Ban 'it's easy' from your classroom
The two words that quietly filter out half your future engineers — and what to say instead when a student is stuck.
cat post.md →
01 · README.md
// tanvi.rao — exit 0, no warnings
while(confused) explainDifferently();
I spent four years as a software engineer and kept noticing the same thing: the best engineers weren't the ones who'd memorised syntax at seventeen — they were the ones nobody had ever told coding wasn't for them. Meanwhile school CS was busy telling exactly that to girls, arts students, and anyone who blinked at semicolons. I switched to teaching to fix the pipeline at the source.
Twelve years in: my students have shipped 46 real applications, including the canteen queue app the school actually uses (peak load: Friday samosa day) and the event portal that survived 3,000 concurrent parents. My senior CS batch is 50% girls — up from 12% when I arrived — because week one is designed so nobody gets to feel behind. Board average: 97%.
If your school wants computer science taught by someone who has shipped production code and can explain a for-loop to a poet — merge me in. I review my own work harshly.
README.md· main · updated today
# install
curiosity >= 1.0.0no prior coding neededfear of maths: optional
# features
Real projects, deployed, with usersDebugging taught as a life skill'It's easy' is a banned phrase
# badges
pythonjavasqlwebzero-judgment
02 · the stack
Dependencies, pinned & tested
Twelve years from block coding to compilers — no deprecated methods.
pythonprod-grade
Python & Java (Gr 9–12)
CBSE/ICSE core, taught project-firstweb46 shipped
Web development
HTML/CSS/JS to deployed apps with userssqlspecialist
Databases & SQL
real schemas — the library, the canteen, the festalgo3 INOI
Algorithms & problem solving
complexity as storytelling, olympiad prepdebugsignature
Debugging pedagogy
errors as letters, not accusations — the core skillequity12%→50%
Inclusive CS culture
50% girls in Gr 12 CS, zero-judgment week one
03 · the algorithm
Debugging is the curriculum
Most school CS is history of computers plus syntax dictation — a programming course with no programs. Mine inverts it. Week one, everyone ships something tiny and real. Then every concept — loops, functions, complexity — arrives as the fix for a problem their own code just hit. while(confused) we explain differently; we never say "it's easy".
- Ship something tinyWeek one ends with running code in every hand — a dice game, a name-art generator. Momentum before theory.
- Break it, read the errorError messages taught as friendly letters, not accusations. Debugging is the core literacy.
- Name the conceptThe loop, the function, the class — introduced as the fix for pain their own code just caused.
- Build for real usersTerm projects with actual users: the canteen app, the library portal. Board answers get written by people who've built.
04 · changelog
git log --twelve-years
2018 — PRESENT
Head of Computer Science
National Public School, Bengaluru
Lead a four-teacher department. Built the ship-real-projects curriculum (46 apps live), the girls-in-CS pipeline (12% → 50% of Grade 12), and the school's student-run tech team that maintains the event portal. 97% board average.
2014 — 2018
Computer Science Teacher
Delhi Public School, Bengaluru
Grades 6–12; replaced 'history of computers' term with week-one shipping, and watched enrolment in senior CS double in two years.
2010 — 2014
Software Engineer
Infosys, Bengaluru
Backend services; learned production discipline, code review culture, and that the error message is always trying to help. Left to fix the pipeline at the source.
05 · dependencies
Education
2006 — 2010
First class with distinction
B.Tech Computer Science
RV College of Engineering, BengaluruFirst class with distinction
2014 — 2016
Thesis on CS anxiety in girls
M.Ed. (part-time)
Christ University, BengaluruThesis on CS anxiety in girls
2019
Certified
CS50x + CS50 AP educator training
HarvardXCertified
06 · signed builds
Certifications
AWS
AWS Certified Cloud PractitionerRenewed 2025
CEH
Cyber safety educatorCBSE cyber-safety programme · 2021
AI
AI curriculum facilitatorCBSE-Intel AI programme · 2023
INOI
Olympiad resource person (informatics)IARCS training · 2020
07 · releases
Shipped to production
v2.4
Best CS Teacher — KarnatakaState teaching awards
2024v2.0
Canteen queue app — in production 5 yearsPeak load survived: Friday samosa day
2021–v1.8
Girls in Gr 12 CS: 12% → 50%Six-year pipeline programme
2018–24v1.5
Published — 'Error Messages Are Letters'Teacher Plus, on debugging pedagogy
2022
08 · the blog
JUN 2026 FEB 2026 OCT 2025
stdout >> thoughts.log
Week one: everyone ships
Why my course starts with running code in every hand before a single definition — and how it rewired who signs up for CS.
cat post.md →The error message is your friend
A classroom protocol for reading stack traces like friendly letters. Debugging is the literacy; syntax is just spelling.
cat post.md →
09 · code review
Approved without changes
review #01 · LGTM ✓ approved
My daughter said CS wasn't for people like her. One term with Ms. Rao and she's built a period-tracker app her friends actually use. She's doing B.Tech now.
Kavya's motherPARENT · GR 12review #01 · LGTM ✓ approved
The canteen app her students built has genuinely reduced Friday chaos. When it went down once, the whole school noticed. That's real software.
PrincipalNPS BENGALURUreview #01 · LGTM ✓ approved
I'm an SDE now and I still hear her voice when I read a stack trace: 'it's a letter, not an accusation'. Best debugging habit I own.
ArjunALUMNUS · SDE, FLIPKART
10 · for schools
Open pull request
>_ SESSION 2027–28 · ONE DEMO CLASS: EVERY STUDENT SHIPS RUNNING CODE IN 40 MINUTES
Current employerNational Public School, Bengaluru
Current roleHead of Computer Science
Open toHOD Computer Science · CS curriculum lead · EdTech advisor
Expected salary₹14–18 LPA
Notice period60 days
Willing to relocateYes — Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune · CBSE / ICSE / IB · lab with working machines non-negotiable
Principal, National Public SchoolCURRENT EMPLOYER · SHARED ON REQUEST
HOD Science, DPS Bengaluru2014–18 · SHARED ON REQUEST
11 · connect
ping me
Based in18, Indiranagar 100ft Road, Bengaluru 560038
Emailtanvi.cs@example.com
Phone / WhatsApp+91 99999 99991