Wikimedia Hackathon 2017/Mentoring Program

For this year’s Hackathon we will be implementing a mentoring program for newcomers to our movement.

What is the Mentoring Program?
The mentoring program is a new approach that we are trying out for the first time, to get more newcomers into the movement, help them with the whole onboarding process, and make their way into the great Wikimedia tech community as easy and as much fun as possible. The focus is to welcome newcomers into the community, by introducing them to the different aspects of working with MediaWiki, and help them achieve their own first steps during the hackathon weekend. Additionally, we want to create a welcoming social atmosphere, so we can further diversity and growth in our community.

This program will give newcomers the chance to dive into the Wikimedia movement and try out projects that are designed in a way that will give them the chance to hack on something that can be accomplished on that weekend, with the support of experienced Wikimedians as their mentors. While hacking, the newcomers can get to know the Wikimedia movement and see what impact they can have. We would like to create an event which will offer newcomers the opportunity to engage closely with Wikimedia projects. Pre-assigned hacking groups for newcomers will be kept small, with only four to six participants per project. It will be a unique chance to get to know some of the coolest projects and coders out there and become part of the Wikimedia community!

Are you a newcomer?
In the registration form, we offered everyone the option to indicate that they are new and want to join the mentoring program, together with some information on your coding skill level and interest areas so that we can match you with suitable mentors and fellow mentees. If you did this, you will automatically be on our list of newcomers.

What does it mean to be a mentor?
Since the mentoring program is something new this year - much more guided and focused than previous initiatives (like e.g. the buddy system) - we want to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

Being a mentor means:

You will be at the hackathon exclusively as a mentor! You will create projects that are newbie-friendly and you will work on them together with the newcomers  for the whole weekend. You will not get as much done as you would on your own, but you will contribute an incredible amount of value to the community by sharing your knowledge and helping the movement grow.
 * Before the hackathon, everyone will come up with newcomer friendly projects, broken into small and large, easy to accomplish tasks. We will collect them on Phabricator on the Wikimedia Hackathon 2017 workboard, and you can also put yourself down as a mentor for projects on the Community Wishlist. Detailed instructions (what to contribute where) will follow asap, please stay tuned!

You will work with newcomers throughout the three days, but you will not be left alone: We will have regular mentor-meetings during the weekend, to asses the situation, identify potential problems in advance and provide help and exchange within the mentoring team as well as the hackathon staff. Whatever you need during the weekend, you can count on the hackathon staff team to help you out as best as we possibly can!
 * Before the hackathon, we will keep sending you emails with updates on the mentoring program as we will develop it together – since this is a first time for all of us, we really value your feedback and contributions!
 * At the opening ceremony, the mentoring program and the mentoring team (as a group, not personally) will be introduced and greeted with a round of applause.
 * After the opening ceremony, mentors and newcomers will meet in person and get to know each other, and both mentors as well as newcomers can decide with whom, and on which project they want to work together for the weekend.
 * And, as a special thank you: you will get some mentors-only goodies, and your commitment to teach others will be much, much appreciated!

How will mentors and newcomers find each other?
After the opening ceremony on Friday, all mentors and newcomers will go for a joint mentoring program session to the breakout room Wiaschtl to meet and get acquainted.

The organisers will prepare the session, in which everyone will have a chance to introduce themselves. The mentors will quickly pitch the projects they have prepared and/ or the areas of expertise which they can offer for the newcomers. Newcomers will separate into groups and find their matching mentors, according to their likes and interests.

What will you work on?
The mentors will prepare newcomer-friendly projects, broken down into little tasks that can be accomplished during a weekend.

Mentors for Vienna 2017

 * So newcomers can look it over to meet them in advance
 * Mentors can add a description of themselves, or a quote, and their contact details if they like

General sources for MediaWiki

 * Starter’s Guide: How to become a MediaWiki Hacker
 * here on MediaWiki.org, the main website for the software itself…
 * … and its extensions manuals

Resources from MediaWiki pre-hackathon workshops in Vienna

 * Tutorial for installing MediaWiki on a server, by jackie: wmws.tantemalkah.at
 * Installing MediaWiki using VirtualBox, by Tobias: Download PDF
 * Quick Start in MediaWiki System Administration, by Alex: Download PDF

To prepare for the Wikimedia Hackathon

 * Have a look at the Hackathon FAQs to get an idea of what the event is going to be like: Hackathon-FAQs on mediawiki.org
 * Read the Starter’s Guide How to become a MediaWiki Hacker
 * Create your account on Phabricator. During the hackathon, we use the web-based, software development collaboration tool suite Phabricator. Here’s how to get started: mediawiki.org/wiki/Phabricator/Help
 * Set up your laptop: Follow the instructions on mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathon/Laptop_setup to get your development environment setup

Point of contact for mentoring program
Sonja Fischbauer user:Sonkiki will be your go-to person for questions related to the mentoring program, but feel free to approach anyone in the hackathon staff/ team with your questions during the weekend.

Information for Mentors
We are looking for Wikimedians who would like to attend the Hackathon exclusively as mentors! The first part of your job will be to come up with a newcomer friendly project broken into small and large easy-to-accomplish tasks. Then you will attend the hackathon and work together with newcomers guiding them through the project from start to finish.

Mentoring Guide
''As a mentor, you are the heart of the initiative for newcomers in the movement. In order to make the mentoring program work as best as we can, we are establishing this guide. We will need all of your feedback and learnings to improve the program in general, and this guide in particular – we are excited to do this with you. The goal of this guide is to help you being well prepared, and to give you options and inspirations to draw from.''

''This guide is focused on creating a friendly and open environment for learners of all sorts – but also for you, the mentors, yourselves. This guide strives to help with making everyone feel comfortable, to have a pleasant learning and mentoring experience, as well as having a great weekend together.''

Building on lessons learned
With this guide, we are building on lessons learned from previous newcomer-initiatives, mainly the buddy system, which was first introduced at the Wikimedia Hackathon 2015. While the idea to help newcomers was appreciated, the process felt a forced for some, while others were a bit lost. Suggestions for improvements called for an improved pairing process (e.g. based on projects, not people, and giving people the option to switch), guidelines for best practices and managing expectations in advance. With this guide, we are trying to make due on that. (Read the full lessons learned from Lyon 2015.)

Sources for this guide
This mentoring guide is built from the Open Tech School coaching guide (CC BY-SA 3.0 Open Tech School), which itself roots in the RailsBridge teaching style (CC BY 3.0 RailsBridge). Additionally, we draw from the Django Girls Coaching Manual (CC BY-SA 4.0 Django Girls), the Rails Girls Guide for Coaches (CC BY-SA 3.0 Rails Girls) and the Jugend Hackt Handbuch (CC BY 4.0 Paula Glaser, Maria Reimer, Daniel Seitz for OKF DE and mediale pfade.org). All of these links are excellent sources if you want to dig deeper into the art of mentoring.

Mentoring isn't teaching…
in the sense that mentors are not standing in front and teaching a class.

Mentors...
 * Stand by on the sidelines
 * Are right there when needed
 * Focus on the learners
 * Have sympathy for their (in-)abilities
 * Encourage learners to go further through positive motivation
 * And ensure they have fun doing it.

Atmosphere

 * Smile
 * Make eye contact
 * Admit when you don't know something
 * Be kind and friendly
 * Use their name (on the name tags)
 * Tell learners it's ok to make mistakes
 * And to take breaks when it gets frustrating

Encouragement

 * Assume everyone you're mentoring has zero knowledge but infinite intelligence
 * Use normal language instead of slang
 * Make sure the learner understood what you said...
 * ...and explain it again differently if that's not the case
 * Encourage learners to play around on their own
 * Whatever they do is great!

Questions

 * Look around to see if someone else might be having trouble
 * They might just be afraid to ask
 * Come by once in awhile and ask: “Hey, how is it going? Anything I can help you with?”
 * This is a very powerful tool: It helps shy learners, builds rapport and increases engagement.
 * Another trick: Sit next to them and chat about what they are doing.

Questions are good!

 * Get people comfortable asking questions
 * Emphasize that there is no such thing as "dumb" questions
 * Ask if learners have any questions
 * Give other learners the chance to try to answer that question
 * Coding is collaboration — make sure learners understand that

Responding to questions
Chances are, there is a specific question when the learner asks you to help them. How do you respond?
 * Positively:
 * "I’m glad you asked that."
 * "What an interesting question!"
 * "Great question!"
 * "Hm, I'm not sure... Let's look in the Internet/ask someone else."
 * If in doubt: blame the material, never the learner.
 * Their interpretation of the material might be as good as ours!

Pacing

 * This is not about you, but about the learner. We go at their pace.
 * Everyone learns at their own pace. That's a good thing!
 * Talk sssssslllllloooooowwwwwwllllllyyyyyyyy.
 * Wait much longer than you feel is comfortable for questions/comments (count to 10 in your head)

Be encouraging

 * Don't accept any learner saying they are too whatever to do it, answer that they can do it.
 * Congratulate people on their achievements, take some time to let them show them to you.
 * If people get off the path but have fun, encourage them to go on.
 * Encourage learners to show their work to others: invite them to present at the showcase at the end, or to show their stuff to other participants during the event. Tell them twice. Or three times. Whatever it takes.

Don'ts
a few things we are not doing
 * We do not hit on anyone or make sexually suggestive remarks
 * We do not roll our eyes or laugh at questions
 * We do not use the time to advertise our own companies/jobs/ourselves
 * We do not pick on or make fun of anyone or anything
 * We do not debate which programming language, methods or technologies are "better"
 * We do not touch their keyboard

Their keyboard – it is made of lava!

 * Learners are going to drift away when you take over their keyboard.
 * Don't touch it.
 * If you absolutely, ultimately must type something on their computer — chances are you don't —, ask whether that is okay with them.
 * And explain what you are doing.

We do not discuss programming languages
Doing so confuses learners. In the tech community we have some strong opinions and our ways to express them, but for people new to it, this can quickly look like a huge fight. We do not fight each other!

“We are here to mentor you in this programming language/method/technology and that is the focus for this event.”

Thank you for being a mentor at the Wikimedia Hackathon!