Eliza, Looks like Girl Develop It has a Milwaukee outfit, and even looks like they already run javascript classes. http://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-Milwaukee I've heard nothing but good things about GDI classes in my neck of the woods, but obviously can't speak specifically about folks from Milwaukee. But seems like a decent possibility. hth, Chad On Fri, May 8, 2015 at 11:14 AM Eliza Carrie Bettinger <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hello All, > > > I received a grant from my university to organize a 7-month program for > academic staff to build their Javascript skills. The idea is all the staff > who participate will get together 1-2x per month to share their progress on > individual projects they're developing, and get feedback and > troubleshooting help from both a peer group AND a paid expert I'm calling a > "coach." (Full description below.) > > > The problem I'm having is finding anyone who is interested in taking the > coaching the job. I have not made a public job ad, but I have emailed about > 10 folks from campus and community, and asked them to notify their networks > and affiliated lis-servs. For example: the leaders of Milwaukee MeetUp > groups for tech women, for Javascript programmers, and open data; the web > development professor at our iSchool; our campus app development lab; the > leader of a local nonprofit that teaches coding to kids; etc. I've gotten > positive responses form many of these folks, but I haven't received a > nibble of interest from a single person in the job itself. I'm continuing > to identify key people whose networks I can tap, but I'm discouraged by the > apparent lack of interest I've encountered so far, and scratching my head > over what I'm doing wrong. > > > So I'm turning to you for advice -- specifically, two questions: > > 1) Do you know someone who might know someone in the Milwaukee area who > might be interested in a gig like this? If so, please feel free to > circulate this posting > > 2) Can you spot anything in the ad itself that I could improve? Anything > that's a turn-off? Should I include the pay rate in the ad? > > (We have a total of about $1100; I figured I would negotiate the hourly > rate and total number of hours with the person we found. Although I listed > 6 hours/month, that's only the ideal; we could bring down the total number > of hours, and pay a higher rate.) > > Any other suggestions or ideas? I'd love to get your feedback. > > > Thank you!! > > Eliza > > > Javascript Workshop Leader / "Coach" > > 6 hours per month, July - December, 2015 > > > This summer, the Digital Humanities Lab at UWM will begin a professional > development series for academic staff from across campus to improve their > skills in coding for front-end Web development -- specifically, Javascript. > Workshop participants will be professionals from diverse academic > backgrounds who each have a real-life work-related project under > development. They will have completed some basic training in Javascript > (such as the JavaScript course in Codecademy), but are novice-level > developers. In twice-monthly meetings with peers and an expert coach, up > to 12 participants will meet for collaborative workshop sessions in which > they present progress on their projects, get help on overcoming obstacles, > receive short lessons on important topics, and gradually “level up” to > become more proficient programming problem solvers. Our goal is to support > staff who have already learned some basics of coding, but need help to > start becoming fluent enough to apply those basics in order to design and > build their desired products. > > > We seek an expert front-end programmer with Javascript expertise who will > act as coach, mentor, and troubleshooter for this group of learners. > Overall, the goal of the workshop sessions will be to build a community of > learners to support one another and provide motivation, camaraderie, and > practical assistance in overcoming roadblocks. The paid expert will act a > coach for the group, providing guidance in matters that are opaque to > novice learners, and sharing strategies from his/her experience. Sessions > may include short lessons prepared and presented by the coach, but we > envision workshop sessions in which the focus of the majority of the > meeting time is on individual participants' projects and questions. > Participants could also take turns researching and presenting on relevant > topics, with guidance from the coach. The exact format of the sessions > will be designed in part with guidance from the coach, and will be subject > to revision and changes with input from the group as the project progresses. > > > The person we hire will: > > Be an expert developer of front-end interaction applications. Skilled in > JavaScript, and in adopting specialized JS libraries. > > Have some experience (formal or informal) teaching, coaching, or mentoring > beginner-level programmers. > > Have Interest in and competency with a wide range of subject and content > applications. > > Have comfort with and interest in joining a learning environment that is > flexible, collaborative, and open. > > > To express interest in the position, or to learn more, please contact > Eliza Bettinger, [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> > > > -- > Eliza Bettinger > Digital Geo-Information Specialist > American Geographical Society Library > UW-Milwaukee > Milwaukee WI USA > 414-229-6282 >