Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@mbburch
Last active August 22, 2016 23:46
Show Gist options
  • Star 0 You must be signed in to star a gist
  • Fork 1 You must be signed in to fork a gist
  • Save mbburch/6b5cd14e66e2286dae7c to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save mbburch/6b5cd14e66e2286dae7c to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
If you have about a week to prepare for Turing, here are your pre-work requirements and a schedule to follow.

Prework: If you Have a Week

Daily Tasks:

Task Accountability Check Time Frame
Task A- Practice typing:
http://typing.io - Aim for 25 wpm without looking at the keyboard. Focus on Ruby, but other languages are also valuable practice.
As you finish each level, save a screenshot of your progress and post it as a comment in your Gist (see Day One task). 10 minutes a day
Task B- Algorithmic Thinking & Logic:
Sign up for a free account & do all of the free Computer Science Warmups Concepts & Challenges at Brilliant.org. Spread these exercises out over the next week as you see fit.
Take a screenshot when you complete each quiz (Labyrinth Liberation, Dinner Date, Algorithm Accomplished) and post it as a comment in your Gist (see Day One task). About 5 minutes a day

Day One:

Task Accountability Check Time Frame
Task C- Create a public GitHub Gist where you will keep track of your pre-work progress. Watch this video for instructions on forking the template I've created for you.

Use this template for your Gist: https://gist.github.com/mbburch/6800167c8e757c85f78b.
Any time you add a comment to your Gist, reference the task label (A, B, C, etc.) as I've done in the example Gist. This will make it easier for you and your mentor to know what Gist responses go with which tasks. Note: When adding images to your Gist, make sure they are saved as a .jpg or a .png file.
Check your email if aren't sure how to contact your student mentor. 10 minutes
Task D- Set up your environment (Atom, Ruby, etc.)

If you are a Mac user: Watch this screencast or read this post to guide you. The screencast and the post cover the same information.

If you are a Windows user: Rachel add info here! Cloud9??
Respond to the following questions in your Gist:
  • Did you run into any issues?
  • How do you open Atom from your Terminal?
  • What is the file extension for a Ruby file?
  • What is the Atom shortcut for hiding/ showing your file tree view?
  • What is the Atom shortcut for quickly finding a file (fuzzy finder)?


Type the following commands into your Terminal to ensure you have Ruby, RVM, and Git installed. Take a screenshot that shows the versions of each of these, and post it as a comment in your Gist:
  • which ruby
  • git --version
  • rvm --version
About 45 minutes
Task E- Start learning to use the command line.
Watch this video.

Read AND do these exercises in your terminal: http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book
For today:
  • Introduction: Shut Up And Shell
  • The Setup
  • Paths, Folders, Directories (pwd)
  • What's Your Computer's Name? (hostname)
Did you make the flashcards in Setup? Post a picture of your flashcards as a comment in your Gist.

Answer the following questions in your Gist:
  • What does pwd stand for, and how is this command helpful?
  • What does hostname tell you, and what shows up in YOUR terminal when you type hostname?
About 45 minutes
Daily Tasks (Typing Practice & Algorithmic Thinking/ Logic) See instructions in Daily Tasks section 15 minutes

Day Two:

Task Accountability Check Time Frame
Task E- Read AND do these command line exercises in your terminal: http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book
For today:
  • Make A Directory (mkdir)
  • Change Directory (cd)
  • List Directory (ls)
Take a screenshot of your terminal after completing each exercise, and post all three as comments to your Gist. 20 minutes
Task F- Choose your Ruby adventure!
  • Option 1: If you are ready to jump into using your own text editor (Atom) and the terminal to learn Ruby (I think any of you can tackle this, but see option 2 if you need to ease in more), go here: http://curriculum.railsbridge.org/ruby/ and go to the directions for Option 1 below.
  • Option 2: If you are feeling totally overwhelmed by Terminal, command line, etc., and just want to start with some basic Ruby practice before trying Option 1, go here: http://tryruby.org and go to the directions for Option 2 below.
See directions for the option you choose. n/a
Option 1:
Pace yourself as you work through this, and plan to spend at least 30 minutes a day on it. Focus on the sections from "irb" through "hashes" (you may skip "Summary: Tools").
If you don’t understand something, try doing it again. IRB, in particular, is a very helpful tool that you will use often.
In your Gist, list the sections that you work through each day, and answer the questions in the Gist template that connect to the sections you worked through. 30 minutes
Option 2:
Complete Try Ruby through Level 4. Sign up for CodeSchool so you can save your badges and track your progress.

When you are finished, you will move on to Option 1! It’s okay to skim through some of the things you already learned, but focus on using irb, and take your time with new information. Repetition is your friend.
In your Gist, list the levels you work through each day. As you finish each level, take a screenshot of your badge, and post it as a comment in your Gist. 30 minutes
Daily Tasks (Typing Practice & Algorithmic Thinking/ Logic) See instructions in Daily Tasks section 15 minutes

Day Three:

Task Accountability Check Time Frame
Task E- Read AND do these command line exercises in your terminal: http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book
For today:
  • Remove Directory (rmdir)
  • Moving Around (pushd, popd)
Take a screenshot of your terminal after completing each exercise, and post them as comments in your Gist. 20 minutes
Task F- Continue learning Ruby with the option you chose above. Option 1: In your Gist, list the sections that you worked through today, and answer the questions in the Gist template that connect to those sections.
Option 2: In your Gist, list the levels you worked through today. As you finish each level, take a screenshot of your badge, and post it as a comment in your Gist.
30 minutes
Daily Tasks (Typing Practice & Algorithmic Thinking/ Logic) See instructions in Daily Tasks section 15 minutes

Day Four:

Task Accountability Check Time Frame
Task E- Read AND do these command line exercises in your terminal: http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book
For today:
  • Making Empty Files (Touch, New-Item)
  • Copy A File (cp)
  • Moving A File (mv)
Take a screenshot of your terminal after completing each exercise, and post them as comments in your Gist. 20 minutes
Task F- Continue learning Ruby with the option you chose above. If you started with Try Ruby, switch to Option 1 today, and make sure you read over the directions from Day Two! Option 1: In your Gist, list the sections that you worked through today, and answer the questions in the Gist template that connect to those sections.
Option 2: In your Gist, list the levels you worked through today. As you finish each level, take a screenshot of your badge, and post it as a comment in your Gist.
30 minutes
Daily Tasks (Typing Practice & Algorithmic Thinking/ Logic) See instructions in Daily Tasks section 15 minutes

Day Five:

Task Accountability Check Time Frame
Task E- Read AND do these command line exercises in your terminal: http://cli.learncodethehardway.org/book
For today:
  • View A File (less, MORE)
  • Stream A File (cat)
  • Removing A File (rm)
Take a screenshot of your terminal after completing each exercise, and post them as comments in your Gist. 20 minutes
Task F- Continue learning Ruby. You should be working on Option 1 at this point. In your Gist, list the sections that you worked through today, and answer the questions in the Gist template that connect to those sections. 30 minutes
Daily Tasks (Typing Practice & Algorithmic Thinking/ Logic) See instructions in Daily Tasks section 15 minutes

Day Six:

Task Accountability Check Time Frame
Task F- Continue learning Ruby. You should be working on Option 1 at this point. In your Gist, list the sections that you worked through today, and answer the questions in the Gist template that connect to those sections. 30 minutes
Daily Tasks (Typing Practice & Algorithmic Thinking/ Logic) See instructions in Daily Tasks section 15 minutes

Day Seven:

Task Accountability Check Time Frame
Task F- Continue learning Ruby. You should be working on Option 1 at this point. In your Gist, list the sections that you worked through today, and answer the questions in the Gist template that connect to those sections. 30 minutes
Task G- Get ready for Day One at Turing! To sum up your pre-work, answer the following questions in your Gist:
  • Were you able to get through the work? Did you rush to finish, or take your time?
  • What are you most looking forward to learning more about?
  • What topics would you most like to see reinforced by instructors?
  • What is most confusing to you about what you've learned?
  • What questions do you have for your student mentor or for your instructors?
30 minutes
Daily Tasks (Typing Practice & Algorithmic Thinking/ Logic) See instructions in Daily Tasks section 15 minutes
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment