Portfolios

M1 Portfolio

# Mark Van Akkeren - M1 Portfolio

## Areas of Emphasis
I arrived here looking at gaining a skill to then leverage along with my other skills I've acquired in my various and multifaceted careers.  That someone with such a diverse career background with also a developer skill set would be a valuable asset in the work force.  I had attended the July Try Turing class which was the convincing factor for attending (and friends saying "you'd be good at this" <-- i feel like i'm doubting them now ;), but i was "scared" of javascript and signed up for a night class at Galvanize.  It helped with warming me up a bit to coding and getting more comfortable with JS. The thing I've been repeating since day one has been "just get the skillset, just get the skillset" <-- in "just keep swimming" Dory voice. 

## Rubric Scores

Fill in how you would grade yourself from 1-4 in the following categories this module:

* **A: End-of-Module Assessment**: N/A
* **B: Individual Work & Projects**: 1
* **C: Group Work & Projects**: 3
* **D: Professional Skills**: 4
* **E: Feedback & Community Participation**: 3

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## A: End of Module Assessment

**Assessed by**: Nate and Mike 
**Notes**


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## B: Individual Work & Projects

Irrational fear of the blank screen.  It's erroding.  

#### Jungle Beats 

* https://github.com/markyv18/linked_list
* https://github.com/turingschool/curriculum/blob/master/source/projects/jungle_beat.markdown

Self review: sick two days and then chased wrong assignement link. Was echo but got hung up on foxtrot link.  

evaluation comments: N/A

evaluation scores: N/A

Reviewer: Nate
https://github.com/turingschool/ruby-submissions/blob/master/1611-b/1module/date_night/mark-vanakkeren/date_night.markdown

#### Flashcards 

* https://github.com/markyv18/flashcards
* https://github.com/turingschool/curriculum/blob/c53e8ca3c1c87c3c716c42b371955fd1708ea939/source/projects/flashcards.markdown

Self review: Got me to open up about asking for help (<--huge!).  Completed it but was largely left to independent study.         

evaluation comments: N/A

evaluation scores: N/A 

Reviewer: N/A

#### Battleship 

* https://github.com/markyv18/battleship
* https://github.com/turingschool/curriculum/blob/5ecc4bf1889fc827d9fdb52689fe9600f6d69367/source/projects/battleship.markdown

Self review: Got after this, long hours, just so slow at progressing thru work.  On extended time attempted to create binary(bit) grid to then build game off of.  Built out interaction but unable to get game play going.   

evaluation comments: N/A

evaluation scores: 
    Fundamental Ruby & Style: 3
    Enumberable & Collections : N/A
    Test Driven Develpoment: 2
    REPL Interface: N/A 
    Breaking Logic Into Components: N/A
    Functional Expectations: N/A

Reviewer: Beth
https://github.com/turingschool/ruby-submissions/blob/master/1611-b/1module/battleship/mark-van-akkeren.md

## C: Group Work & Projects

### Projects

Enigma was my only group project and it really lit a fire under my ass and motivated me.  I suck at "getting stared" (see comment on blank screen syndrome at the top) but with a partner I can't afford to allow that to affect me.  Cody jumped on it and passed over an outline almost ASAP, that was the catalyst and boom we were off and running.  We put in some long hours but our collaboration and DTR-ing was SOLID.  It was very enjoyable to work with someone and while we fell just shy of doing a full complete of the project it was a huge leap in progress from the previous work that was very incomplete. It was also FUN. 

#### Enigma 

* https://github.com/codyborders/enigma
* https://github.com/turingschool/ruby-submissions/blob/master/1611-b/1module/enigma.markdown

Create an enigma encryption encoder and decoder and cracker based on the WWII Nazi Kreigsmarine message encryptions. 

Reviewer: Ilana
https://github.com/turingschool/ruby-submissions/blob/master/1611-b/1module/enigma/mark_cody.markdown

Notes:
had zero tests
had one method that did everything
talked about refactoring and running the file properly
they are going to write tests and try to make the file work correctly by monday

MVA Note: we built out some rudimentary tests by Monday.  Understanding of TDD has come a long way since then.  

Overall Functionality : 2

Fundamental Ruby & Style : 2

Test-Driven Development : 1

Breaking Logic into Components : 1

MVA Note: I find it funny that the scores are so poor here but my reflection on the effort and result is so positive. 

## D: Professional Skills
(Intro)

### Gear Up

#### Growth Mindset
Listening to Sonia talk was the most resonate for me.  Someone coming from an established background that wants to try something new.  Easy in concept but harder in practice to teach an old dog new tricks.  Over the course of the mod I have realized that while I have a feeling that I have not failed anything it is because when I realize i'm not good at something I bow out rather quickly so as to never face real struggle.  With my committment to this school i'm facing failure and true perseverance for the first time in a long time.  Casey put it well in one group meeting that there are two aspects to this, grit is the act of pushing forward whereas growth is the acceptance of the struggle that is the process.  Slowly am i accepting this erosion of my ego, but it's a rough ride.

#### Cohort Norms
Intro vs Extro vs Ambivert - This was helpful, i've alwasy struggled when these talks come up because I can so violently oscillate between one or the other and in short spans of time too.  It was enjoyable to sit with a group that felt similar.  At times we are one, at times we are another.  Using the strneghts of both sides to advance certain areas of our work.  Also learning how threatening one way can be to the other, but then leveraging our understaning of both to further the efforts of a group task.  Growth: when feeling growth = extrover, when feeling fixed = introvert. 

### Personal Stories & Connection
Ilana, Ken, Charlotte - While there was little that Ken or I found in direct common with the others that does not mean that we can't understand and work with the points of view expressed by others.  The conclusion was while there is great empathy, it is ACTING on that empathy that will advance things.  This has inspried me to lay the ground work for civic involvement in causes I support once I have more time to deveote to them.  

### Grit Mindset 
It would seem i have very little lack of grit.  I _HATE_ being committed to something and not understanding it.  That drives me further in my effort to conquer the subject matter.  Grit seems to be the "physical" connotation of effort whereas growth is the "emotional" connotation of acceptance of the struggle.  I have great difficulty in accepting strugggle, it's not something i've ever really encounterd and its struggle is weighing down my effort to push forward.  I'm starting to "not care" about my emotional state and cast off my cares of "how i feel" in hopes of allowing me to push forward my objective learning.  "getting clinical" so to speak.  

### Professional Development Workshops

#### Personal Branding One

* https://github.com/turingschool/professional_skills/blob/master/module_one/personal_branding_p1.md
* https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-van-akkeren
* Resume with Meg - she's using it as an example :)

While I understand the importance of this I had this work drilled into me during university and have almost 15 years experience of working with resumes and public representation of my person so feel very comfortable in this space. 

### Learning to Pair

Driver - navigator nice in person making sure that who knows more is navigator and hopefully imparting that knowledge to the driver --- Ping pong helpful, I believe, for more evenly matched skill sets --- Screenhero really good for me cuz i'm super detailed oriented in describing where stuff is and describing what exactly is going on

### Feedback
   
This was good, helping me to learn HOW to frame the constructive portion of the feedback.  I've got a lot of intuition in this area with having coached people for 10+ years and figuring out how best to approach each person and make them feel very important while still providing something that improves them and drives them forward. 

## E: Feedback and Community Participation

### Giving Feedback

1 - for Cody
You dove right into this so fast.  Right after the initial DTR you had code blocks/files set up and ideas down on paper.  Going forward I’d think more DTRs that aren’t centered around simply work styles and life styles, but also the project itself would really help us with setting deliverable check points and advancing the whole of the project.  Specifics… this is hard… at this point it would seem the material we are facing is far more the inhibitor to our progress than any way that you or I work.  It’s tough to make specific recommendations to your work style when all the barriers that might force them are because of our grasp of the content (this comment applies to me too).  If anything be open about the content you/we don’t know.  Again that circles back to just knowing the material in the first place.  Relative to what I heard from other groups, on the personal level, we were amiable to each other, both had buy in on the effort and did our best to get the core of the project finished. 

2
3

### Being a Community Member

1- from Cody 
Mark, you epitomize hard work. One of my biggest concerns in collaborating with others is a lack of drive and the tendency to spit the bit when the going gets tough, but it was never an issue during our project. I couldn't match your tenacity but I aspired to emulate it by showing up early and staying late. You're an excellent problem solver -- I felt like a lot of the time you were doing all the work because you'd just start putting things together whenever we got stuck. You sped through setbacks with ease and were quick to present ideas for solutions to our problems. Your background in working with athletes proved beneficial as you kept a positive attitude and knew the right things to say at the right time like giving praise or words of encouragement when things got tough. With my lack of experience in collaborating with others I felt like I held you back at times and if you were given another partner capable of better collaboration I don't think you'd have trouble completing the project to spec. To further your growth I think you can work to get comfortable with Github so you and your collaborators can stay on the same page throughout a project and try to interpret the project spec literally so as to not miss any requisite details.

2
3

### Playing a Part

offered myself as an open and listening "friend" to those that want to talk thru things - i'm no psychologist but being a coach has trained me to be pretty close to one.  We talk thru things and i dont give answeres but I ask questions that help them solve what emotional elements they are stuck on. 
observing different backgrounds and having that inspire me to push harder on social change 

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## Final Review

### Notes

( Leave blanks for reviewers )

### Outcome

( Leave blanks for reviewers )

Portfolios

In order to earn promotion to the next module or graduation you need to complete, submit, and defend your portfolio.

A submission summarizes your accomplishments in these key areas:

Individual
Team
Community
Authoring Process

Carefully read the submission_guidelines.markdown to understand how your portfolio should be written/submitted
Read a sample portfolio in sample.markdown in this repo
Copy the content of template.markdown as a starting point
Fill in and submit your own content.
Per-Module Expectations

Module 1 (Back-end)

Individual Assessment: Passing Score (All 3's) required
Individual Projects: All individual projects. A passing final project is required.
Group Projects: All paired projects
Professional Skills:
A recap of reflections from Gear Up
DTR Memo from 1 paired project
Resume with a summary statement and placeholder for projects and skills to be obtained during Turing
LinkedIn profile with a summary, descriptions under experience, and Turing under education
Copy for a personal website
Feedback/Community: Self-solicited and project pairs feedback, plus a summary of how you've contributed to the community
** To Repeat the Module **

A passing Chisel project completed during the final 2 weeks of the module OR Satisfactory progress on the Headcount / Black Thursday final project.

Submission Guidelines

A pull request with your submission must be made at least 12 hours before your scheduled defense. Non-conforming formats, filenames, or directories will be rejected and your defense rescheduled.

Self-Evaluation

Your submitted portfolio should include self-assessment scores. Use the rubric to determine your proper scores.

Filename & Directory

The file should be saved in the format "date-name-completing.markdown" where:

date is the last day of the module in compressed year/month/day, like 20150831
name is your first and last name like jeff-casimir
completing is the module that you're completing, like m4
So a complete filename might look like 20150831-jeff-casimir-m4.markdown. This file needs to be stored in a directory portfolios/students/your-cohort/your-name where your-name is like jeff-casimir and your-cohort is your cohort number.

If you were completing Module 4 in Cohort 1410 on August 31, 2015 and your name was Jeff Casimir, your portfolio submission would reside at the following location: portfolios/students/1410/jeff-casimir/20150831-jeff-casimir-m4.markdown.

Evaluation Process

Your portfolio will be evaluated in the last week of the module by a panel of at least two instructors. During this short session:

You will start by showing the scores of your self assessment
You will walk through the rubric and the content of your portfolio to explain your scoring
The instructors will ask questions along the way and record notes
As you finish the explanation the instructors will validate or correct your self-assessment scores
The instructors will use those scores to render a promotion/graduation decision
Everything from the instructors will be committed back to your portfolio
Outcomes

Portfolio evaluations have four possible outcomes:

PROMOTED - your portfolio demonstrates a successful fulfillment of expectations and you may move on to the next module or graduate
RETAINED - your portfolio is lacking in one or more areas and you may either repeat the current module or leave the program
EXCUSED - your portfolio is lacking in one or more areas and either (a) you've now failed to pass the module in two attempts or (b) the reviewers have determined that you will not be successful at Turing
PENDING - your portfolio is incomplete or non-conforming and will be re-evaluated as soon as possible. If it is incomplete after 24 hours it will be moved to RETAINED or EXCUSED