. This will give us time to find a replacement, reschedule, or issue cancellations and refunds.

Teachers

Girl Develop It instructors are awesome people who love sharing their knowledge with others. You don't have to be an expert, just an enthusiastic person with experience in the field. Class format varies, ranging from a two-hour lecture to an eight-hour workshop format. You are required to teach the entirety of the class.

At least one member of GDI staff (a co-leader or volunteer) will be present for your workshop to handle class and venue logistics.

Curriculum

GDI uses nationally cultivated curriculum. Your chapter leaders will provide you with links and the Github repository for the class materials when we schedule your class. (However, all of these are publicly available on our website and on Github.) You may make minor changes to the curriculum, however, any substantial changes must be approved by your chapter leaders. What you teach is up to you, so please let us know your preferences (certain languages, tools, frameworks, etc).

You are required to practice and review the material prior to teaching the course. If you have any questions about the material, please notify your chapter leaders prior to the workshop.

If you're interested in teaching new material for GDI or revamping outdated courses, we would love to work with you on this! See our Teaching Materials to see the status of all GDI materials.

Onboarding

  • First thing's first: we want to get to know you! Reach out to us directly about becoming an instructor or attend an Instructor Info Session before completing any next steps.
  • Complete this form and all of its instructions (this includes a W9) to be registered and paid as a GDI contractor. You can donate 0-100% of your payment to GDI. Don't feel obligated at all to donate, but let us know a percentage if you would like to.
  • Send us your photo and a short bio for us to add to the class description on Meetup for any of your classes.
  • Review our Instructor Handbook and "What to expect as a GDI teacher".

Payment

GDI teachers are paid. Hooray! You will receive 50% of the student fee for the course. Optionally, you may choose to waive your fee and donate it back to the local chapter scholarship fund. Unless otherwise requested, instructors will be paid. Payment is issued by check and typically arrives 3-5 weeks after your course.

Commitment

  • Teach one class per calendar year
  • Provide feedback to chapter leaders on class TAs (as requested)

Cancellations

If, for any reason, you are unable to teach your class, you are required to notify your chapter leaders at least two weeks in advance. This will give us time to find a replacement, reschedule, or issue cancellations and refunds.