Accountability - Speech

Hello!

For today's update I’m looking at one of the single core tasks on the sprint-log. The writing/drafting of an important speech that I have coming up has been something I’ve been dreading. Not because I don’t like what the speech is, or what it represents, but down to how badly I can screw it up.

I need to deliver two very personal speeches quite soon. In these speeches I have to be honest, heartfelt and at the same time retain some kind of humour as I abhor saccharine speeches. I’m incredibly critical on myself as discussed in previous posts and as these speeches are considered ‘life milestones’, you may get a sense at my growing fear and the inner voice shouting at me that every word must be wholly powerful, relevant and delivered the right way.

So, as it’s in the backlog, moved into the sprint, and the sprint is winding down, I need to confront it head on and throw myself into it.



And you know what? The first draft is not that bad! In fact, I think I’m quite happy with it. As a minimum viable product it more than meets the specification outlined in the criterion and acceptance criteria.



The nudge of having to do it in the sprint, linked with the idea I can iterate has really helped.

Nice!

Thanks for reading!

AT

Accountability: Coding one frog at a time

Hello!

To improve my employability and also to understand how things work as part of my backlog I'm undertaking an introduction to coding with Khan Academy.

Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organization created in 2006 by educator Salman Khan to provide "a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere". The organization produces micro lectures in the form of YouTube videos.

I had the chance to see Khan speak at SXSWedu this year explaining the concept of universal education, free for all. By allowing every individual the opportunity to access a powerful education the world can grow and change for the better.

Khan Academy is structured to allow individuals to complete tasks step by step until they complete a module and then a course. You may not be able to take the qualifications to get a job, but the skills learned are incredibly valuable which can be transferred to full qualifications for an awarding body or a general understanding to be used practically.

I've started working through the introduction to coding, whilst it may not be the most advanced class, I'm not the most advanced student by a long shot. The content is accessible to all ages and I'm enjoying the course. I'm progressing through the course and whilst what I'm doing isn't particularly impressive, I still feel the sense of accomplishment when completing tasks.

As I move into further sprints I hope to complete more JS training and actually learn more about basic coding. I don't anticipate coding the next killer app, but I can code a load of dancing frogs!

Thanks for reading!

AT