Accepting Nominations -- Who should moderate this site?

Question

Ideally Moderators are elected by the community, but until the community is large enough to hold a proper election, we will be appointing three provisional Moderators to fill those roles.

We need your help. Please nominate folks you would like to see become provisional moderators for this site. Your input will provide valuable insight to help us make our selections. You can read more about the process here: Moderators Pro Tempore.

The Nomination Process:

• Nominate a user by posting an 'answer' below. Each nomination should be a separate answer. Use the template at the bottom of this post to complete your nomination.
• Self nominations are encouraged. This is a volunteer activity, so users should not feel obligated to accept these positions. A self-nomination is simply a way to say, "I am very much interested in this, so let my record speak for itself."
• Tell us about the candidates. Nominations can include links to other activities like Area 51 participation, participation in other sites, or any relevant thoughts/links that may help us make an informed decision.
• Nominees! Please indicate your acceptance by editing the answer to accept/decline the nomination. And please ensure your profile email is correct so we can contact you. Optionally, you are encouraged to write a bit about yourself following your acceptance.

  I accept/decline this nomination.

  Hi, I am name/location/fun fact (all optional). I live in <location>, so I am generally active on this site from <time> to <time>. Some other things you may want to know about me are…

Here is what we'll be looking for in a Moderator candidate:

We are looking for members who are deeply engaged in the community's development; members who:

• Have been consistently active during the earliest weeks of this site's creation
• Show an interest in their meta's community-building activities
• Lead by example, showing patience and respect for their fellow community members in everything they write
• Exhibit those intangible traits discussed in A Theory of Moderation

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Nomination Template

To nominate a candidate, copy and paste the text below as an answer and complete your nomination writeup:

<a href="https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/users/UserID"> <img src="https://cseducators.stackexchange.com/users/flair/UserID.png"></a> <a href="https://cseducators.meta.stackexchange.com/users/UserID"> <img src="https://cseducators.meta.stackexchange.com/users/flair/UserID.png"></a>

Notes:

This nominee would be a good choice because …

Answer 1

Notes:

This nominee would be a good choice because they have shown a huge amount of dedication to this site from the moment we got to a private beta and presumably before. From writing template emails to send to promote the site (and sending at least 20) to asking and answering the most questions of anyone on this site, Ben I. has shown dedication to this site and that they care immensely about getting this site on it's feet and keeping it a high quality resource for CS teachers. Ben I. has been active in moderation and discussion of the site in our chat room and in the review queues, with the highest count of suggest edit review presumably in helping create most of the tag wikis. I think that Ben I. is one of the best possible candidates for a moderator of our site and would like to see them chosen as a Moderator Pro Tempore and once we have elections as one of our permanent moderators.

Edit

I accept this nomination.

Hi, I am Ben. I live near NYC, so I am generally active on this site from 8am to 10pm EST, but I haven't been able to bring myself to close these 4-6 cseducator tabs for even a moment since I got my invite. I am a high school teacher who runs classes in Computer Science (obviously, in this context) and music (less obviously). Music was my background and career for a long time, and my switch to CS was only a few years ago, so I have run into the problem of having to teach myself a lot of high-level material in order to be able to teach it. Because my HS program has a 4-year major, my interests and questions tend to mix HS and university levels.

Answer 2

Notes:

Peter would be a good choice because he has been active in the community, working to build it using Twitter. He's been active on the main site, and on Meta, asking and answering questions. His community views seem to be well centered and level-headed. He doesn't force his opinions on others, and defers to the needs of the community. He will be good for the community as both a member and a moderator.

Edit:

I humbly accept this nomination.

Hi, I am Peter, and I recently changed careers from teaching English to working in technology and teaching computer science. Harvard's CS50 changed my life, and I love the privilege of now teaching CS50 AP. I am passionate about giving students the opportunity to explore CS and look forward to teaching AP CS A next year. I'm also developing curriculum for a Processing class and a Raspberry Pi class. I am generally active on this site pretty much all day. The tab is always open. I look forward to playing a role in building a wonderful, supportive community of CS educators!

Answer 3

Notes:

Hi Everyone! I've decided to self-nominate because I think that I'd do a good job of cleaning up low quality content, promoting and advocating for the site, and still being an active user in terms of Q&A. I have experience in moderating content on Stack Overflow with 334 reviews in the triage queue. I love to help new users get acclimated to the site, as evidenced by my 69 first post reviews on Stack Overflow and 16 here. I care about quality content as shown by my 21 edits on this site already. But statistics can only say so much. I care about promoting this community. I've been working to create community ads to post in other communities, and I care about collaborating with the other users of the site in chat to keep it a high quality place where CS teachers can find good, ranked answers to any questions they might have. From day 1 when I got the email saying that we made private beta I immediately started creating Q&A. I'm so glad that I committed to this proposal and that I've been able to help make great content for future CS teachers. I would be proud to represent this community to our SE Overlords and to help keep it the great place it has already become. Go CSEd.SE!

P.S.

If anyone is interested, here are my Stack Overflow and Network flairs:

Also, if you want to talk to me (or @BenI. or @ItamarGreen or @Peter), you can find us in the site chat room, where I'd be happy to talk (and I'm sure the other candidates would be too!)

Answer 4

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After some reflection I have decided to volunteer for a position as Moderator Pro Tempore for Computer Science Educators. I recognize that with the time gap between my instructional experiences and the present, that many of my methods are now considered "outdated." As such I envision my level of activity on this site will remain light. Though under the current conditions that may not show up so well. Trust me, in time I'll fall off the chart in "activity," and my rep probably won't ever go super-high.

It's been said many times that moderators are the the janitors for the site. In reality, most of the clean up work is done by the users themselves through the review queues, the community self-regulation mechanism. Moderators are the human exception handlers, as Jeff Atwood says in his Theory of Moderation post. Another moderator, whom I've grown to trust very well, calls moderators "fire fighters", in that they don't prevent fires, they put them out when they happen. All of Stack Exchange is covered by their "Be Nice" policy, and I feel that's the main rule for keeping everything civil on our site.

As a general rule, I prefer to reach consensus on issues rather than imposing my views on others. The community will define itself by its actions. As a moderator my job would be to encourage that by promoting dialogs that help to define the community, and get others to think of how they want the community to grow.

I am in the USA, and my time is unstructured. I am almost certain to be around from 23:00-UTC to 08:00-UTC, but usually at the computer 90% of the time I'm awake. Since I'm the primary caregiver to my wife, I'm at home almost all the time unless there are medical appointments or errands to run. My computer runs constantly, except for maintenance needs, and the site chat room remains open all the time. I can be pinged there when needed.

I was first introduced to computers in 1972, when I was too young to have "learned" that they were too complicated for a child to understand. Not knowing I wasn't supposed to grasp the concepts, I grasped them rapidly (as any child will given the right seeds to work with). I've been involved with them ever since, in every non-research role I could. From main frames to laptops, I have worked on them in programming, maintenance and manufacturing. I've taught teenagers, continuing education adults, and adult literacy students on computers and programming, as well as done some "training" in commercial settings.

I believe that Computer Science Educators is a much needed site. As CS education continues to begin earlier in schools and CS literacy increases in importance for day-to-day life, more instructors are going to be "re-purposed" from other disciplines. A site such as this, quality answers to real questions, becomes even more valuable. Moderator or not, I'm happy doing my part to make this into the site it has the potential to achieve.

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^{My profile on the Stack Exchange Network}

Answer 5

Notes:

I'm self nominating. I just found out about this site, so I haven't been on it for super long, but I've already asked and answered questions, been active in chat and on meta, and helped create/post community ads to promote the community. I have experience with moderation-like duties - I'm on the close vote leaderboard on Physics.SE, for example, at 1747 close vote reviews in less than a year.

I'm located in Iowa, and am active consistently from around 16:00-16:45 UTC, 21:00-21:45 UTC, and 19:00 - 20:00 UTC right now; those hours will be expanding as the summer progresses. I've had time to access SE in spite of school, so I don't see that being a problem, though I certainly can't spend all day on SE during the school year =)

I enjoy doing reviews and upkeep work, and really want this site to succeed - there are great people on it. I've been programming for a couple of years (I don't actually know how many) mainly in Python 3, but I mess with all different things - C, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, etc. I have experience with github (admittedly not a ton) and Linux, and I enjoy programming on a Raspberry Pi.

I'm also very active on Physics.SE and the SE network in general:

If I'm not picked, I definitely understand - there are some great, talented people here on the nomination list. I would just like to offer my time and help if it's needed. =)

Answer 6

Notes:

Although slightly late to the party, this nominee would be a good choice because she is well-respected and well-established in the field at large (as evidenced by her wikipedia page), and because she clearly cares about the development of the community. Her outreach brought us a wave of many users, and her involvement in all aspects of the broader professional computer science community could only help us grow and develop. In addition, she has a wealth of knowledge to share, knowing both CS and instruction very well.

She also just said she didn't feel she had time, but I will leave this up here in case she changes her mind. I still feel that she would be a strong choice.

Answer 7

Notes:

I nominate myself. I am active in beta, answering and asking questions as well as tag edits, all in order to get the site ready for public beta. I have contacted CS teachers that I know, and they have agreed to join (though they haven't joined yet due to other issues). In half a week a seemingly endless (more than 2 years) period in which I can give this site all the time needed. I will continue to promote this site to as many teachers and mentors as I can. I am trying to expose mentors and teachers of teams in FIRST's (for more information on what that is, see the related tag on the site ;)) to this site, bringing more askers and experts in the fields of both robotics and pedagogy.

My view is that posts on the site and meta should be in a civilized and focused air. Chosen or otherwise, I will increase the amount of time I put into this site; asking more questions and answering more, to broaden our site just a bit (while keeping it on topic) so as to bring more people here. I would like nothing better than to see this site succeed. For me, the review queue is an enjoyable task (it really is), so I check it regularly.

My programming and CS experience stretches over 4-5 years (from Scratch to java and matlab and much more) during which I have learned that it is far better to listen to others and do my best to see things from their point of view. And again, because FIRST has been so influential for me, I try to uphold Gracious Professionalism in all aspects of life.

I live in Israel, which means my time is 7 hours ahead of Washington DC. (+3 GMT). But I am active most of the day and the chat and the "recently active questions" tabs are constantly open. I am active 4 am to 7 pm UTC time (At least that's what google says), but in truth I stretch those bounds quite too often.

PS. I'm also active on StackOverflow: