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Today I am going to give you all some tips and tricks for having a successful WordPress class

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based on actual student feedback dramatically read by my 8 year old daughter, Josephine

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I've been to many WordPress classes where the installation process completely derailed class

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Getting 20-some people with varying operating systems all set up on a local install at the same time

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can turn into a hot mess quickly

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Students are left feeling frustrated over wasted time.

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I solve this with an hour before class where students can come and have WordPress installed

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either locally, or on a host with the help of myself and the TAs

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For the people who inevitably come to class completely unprepared

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I have several sandbox sites set up for them to use during class

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When the first minute of class hits, everyone is on the same page and ready to learn

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Make sure you, the TA and the students have everything they need for class

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In the weeks leading up to class email them several times with any links to software they may need to download and install on their computers

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Also bring that software with you to class

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I give each one of my TAs a memory stick with software and a text file with all the sandbox site information

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And then I send them out like a little friendly army getting everyone set up and ready

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Also, be prepared in case the Internet is slow or goes down

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Have everything you need locally, on your laptop

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Have plan A, B and C in place in case anything goes wrong so class keeps running smoothly

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We've all been to classes where the teacher looks like they wished they were still in bed, right?

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No one wants to listen to an unenthusiastic teacher

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When you're excited about what you're teaching the students get excited too

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Teaching is also about entertaining so people stay engaged.

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Bring your love of WordPress to class and students will appreciate it and they'll stay focused

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It is really important to keep class on track, stay mindful of the time

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You can use break times and exercise times to adjust the pace of class either a little faster or a little slower

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I have an ask any question at any time policy in my class

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However, if there's a student that's asking a lot of off topic questions

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You can say something like "I can talk to you about that during a break"

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Or have a TA give them some one-on-one attention

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It's better to get through all of the lessons in a timely manner

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with break time at the end for questions and practice

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Versus rushing through material or never getting to some material

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Use real words, analogies, illustrations, games, a puppet show - whatever to convey technical concepts

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People have different learning styles and you want to cover all of your bases

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I have a "learn and return"style of teaching

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I'll cover a concept in a few different ways and I'll refer back to previous lessons along the way

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Watching a concept click for somebody is the best feeling in the World and you want to give them multiple ways to get there

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Having good TAs is crucial to having a successful class

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Some people are all going to learn at a different speed

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Some are going to want to jump ahead while others may need to go over things more slowly

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TAs can come and give them one-on-one help when necessary

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TAs can also fill in your blanks

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If you are strong on PHP, but weak on CSS

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a TA can step in and answer a complicated CSS question

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Together, you and the TAs create the best possible learning environment for all the students

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Don't use placeholder kittens in your examples

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Just kidding, use placeholder kittens. They're awesome!

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My name is Tracy Levesque. I co-own a web design and development company in Philadelphia

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I have taught hundreds of people to use WordPress as an Instructor for Girl Develop It Philly

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and as the co-lead of the make.wordpress.org/training program

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This is where you can find me online and thank you very much