Curriculum designer · Technical instructor

I designed and taught a 14-week software engineering course.

…and told a dad joke every single day

Built under direct contract with Workforce Opportunity Services: six units, one assessment system, from a first JavaScript variable to deployed full-stack apps and tested Python data pipelines.

Read the ASP.NET Core case study

Pending: Résumé (PDF): add public/downloads/resume.pdf

weeks, designed end to end
14
units in sequence
6
lesson pages written
500+
years teaching
6+

The course

Tracklist

almost half the course is .NET
week 4's databases come back in track 05
  1. 01Programming Fundamentalswk 1JavaScript from zero to async
  2. 02Web Fundamentalswk 2–3HTML, accessibility, CSS, the DOM
  3. 03SQL Fundamentalswk 4Design databases from wireframes
  4. 04Intro to Reactwk 5–6Components, state, routing, data
  5. 05ASP.NET Corewk 7–12Full-stack MVC, auth, EF Core, capstoneRead the liner notes →
  6. 06Data Engineeringwk 13–14Python ETL pipelines, tested and scheduled. Added at WOS's request.
start here if you only read one thing

Liner notes · Track 05

ASP.NET Core, weeks 7–12

The deepest unit, documented in full: how six weeks get from a first C# class to a deployed, authenticated, relational web app.

Read the liner notes →
  • Learners, context and objectives
  • The six-week arc
  • How assessment lines up with objectives
  • The capstone, run like a real sprint
  • A full sample lesson
  • What I'd change next time

Pending: Rubric (PDF): add public/downloads/aspnet-core-rubric.pdf

Pending: Capstone playbook (PDF): add public/downloads/capstone-playbook.pdf

How it's built

Three decisions that run through every unit

students learn the rubric once
callbacks > cold starts
explain it or it isn't yours

01 · Assessment

One rubric shape, everywhere

Every assessed unit uses a guide, a four-level rubric, an in-class practice run, then parallel graded versions on different themes. A pass needs Proficient in every category, so a strong area can't hide a weak one.

02 · Sequencing

The apps come back

In week 4, students design the database for The Rewind from wireframes. Six weeks later the same app returns in .NET, and they build all of it. The hard thinking is already done, so the effort goes into the new material.

03 · AI

A partner, not a crutch

Students can use AI, including Codey, the course's own study-buddy GPT, to explain errors and get unstuck, but not to write their solutions. If you can't explain your code one-on-one, it isn't yours yet.

The client

Why WOS came back

2018–25
Five-plus years teaching at a coding bootcamp, including a Workforce Opportunity Services cohort in 2024.
2025
The bootcamp ended the WOS program. WOS hired me directly to design and deliver a custom course.
The ask
A full-stack web course, plus two weeks of Python data engineering, which is how it became a software engineering course.

Pending: outcomes evidence: the confirmed hiring result (notes/pre-launch-content-gaps.md §1)

Pending: quote from a WOS contact (site.wosQuote)

yes, the video is real

Pending: teaching photo: add src/assets/photos/teaching.jpg

Credits

From the stage to the classroom

Actor and musician first, teacher second, and the classroom uses both. My lessons run on music analogies, and before final presentations my students watched my old music video, Stay Up, Stay Lifted, which I wrote with Dan Gallagher.

More about me