What Red Hat training course(s) have you completed?

[Deanna]

What courses have you successfully completed? 

[Tracy_Baker]

RH124, RH134 (earned my RHCSA) and RH254. I currently teach all three at a community college.

(Will try the RHCE around December, I think.)

[S_Russell]

Do you have any advice for those of us that want to teach in a meetup environment?

My plan is after I finish a certification I am going to create a meetup to teach that material and hopefully mentor one person one-on-one.

[Lemmons]

Good question, @S_Russell! I like sharing some of the RHCSA and RHCE skills I have learned, but walking the line between teaching to the topic and teaching to the exam can be difficult.

I'd be glad for any tips you have for us as a more experienced teacher, @Tracy_Baker.

[S_Russell]

I am not sure how much I can add... I do a good bit of one-on-one mentoring. I have a love for teaching because my wife has her masters in Distance Education; but I have not taught in a classroom based settting.

For my mentoring sessions I start with navigation and how to find help. I feel the mentee needs to have a high degree of self discipline and should be able and want to dig deeper. On subsequent meetings we work on projects. I usually start with something they will enjoy such as plex or nginx. During projects we geek on the why was something done: e.g. UNIX philosophy. We spend a lot of time trying to build the passion about the platform so we discuss current events, the companies, and the drama at times... like why systemd really follows the UNIX philosophy and also discuss why some people would prefer to keep init. The end goal is to build passion within the student so that they learn the technology but also learn soft skills and have a love for business strategy as well.

[Tracy_Baker · Accepted solution]

@S_Russell  @Lemmons

I am answering this as both a full-time professor and a certified tutor (CRLA).

Teaching is different from tutoring/mentoring.

We've all had teachers, so we have a good idea what a teacher does. A few general things a teacher does: teach to many people at a time, deliver new content, prepare and execute various types of assessments and more. It is a teacher’s prerogative to give answers as they fit.

Tutors/mentors aren't teachers -- although they are similar. A few general things a tutor/mentor does: works in a one-on-one or small group situation, does not typically deliver new content, does not assess progress (although they can, it would be very rare that such assessments would have the same scope). Tutors/mentors only give answers in extremely rare cases; their primary focus is to guide their tutees/mentees to the answers.

These aren’t hard-and-fast rules. There are always exceptions.

Anyway, it is a great thing if you can work with a group of people and help then learn. I did that when I was studying for various certifications I’ve earned.

A note: A teacher should not teach to any exam – they teach topics in a broader, more general, sense. A tutor/mentor specific goal may be to help individuals’ study for an exam. In either case, do not violate the NDA; that is, do not reveal anything that you’ve seen on the exam.

From now on I’ll refer to students, tutees and mentees as simply “students,” and teachers, tutors and mentors as “teachers.”

Tips:

• Be prepared. Good teachers make it look easy because they’ve put in a lot of time behind-the-scenes. Make certain you know the material.
  • If you can’t answer a question, that’s OK. However, make certain you have the answer for the next time you meet (or make it “homework” for one of the students).
• Always be there for the students. Don’t start something and then not follow through with it because you get tired of it or if it gets hard.
• Meet at regular times. Do allow too much time to pass between times.
• Allows students to collaborate. Peer learning works.
• Don’t get discouraged. People learn at different rates, so be patient. Understand that some people may not succeed despite your best efforts (and, with a different teacher, they do).
• Students learn in different ways (aural visual, kinesthetic and verbal) – have materials that speaks to each style.
• Have them practice, practice and practice some more. If you have an RHCSA or RHCE, you’ll know this.
• If you don’t have access to Red Hat’s curriculum, make your own from the published exam objectives. Here and here.

I think that’s it for now. If you have questions, please ask.

[Lemmons]

All great points, thank you for the detailed answer. I'll keep those differences in mind the next time I'm trying to provide guidance to someone that is motivated but stuck.

[biswansa]

yes

[biswansa]

RHCSA- 124- Red Hat admin level -1

[RGrey]

RH124 - Red Hat System Administration 1 8.2

RH134 - Red Hat System Administration II 8.2