Plots2: Initial Summer of Code Evals: what we're looking for!

[jywarren]

Hi, everyone (@publiclab/soc @publiclab/mentors especially)! We had some good questions about what the first evals will be about. I wanted to say that we consider your overall progress, but we are especially on the lookout for the following:

How collaborative you've been

* have you only told others about what you're doing (through blog posts, weekly check-ins, showing up on open call
* have you invited other people to get involved in your work, whether integration with other projects or writing first-timers-only issues?
* have you asked your peers for reviews/input, and just as importantly, have you offered your support to others in a similar manner?
* have you documented your work as you go, so others arriving to see your code can understand: 1. what are your goals, 2. how your code accomplishes them, 3. how to use your code, and 4. what the expected outcome is?

How you've balanced planning and architecture with implementation and demos

Early in the program, there is a lot of structural work that happens. But it's also important to break your work into small enough parts that you can show some working code and get feedback on it! This is always a balance.

And although it's tempting to do EVERYTHING at once, we also want to see that the most minimal version of your project is also being built. What if someone wants to use it in a simple way without all the bells and whistles? Is it easy to see how they might do that?

How flexible and creative you've been at problem-solving

Have you encountered problems? Have you reached out to get help? Conversely, have you been thorough in following up on input provided by others? If you can only get reviews periodically, what are you doing to help make your work easy to review -- clearly demonstrating problems through tests or code links, making it easy to get oriented in your code, leaving appropriate inline comments or tidying your code so it's readable?

I hope this makes sense. You're all doing really well; i just went down a list of the projects to check on everyone. The only projects I'm worried about are ones where people feel disconnected from the group, and aren't getting enough input.

In some cases, this is because you need to start posting more, reaching out, whether through blogging, through opening PRs, or through creating demos. In others, it may mean presenting your work in smaller chunks, or helping people get oriented well enough to understand what you're trying to do. Please speak up and tell us you need help, but also think about these strategies for making your work accessible.

Thanks everyone! Evals open on Monday and run through the week. You're all off to a great start, so take a step back for a moment, take a deep breath, and think about the points above!

🎉 🙌 🎆

[jywarren]

Hi, all! Just noting that we'll be looking at the same kinds of things this time around (2nd eval) but also measuring against what progress you've made on our input from the first eval. We are really looking to see that you've responded to input, taken steps to address gaps you had in the first eval, and adapted your work style and project to integrate feedback from the first time around. Thanks!!!!