Best teaching practices

These are the teaching behaviors Zinkerz expects and observes in every class.

• Appear genuinely engaged and happy to be working with the student.

• Maintain a healthy balance between rapport-building and keeping the class focused.

• Share your screen and project the lesson content you are discussing at all times.

• Keep your camera on and actively encourage the student to do the same.

• Mark up the screen to illustrate concepts visually.

• Invite and encourage the student to mark up the screen as well.

• Aim for roughly equal time writing on the shared document as the student.

• Ask open-ended questions to encourage verbal participation.

• Aim for roughly equal speaking time between you and the student.

• Frequently check for understanding — don't lecture for long stretches without gauging the student.

• Think of yourself as a learning facilitator, not a lecturer.

• Answer student questions efficiently and completely.

• Scaffold your questions — start from what the student last retained and build from there.

• Minimize distractions during class: no eating, no interacting with others or pets, no non-lesson activity on screen.

Interested in the pedagogical reasoning behind these practices? Ask your onboarding coordinator for the extended guide.