My experience of Teaching Programming as online courses

I never planned to teach. It started as a pandemic hobby and turned into one of the most valuable things I've done for my career.

Getting started

I talked myself out of it for a while. Why should I? What do I have to offer? The competition out there is fierce. Recording yourself is awkward. Your first videos will be terrible.

I started anyway.

I bought a RODE SmartLav Microphone because the built-in MacBook mic wasn't cutting it. Used Camtasia for screen recording. Got an Envato Elements subscription for intro videos. Used Handbrake to compress file sizes.

It sounds like a lot. It was. But each piece unlocked something.

Teaching made me a better engineer

Here's what nobody tells you about teaching: it exposes every gap in your knowledge.

When I was recording a React Router lesson, I realized my explanation wouldn't make sense to a beginner. I knew how to use it, but I couldn't explain why it works that way. I had to go back and actually understand the fundamentals I'd been taking for granted.

This happened constantly. Every topic I taught forced me to rebuild my understanding from the ground up.

It showed up in interviews

Halfway through recording my courses, I had a job interview. I crushed it. I knew the concepts cold. I knew the right words to explain them. I got the offer in days.

Teaching gives you clarity of thought that you can't get any other way.

Students taught me too

Once the courses started selling, students asked questions. Answering those questions taught me something critical: to explain something well, you need to find where the student's understanding ends and connect from there.

Reproduce the bug. Show your thought process. Walk through it step by step. Don't just give the answer -- show the path to it.

The unexpected network

Teaching created connections I didn't anticipate. Students from different countries. Other instructors. Engineers at different stages of their careers. These relationships became valuable far beyond the courses themselves.

The lesson

I was the person thinking "why should I even bother?" I was the person who thought the competition was too stiff. I started anyway.

If you've been considering teaching, recording, or creating anything -- start. You don't know where it leads until you begin.