What I Learned from Teaching Coding to Teens

When I started teaching JavaScript at libraries and schools, I thought my job was to transfer knowledge from my brain to theirs. I'd teach them variables, functions, and loops, and they'd become programmers. Simple, right? Turns out, I had no idea what I was getting into.

Lesson 1: Teaching Is Learning

I thought I knew JavaScript well until I had to explain it to someone else. When a student asks, "Why do we use semicolons?" or "What's the difference between let and var?" you can't just say "because that's how it works." You need to truly understand the why behind everything.

Teaching forced me to deepen my own knowledge. I had to learn concepts well enough to explain them in multiple ways, to create analogies, to answer questions I'd never considered. My students made me a better programmer by challenging me to understand things at a fundamental level.

Lesson 2: Everyone Learns Differently

Some students grasp concepts through visual diagrams. Others need to write code and see it run. Some learn best through analogies to real-world situations. And some just need to struggle with a problem until they figure it out themselves.

I learned to prepare lessons in multiple formats: visual slides, code examples, hands-on exercises, and real-world analogies. What clicks for one student might not work for another, and that's okay.

Lesson 3: Mistakes Are the Best Teachers

In my early classes, I tried to prevent students from making mistakes. I'd give them perfect code to copy, step-by-step instructions to follow. But I noticed they weren't learning as well as I'd hoped.

Then I tried something different. I let them make mistakes. I gave them challenges where getting it wrong was not only possible but expected. And magic happened. Students who struggled with a bug for ten minutes and finally fixed it remembered that lesson forever.

Now I actively design exercises where students will likely make certain mistakes. Then we debug together. It's more frustrating in the moment, but the learning sticks.

Lesson 4: Enthusiasm Is Contagious

When I'm excited about what we're building, students get excited too. When I show genuine joy at solving a tricky problem or creating something cool, that energy spreads.

I learned to bring enthusiasm to every class, even when teaching the same basic concepts for the tenth time. For me it might be review, but for each new student, it's their first time experiencing the magic of writing code that actually works.

Lesson 5: Patience Is Everything

Concepts that seem obvious to me now were once completely foreign. I had to learn patience - with students who need extra time, with questions that seem basic, with errors that could have been avoided if they'd just read the instructions.

I remind myself constantly: everyone starts somewhere. My job isn't to judge their current level; it's to help them get to the next level.

Lesson 6: Practical Projects Beat Theory

Students don't care about variables and functions in the abstract. They care about building things. So we build things - games, animations, interactive websites - and learn the concepts through practical application.

Instead of saying "today we'll learn about if statements," I say "today we'll make a game where your character can jump over obstacles." They learn if statements in the process, but the goal is the game, not the grammar.

Lesson 7: Community Matters

I used to think learning to code was a solitary activity. But the best learning happens in community. Students help each other, share discoveries, and celebrate each other's successes.

I now intentionally build community in my classes. Pair programming, group projects, show-and-tell sessions where students present their work. Learning together is better than learning alone.

Lesson 8: Confidence Is Half the Battle

Many students believe they "aren't good at coding" before they've even tried. They see programming as something for gifted geniuses, not regular people like them.

One of my most important jobs is building confidence. Celebrating small victories, normalizing mistakes, sharing my own struggles, and showing that everyone - including me - looks up error messages and searches for solutions online.

When a student goes from "I can't do this" to "I figured it out!" - that transformation in mindset is worth more than any technical skill.

Lesson 9: Age Is Just a Number

I've taught elementary students and adults. I've worked with students who've never touched a computer and students who built their first website at age 8. The common thread? Curiosity and willingness to learn matter more than age or background.

Some of my best students have been those who came in thinking they were "too old" or "not technical enough." They proved themselves wrong.

Lesson 10: I'm Still Learning

The most important lesson? I don't have all the answers, and that's okay. I learn something new in every class - a better way to explain a concept, a question I'd never considered, or a creative solution from a student I wouldn't have thought of.

Teaching isn't about being the smartest person in the room. It's about creating an environment where everyone, including the teacher, can learn and grow together.

The Real Reward

The best part of teaching isn't seeing students master JavaScript. It's seeing them discover that they can create, that they can solve problems, that they can learn hard things if they're willing to try.

When a former student messages me to say they built something on their own, or that they're pursuing computer science in college, or that they taught their younger sibling to code - those moments make all the hard work worthwhile.

To Future Teachers

If you're thinking about teaching, whether it's coding or anything else, here's my advice: don't wait until you're an expert. Don't wait until you have all the answers. Start teaching, start learning, and grow with your students.

You'll make mistakes. You'll have lessons that flop. You'll encounter questions you can't answer. That's all part of the journey. The students who remember you won't remember your perfect lessons; they'll remember that you cared, that you tried, and that you helped them believe in themselves.

Teaching coding to teens has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. It's made me a better programmer, a better communicator, and a better person. And I'm just getting started.