I have been slogging a bit in the Ruby prework, and I’ve figured out part of the reason I continue to feel unsure about what I’m learning.

When I was taking calculus 1, I did the best on the sections where I went to office hours and watched the professor solve problem after problem. When I was taking physics, I went to office hours and watched the professor demonstrate the process he went through to solve problems. I also practiced the problem-solving techniques over and over to really understand how to approach different kinds of problems. I’ve never been closer to reading French fluently than when I took F306 <<Roman et poésie>> (Novels and poetry) and was reading, speaking, and writing French for hours every week.

With Ruby, I haven’t watched enough experts solve problems, I don’t (yet) have a teacher who can explain their problem-solving process, and I just plain haven’t been exposed to enough code, Ruby or otherwise, to seamlessly follow along with what I’m reading when looking at code. While currently frustrating, I am feeling more confident that I know how to fix the problem. More Ruby practice, here I go!