Charlie Yin，尹漢申是蒲公英基金會捐贈家庭青少年，今年15歲，就讀於美國紐約Great Neck South High school。Charlie在學校是小學霸，所有學科成績全A，他熱愛編程，夢想未來成為一名計算機科學家。今年1月，Charlie贏得美國計算機奧林匹克比賽(United States in America Computing Olympiad)的銅獎，並獲得參加銀獎（高一級別）比賽資格。他在多項計算機相關比賽中獲得榮譽，如全美picoCTF前3%（Top 3% in pico CTF），美國angstromCTF前4%（top 4% in angstrom CTF）。六月份，美國中學的暑假開始了，他和他的好朋友Ross推出了兩個編程培訓，旨在推廣計算機編程，同時也幫助有意向參加基金會夏令營編程競賽培訓課的同學們提早接受Python訓練。這樣，同學們在蒲公英夏令營期間，經過矽谷工程師的進一步指導後，可以提升參加比賽贏得榮譽的機會。本文是蒲公英小記者，支教青少年王艾雪最近對Charlie的採訪筆記，讓我們跟著Ashley的優美的文筆，再多了解一點這位計算機小才子吧。
Charlie Yin is a 15-year-old currently living in New York. He is a BOP tutor and also a member of one of Bloom’s donating families. He is deeply passionate about coding and teaches an online class for students interested in learning Java (held with his friend Ross Williams).
Charlie Yin is currently a sophomore at Great Neck South High School. His interests are focused around STEM, mainly with mathematics and programming. At South High, he is currently taking AP Computer Science A, as well as Algebra II Honors. He is a competitor in the Silver Division of the United States of America Computing Olympiad, and has scored highly on the AMC 10, qualifying for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination.
Outside of GNSHS, Charlie is a Campus Ambassador Coordinator for TeenHacksLI, the East Coast’s largest 24-hour hackathon. He participates in 「Capture the Flag」 programming challenges on teams with Ross Williams, among other students. He has previously placed in the top 3% for the picoCTF event, and top 4% in the angstromCTF event. This summer, he plans to continue improving in mathematics and computing via online courses from Cornell.
Ashley recently held a virtual interview with Charlie to promote his tutoring service. More information on the summer program can be found here: https://liacademy.net/.
Charlie是一位很有想法的小老師，他是首批加入基金會的青少年遠程英語支教小老師，距今已經3年多了，也參加了2屆蒲公英公益夏令營（2017,2018）。在他看來，這段時間的經歷鍛鍊了自己的能力，也在力所能及的範圍內幫助了很多人。Charlie喜歡編程，在這方面成績斐然；在與他的溝通中，他將這一切歸因於對編程的興趣：興趣是最好的老師，練習是成功的必然，編程改變了自己的生活。
對於自己與朋友Ross共同開設的課程，Charlie希望能夠培養大家對於編程的興趣，鼓勵大家在課後完成自己的項目。編程會改變一個人思考問題的方式，潛移默化中影響到生活的方方面面。
以下是小記者Ashley Wang與Charlie的對話過程。
What is your relationship with Bloom? What is a BOP tutor? When did you start? Do you enjoy being a Bloom tutor, and why?
Charlie: I am currently a Bloom admin member, as well as a BOP tutor. BOP tutors have one-on-one teaching with students in China, and they help these students with their English. I was part of the first batch of tutors, back in 2017. I really enjoy being a Bloom tutor, as it helps me improve on my teaching skills, as well as get an opportunity to help these kids who need as much help as they can get.
What have you been doing with Bloom in 2020? What have you learned from it?
Charlie: In 2020, I have been working as a journalist for Bloom’s PLC sessions. I have learned more about the demographic of Bloom’s tutors, as PLC gave me a great opportunity to bond with my fellow tutors.
What are your central interests, and how did you develop them?
Charlie: Right now, I have strong interests in coding. When I was in around 6th grade, my parents signed me up for a course in Python. It was when I was very young, and I don’t think that I remember much from that course. But the important part was not the actual syntax, or content of the course. It made me interested in coding, which as a young kid, is much more important than learning the code itself. Currently, I am studying algorithms, to improve on my programming groundwork. Learning coding has changed my life.
Could you introduce how someone’s coding capability can be rated and certified? How can someone achieve a satisfactory result in coding?
Charlie: In my opinion, once a student has moved past the problems of syntax, coding becomes very theoretical. The difference between a good coder and a mediocre coder lies in their logical thinking ability, and their ability to create unique and creative solutions to problems. The best way to improve in coding is frankly not a bunch of classes. It’s just to practice. You can take as many classes as you like, but if you don’t sit down and practice what you learn in the classes, you won’t be getting the most out of it. One great way to rate one’s coding capability in USACO, as it tests a coder’s abilities both in syntax and theory.
What is the advantage of your coding training session? What more should a student do after completing your training session?
Charlie: Compared to other classes, Ross and I feel that our class is geared more toward developing an interest in programming. If the student is not interested in what they are doing, there’s no point in doing it. We hope to develop an interest in coding in our students. Our class’s final project is completely open-ended, and allows each student to create their own unique program. We hope that this encourages them to try creating their own projects after our class.
What is the most important benefit for kids to learn coding, in your opinion? What benefits could students gain out of this training session?
Charlie: In my opinion, the biggest benefit to learning coding is the way that it changes how you think. After learning coding, I felt that my ability to break down larger problems has improved. My mindset on approaching tough problems has completely changed. Now, I don’t expect the same result from my students. After all, it’s just a summer program. My biggest hope for my students is that they continue to have an interest in coding, so that further on in their lives, they may reach the point where their mindset is changed for the better.
Tell me about your plans for the summer.
Charlie: This summer, I am going to be focusing on learning. I have signed up for an intensive math program, which will hopefully help me in both math, and my algorithm developing skills. I will also be obviously teaching my coding class, and I will also be taking part in the Bloom summer camp.
Tell me more about your coding training session.
Charlie: Our coding class will take place from June 22-July 15, assuming you are attending both sessions. We will start the class with Scratch, as jumping right into the syntax might be difficult for some. We will then be transitioning to Java, where we will introduce topics such as variables, conditionals, loops, arrays and basic UI. Our optimal class size is 8 students, so Ross and I can each take 4 students.
In an interview through Zoom, Charlie demonstrated that he was willing to take on the challenge of teaching classes. In fact, he felt that BOP tutoring had helped with his teaching skills and highlighted his strengths. Charlie’s classes for Bloom are relatively laid-back, and he always appreciates when a student lets him know if he’s being unclear. He finds he can easily connect with students of a similar age group as him. If given the choice, he prefers working in a small group environment to a one-on-one environment, as the former dispels awkwardness. He is attending the 2020 Bloom Virtual Summer Camp and is eager to observe how professionals teach so that he can learn from their methods.
Charlie’s interest in coding started in middle school, and since then, he’s consistently participated in online programming competitions such as USACO and CTF. (In USACO, competitors develop algorithms for solving problems. CTF focuses on cybersecurity; flags are hidden in different websites and images for participants to find and 「capture」 for their teams.) Charlie has taken AP Computer Science and found the class easy. He feels that his school encourages coding more than most educational institutions, as they spread the AP Computer Science curriculum over two years to make it less daunting to students. He is familiar with both Java and Python but enjoys using Java more because he has greater experience with it. Charlie’s future aspirations include majoring in either computer science, math, or business, and he is certain that he』ll continue coding as a hobby in the future, if not as a career.
Last year, Charlie and his friend Ross held the same coding class during the summer, which provided a useful learning experience for this year’s sessions. Charlie maintains a balance between professionalism and fun in his classes; he believes that acting too stiff will intimidate students and prevent them from engaging actively. He says you 「don’t need to be a professional」 to teach other people how to code, and acting like one would lead to a negative experience—it’s clear that students don’t enjoy feeling beneath their teacher’s intellect.
Charlie understands the difficulty of learning a new coding language and conceptualizing how typing a string of commands will make the program perform a certain action. He believes that Java’s syntax complicated his lessons for students last year. As a result, he and Ross are using Scratch, a very basic programming language developed by MIT, to introduce their students to coding before starting their lessons on Java.
Charlie is realistic about the challenges he might face as a teacher but thinks they will be mitigated by the class moving online—it will be held online this year, making it even easier for aspiring coders to join. Last year, he saw many inter-student conversations because excitable groups of friends sat together. Much of that interaction will be lost in a digital medium, preventing students from getting distracted.
Most of all, Charlie prioritizes the importance of passion when conveying information to students. Because he’s enthusiastic about coding, his students will be entertained and happy to learn. It was enjoyable to interview him about an area of his life that clearly brings him fulfillment and is something he wants to share with other students his age.
The tutoring program is well-structured and allows room for personal creativity. Each class will have about eight students, and depending on the lesson, the first class may involve a period designated solely for teaching. On other days, students will spend all their time on a project and ask Charlie or Ross questions.
For the final project, students have an abundance of freedom to create something of their own. They can program anything of their choice, the main requirement being that they must incorporate an aspect of coding that they didn’t learn from class. This prompts students to recognize how there are many online resources to learn more about coding. Ideally, the final project encourages students to remember the skills they acquired and continue exploring coding in future courses.
40% of the proceeds will be donated to Bloom, and the rest will be used on 「building up infrastructure.」 This entails further advertising, shifting the payment system online for convenience, and transforming the website into a platform for students to receive homework assignments and submit quiz responses.
Every class is held from Monday-Friday.
Intro to Programming – Java
Session one: June 22 – July 01, 2PM – 4PM.(US ET)
Session two: July 06 – July 15, 2PM – 4PM.(US ET)
Instructors: Charlie Yin & Ross Williams
如果有來自中國的同學對此感興趣，可聯繫Charlie或者Williams討論時間安排，人數不限。（兩位小老師的微信ID：charliehyin & rossjwilliams）
The session start date is subject to be adjusted based on applicants and time zone, so first step, to add both Ross and Charlie's wechat（their wechat IDs charliehyin or rossjwilliams）, to enquire.