The Good Enough Interview
The people at Good Enough recently posted a ChatGPT-hosted interview with one of their employees. The questions are AI-generated, but the answers are completely human.
I like the idea, so I though: why not try it for myself? I used the same prompt, but changed it a little bit:
OK ChatGPT, I want you to read my personal website, particularly the blog posts, and the posts I've written there.
This is my website:
https://yordi.me
And here are all my blog posts (click through to open a single one):
https://yordi.me/blog/
Once you've done that, I want you to conduct a question-by-question interview with me, to form the basis of a "Yordi is Good Enough" post. Ask me one question at a time, and then use my answer to evolve the interview. We should aim for about 8 questions in total.
Don't be boring. Use the existing posts as inspiration, but I want the post about me to be unique. I'd be cool if it went in a strange tangent.
Here's the result. I'm very curious what question you'll get for your own personal interview. Let me know and I'll certainly read it!
Your blog exudes a sense of exploration and personal growth. Can you share a moment when stepping out of your comfort zone led to an unexpected but rewarding experience?
Yordi: One moment that is both quite recent (just a few years ago) and pivotal is my adventure to become a computer science teacher. I've always had this connection between doing things I love and also sharing the knowledge I gathered from those things. A good example is my love for athletics and running combined with me coaching youth athletes for over 15 years now. After a ten-ish year career as a software developer, I decided I wanted to pass on my knowledge in computer science to the next generation, and after a two-year program, I have become a qualified teacher. Two years ago, I fully left behind my life as a practicing software developer to become a full-time teacher, split into two days a week at a high school and three days a week at a university of applied sciences. So yes, at this moment, that single decision has led to quite the change, but certainly the rewarding experience.
You've seamlessly blended your passion for athletics and coaching with your career in computer science education. How do the principles from coaching youth athletes influence your teaching methods in the classroom?
Yordi: That's a funny question. During the two-year program in which I learned how to become a teacher, I did a lot of reflecting that involved the experience I already had with coaching youth athletes. Starting the new adventure to become a teacher, I thought it would be quite similar to coaching athletes... and it is, in some ways, but it's also totally different in others. Teaching in front of a classroom felt all but natural when I first started, but I was able to take a lot of strength from the thought that coaching athletes was unnatural at first as well. The knowledge that things would become better and easier over time—because I knew from experience that they would—helped a lot. I now feel that I'm at the same point as a computer science teacher compared to an athletics coach, or at least very close to it.
Can you recall a specific moment in your teaching career when you felt a breakthrough—where things "clicked" and you realized you were truly making an impact?
Yordi: Whether it's athletics or computer science, there will always be moments where you notice that something clicked with an athlete or student. For example, when an athlete finally dares to jump over a hurdle as low as they possibly can, or realizes they can manage a three-step phase between hurdles that powers them forward much faster. Or a student who suddenly seems to understand how a for-loop works and how it's supposed to work. Those moments are golden for students as well as for teachers. For me as a teacher, moments like these give me information about what style of teaching works for certain kinds of students. Learning those and building up your repertoire and experience are a new breakthrough every time.
Imagine you're tasked with designing a curriculum that combines computer science principles with athletic training. What would this hybrid course look like, and what unique outcomes would you hope students achieve?
Yordi:
A cool question, and an interesting one to come up with as well, as I've done exactly that as the thesis for my teacher program. I developed a course where students first gather data about themselves and their classmates as athletes, like how far they can jump or how fast they can sprint. Then, they take this data into a digital notebook they can program, with all sorts of graphs as a result. It's their first taste of using a data-centric approach in sports to help athletes develop further. A little bit of data analysis, you could say. I think it's a cool course, and when I first hosted it at a school, the students thought so too!
In your experience, how do students respond when they see their own athletic data visualized? Have you noticed any shifts in their engagement or understanding when they can directly relate data to their personal performance?
Yordi: Using your own data set that you gathered yourself instead of some generic, pre-gathered list of data points triggers the intrinsic motivation of students. They are much more enthusiastic about the process, as they did everything themselves. It's mostly that, the intrinsic motivation, and not so much the drive for the students to grow in the sports themselves. Now that I think of it, I guess the course could be even more motivating when students are allowed to use their own favorite sports to gather data from. That would be an interesting option to explore for a future cohort, for sure.
Over the last couple of months, AI has really shaken up the education world. How do you view AI in the classroom—as a threat, a tool, or maybe even a collaborator?
Yordi: Over the last couple of months, AI has really put its foot in the door. Whether teachers allow it or not (or whether teachers know of the existence of AI tools or not), students continuously use this new technology to aid them. And AI can play that role, the role of a personal tutor for students. We as teachers have to start thinking more about how we can use the same tools to both aid our students and make our own work easier and more fulfilling. In my opinion, AI is a partner students can use, but they should always be in the lead. The student remains the architect, and for that to work, they also need a certain amount of basic knowledge themselves. How else can you decide if your AI colleague produced quality or rubbish?
If you could design your ideal day, blending your passions for music, teaching, athletics, and writing, what would that day look like from sunrise to sunset?
Yordi: The morning of my ideal day starts the day before. During that previous day, I worked at one of the schools where I teach, and I probably ended the day with a running training on the track or just on the road or in nature. Then back to the ideal day, I wake up naturally, together with the first rays of sunlight, and make myself a nice cup of coffee. Then I either take up a book to read, my guitar to play some tunes, or I grab my laptop and read through my feed of blogs before I get inspired to write my own post for the day. After that, I feel best when there is no real plan or obligation for the rest of the day. That does not lead to me doing nothing, but instead it introduces enough freedom and peace of mind to let ideas flow in naturally. From there, anything can happen, leading either to a next big project, or just a relaxed day.
In your blog post The Subtle Art of Always Quitting Your Hobbies, you talk about the cycle of picking up and putting down new interests. Has there been a hobby recently that surprised you with its staying power or its influence on your life?
Yordi: Playing guitar has an interesting position as a hobby in my life. It comes and goes in phases where I play the instrument every day and improve visibly, until there are a few days where I, for whatever reason, do not play—which is sometimes enough for me to then leave the guitar untouched for weeks. Until I stare at it one day, thinking why I don't play, picking it up and getting hooked again. Like I mentioned in this blog post, I just have to be careful to let this hobby be a hobby and not try to pursue anything professional or too deep, as that can be a trigger to quit temporarily. I still haven't figured it out completely, though, and don't know if I ever will. Life is funny like that.