Behind the scenes of a Software Dev Consultant who teaches at Nucamp

How a professional in the industry applies his 25+ years of hands-on experience to his lessons

"I just love teaching, maybe even more than coding. I enjoy the lightbulb moments that I get to witness in my students." -Todd Sparrow, Nucamp Instructor

Todd Sparrow is a life-long learner, now teacher, who turned his childhood interest of coding into a career.

Todd's passion for coding and helping others succeed in the industry is clear to see–making us proud to be able to introduce you to him today.

Starting with his family purchasing an Apple IIc while he was in middle school, his fascination started and grew quickly from there.

Within two weeks, the new computer moved from his family's shared den into his bedroom as he started to learn BASIC (Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code).

It only took a few months for Todd to realize coding was something he wanted to do the rest of his life.

He now has 25+ years of hands-on experience within the industry; he has worked for a manufacturing company, financial software company, and has even led a team of 10 developers during that time.

Todd's background benefits his students with lessons filled with real-life perspectives.

He currently run his own business, Sparrow Consulting, as a Software Development Consultant.

On top of that, Todd has been a Nucamp instructor for over a year and a half, teaching Web Development Fundamentals, Bootstrap, and Python.

What coding skills are you specialized in?

Todd's strengths lie in web applications.

He uses a Bootstrap framework for most of his projects and also uses Python for a majority of his backend coding.

His projects focus on office automation to help his life run more smoothly.

What is your favorite project you've created or are most proud of?

His favorite project was building an enrollment app, Axis Academy, which loads grades, attendance, and even has a shopping cart function.

It was inspired by the middle and high school programming classes he teaches within the homeschool umbrella program he created.

Why did he decide to become a coding bootcamp instructor?

Becoming a bootcamp instructor allowed him to transition away from his role as the IT Director of a medical center.

He thought it was a wonderful opportunity to utilize his technical skills and pass on his knowledge.

What makes a great bootcamp instructor?

Todd believes answering a student's question directly isn't always the best solution.

His philosophy is to lead students to the answer because if they can discover the answer themselves, it is more likely to stick with them.

He also thinks it is critical to be able to assess the range of a student's understanding in real-time as they are being fed information and to adjusting accordingly.

Lastly, what is one piece of advice you would give bootcamp students (future or current)?

"Don't be afraid of asking questions when you don't understand. There are just as many people ahead of you that are also behind you. Every question usually leads to something outside of the original question."