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

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

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

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

can turn into a hot mess quickly

Students are left feeling frustrated over wasted time.

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

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

For the people who inevitably come to class completely unprepared

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

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

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

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

Also bring that software with you to class

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

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

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

Have everything you need locally, on your laptop

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

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

No one wants to listen to an unenthusiastic teacher

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

Teaching is also about entertaining so people stay engaged.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

with break time at the end for questions and practice

Versus rushing through material or never getting to some material

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

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

I have a "learn and return"style of teaching

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

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

Having good TAs is crucial to having a successful class

Some people are all going to learn at a different speed

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

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

TAs can also fill in your blanks

If you are strong on PHP, but weak on CSS

a TA can step in and answer a complicated CSS question

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

Don't use placeholder kittens in your examples

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

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

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

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

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