iD Tech

Assistant Director

June - August 2019 • Stanford, CA

What I liked

Great job environment on Stanford's campus. Generally competent colleagues.

What I wish was different

Better planning and support from the main office. As summer employees we were forced to work late hours to make up for lapses in judgement of the office employees in charge of our location. Since the director teams were salaried (paid a fixed amount) and not hourly earners (like the instructors) this meant that some weeks we earned $3 an hour for having worked much much more than we were supposed to. With no remorse or support from the employees at iDTech.

Advice

It exposed me to iDTech's sticks and glue method for putting together a summer tech camp. Stanford University is supposed to be their flagship program and their planning/support was terrible. At first, I submitted, and put in my all for about 5 weeks, after which I made my distaste extremely apparent to no avail. Fine-tuned employee exploitation is the key takeaway here, it seemed as if all the staff members were expendable and replaceable in their minds. It was exacerbated and encouraged by the fact that most of us summer staff were at college and could make use of any financial incentive available.

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Instructor

June 2019 • Winston-Salem, NC

What I liked

What I wish was different

Advice

That it was very beneficial for me not only to learn how to teach but also to further my knowledge of my own studies.

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ID Tech Instructor

June - August 2019 • Hartford, CT

What I liked

I love working for iD Tech over the summer because I gained coding skills that are priceless when it comes to engineering. I love working with the kids because they had so many imaginations about what they wanted to do for their projects every week. I had one group of kids that coded their robots to play soccer with other students in the class. It was rewarding to see the inspiration in their eyes about their projects, and show it to their parents over the weekend.

What I wish was different

If I had to do something different, I wouldn't because these kids taught me things about myself just as much they learned from me. I wish I was more organized when it came with my lesson plans and teaching the kids different coding techniques, but through practice by the end of the summer, I was a pro at teaching. That wouldn't have happened if I didn't make those mistakes in the beginning.

Advice

I would share to that you have to network and treat everyone with kindness the same way if you meet the president of the company. Working for iD Tech was so nice and rewarding, I was able to meet a project manager for UTC, because his kid was my student at the day-camp. His son loved me so much, he went back to his parents and told me all about my class, and what he learned in the class.

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Instructor

June - July 2018 • Chicago, IL

What I liked

I enjoyed working with the kids at the camp, teaching them how to code in Java and Python. I enjoyed the fact that gaming and coding can go hand and hand and I liked how you can also teach campers how to use Minecraft mods and use coding to create platformers.

What I wish was different

Having a more personable and supportive director who encourages us at our very best.

Advice

Do something that will allow you to feel more comfortable out of your comfort zone. If you are afraid of public speaking, find opportunities that will allow you to overcome these anxieties.

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Instructor

June - August 2018 • West Long Branch, NJ

What I liked

Working with kids and making lots of fun creative applications

What I wish was different

Fewer hours for overnight instructors would be nice.

Advice

Great job for Freshmen!

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Instructor

June - August 2019 • Villanova, PA

What I liked

It was a great opportunity to expand my knowledge and expertise on the subjects I taught.

What I wish was different

I wish the students had been more attentive.

Advice

It opens your eyes to being a teacher rather than a student, and how to organize information and present it in a way that can be understood by others.

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Instructor

June - August 2019 • Concord, CA

What I liked

I was able to work with students in small class sizes and teach them how to have fun with computer hardware and coding. I grew close to other instructors and staff that were around my age but of different backgrounds.

What I wish was different

I wish we had been paid more for the work we did. We were overworked for the pay we received, especially at the overnight camps. Our resources were not as abundant as I wished and the quality of staff varied greatly from location to location. For one of the classes, the hardware was so troublesome that both the students and I were greatly disappointed.

Advice

Never be afraid to value yourself more and ask for help even if you aren't completely sure you need it. There's always room to grow and learn even if you think you know enough to teach 8-year-olds.

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Lead Instructor

June - August 2019 • Houston, TX

What I liked

The workplace is well-organized and tightly run. My supervisor was friendly and supportive at all times and my coworkers were professional and prepared. I never felt worried about not knowing what I should do next, and I loved the added responsibility of being a Lead and supporting less-experienced instructors.

What I wish was different

My schedule was demanding because I was working as an overnight instructor as well so it would have been nice to have more nights off.

Advice

Be prepared to be busy at all times and exhausted by the end of each day!

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Instructor

June - July 2018 • Sacramento, CA

What I liked

I liked the duality of the position of both instructing in various topics as well as being a camp counselor. Some of my favorite memories come from after the instruction was over and we'd do various activities (like movie nights, game nights, or going out for frozen yogurt) with the campers staying overnight in the residence halls at Sacramento State.

What I wish was different

I don't know if there was anything I wished were different, although there were some areas of the curriculum that they had prepared that either I thought was outside the scope of the course or were presented in the wrong order (as the main focus of the week of instruction is to get the campers to create some final project). An example I could give was a course on coding in general that started off with Assembly Language and then taught C++ and Python. Most of the campers in that course chose to use either C++ or Python and none of them used Assembly Language. Going over Assembly Language as a sort of advanced topic in the course might be prudent (as it shows the basics and history of programming), but it is not needed to learn either C++ or Python.

Advice

One piece of advice I can share about this experience is to be willing to adapt to the needs of the campers while still making sure they have the basic knowledge needed to create that final project they can look back on and be proud of.

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Instructor

May - August 2018 • Lisle, IL

What I liked

I loved instructing children and providing them with coding and game development skills. It is a rewarding feeling to know you are having a positive impact on children’s futures.

What I wish was different

Advice

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Instructor

June - August 2019 • Amherst, MA

What I liked

I loved teaching kids how to code and working with the other instructors!

What I wish was different

Advice

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Instructor

July - August 2018 • Princeton, NJ

What I liked

I loved meeting similarly-minded coworkers who enriched my experience greatly.

What I wish was different

I would have liked to have more time in one location; I was bounced around quite a bit.

Advice

Make connections with whomever you're working with. The people you meet are the most important aspect of your job.

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Instructor

July - August 2018 • South Orange, NJ

What I liked

I enjoyed teaching what I love doing, programming, to those with little to no experience but with interest. It was awesome to be able to make my own lessons and really cement my knowledge on certain topics, while helping others.

What I wish was different

I wish not so much free time/freedom was allowed in some cases; there were kids who were clearly there not of their own volition.

Advice

Group I children (8-10) are immensely different from group II and III children (10-17). Keep patience and take into account their age.

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Instructor

June - August 2018 • Bethlehem, PA

What I liked

The kids were nice.

What I wish was different

Better pay, more communication with corporate and curriculum creators and maintainers.

Advice

Get a good sleep schedule going.

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Instructor

June - August 2018 • Stanford, CA

What I liked

Teaching kids

What I wish was different

The hours and structure of the camp. Too much time and effort for such little pay.

Advice

You probably shouldn't do it if you're looking for a chill summer. Might as well go to a big Tech company and put in the work for decent money.

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Instructor

June - August 2018 • Irvine, CA

What I liked

It solidified my skills in JavaScript since I was teaching it.

What I wish was different

I wish I had been assigned more weeks of work.

Advice

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Instructor

June - August 2018 • Stanford, CA

What I liked

The best part of my summer job was that I was teaching the High Schoolers the field of study I want to pursue after graduating from college that is artificial intelligence. Also, I really liked the place a lot.

What I wish was different

I worked 65-80 hours a week. I think it was too intensive for a much less pay.

Advice

Be open to the challenges that are thrown and you. You'll be more likely to succeed in what you are doing.

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Lead Instructor

June - August 2019 • Nashville, TN

What I liked

Fantastic atmosphere, great people, and you get to learn alot both about how much you know, and about how to learn on the fly. Working with kids of all ages and getting to know them is incredibly rewarding, and tons of fun.

What I wish was different

Working at a location for 8 weeks straight and staying the night all week can lead to a fair amount of stress. This only applies if you are a lead instructor or another instructor who needs to stay for the whole time, so this is less applicable to day instructors.

Advice

Be confident in your knowledge, if you got chosen then it means you have what it takes. Getting to know your co-workers makes the experience even better and can lead to some lasting friendships, so just be friendly, be yourself, and you'll find success!

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Lead Instructor

June - July 2018 • Berkeley, CA

What I liked

The people I worked with and the kids were amazing. I loved introducing kids to code and helping them to make friends in a fun atmosphere.

What I wish was different

I wish the management had been more organized and more hands-on in terms of finding solutions to common problems .

Advice

Speak up when you're unhappy about something in your work environment.

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Instructor

June - August 2018 • Stanford, CA

What I liked

I loved feeling like I was making a lasting impact on aspiring young coders each and every day.

What I wish was different

Advice

If you do not have a passion for children, this job is not the one for you. The hours are long and hard, but so incredibly worth it if you love working with kids. Also, come prepared with lesson plans for the courses you will be teaching!

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