Here's an overview of the key tools we use for teaching and communication. Please set up these tools now to ensure effective collaboration with your team and students.

Slack

This is our main communication tool, both with teachers and with the students. You'll have access by default to your teaching team channel and the students' channel. Additionally, you can join our community channels in Berlin, NRW, and Hamburg to learn about local events. Please check Slack regularly during the semester and communicate with your teaching team via Slack if you cannot make it to class.

Google Calendar

We use Google Calendar to send semester meeting appointments to teachers and students.

Zoom

Our online sessions are running on Zoom. We highly recommend installing and updating the Zoom app on your device, as the online version doesn't cover all functionalities. Please note: The class Zoom link is the same for the entire semester.

Google Classroom

We use Google Classroom to share material with the students and to collect and give feedback to projects and homework.

✅ Done?

Please complete all steps before going to the next section of the self-onboarding. If you face any issues, please reach out to the ReDI team via E-Mail or Slack. Once you are done, let's dive into the Content Introduction.

Welcome to the Python Foundations Course! 👋

Welcome to our teaching team! We're excited to have you join us in supporting ReDI students on their journey in tech. The Python Foundations course is a 14-week beginner-friendly program where students develop fundamental Python programming skills and work on one practical project. Throughout the course, students will learn how to write clean and efficient code, work with data structures, functions, and libraries, and gain an introduction to data analysis.

As a teacher, your first step is to complete the self-onboarding process:

1. Explore the Course Overview to learn more about the course

2. Check out the Timeline

3. Review and get onboarded in the Essential Tools

4. Check out the Content Introduction

5. Complete your onboarding in Complete your self-onboarding

This hub contains everything you need to start and support your teaching journey. If you have any questions along the way, don't hesitate to contact our team on Slack.

Ready to begin? Head over to the Course Overview section!

Course Sheet

• Link: The link to your Course Sheet is pinned in Slack.

• Course Management: We use the Course Sheet to organize the course.

• Availability & Ownership: Volunteers assign themselves to the session. They show when they are available to teach.

• Feedback: The coursesheet has a feedback tab where we collect feedback about the session.

Not available anymore?

• Mark it in the Course Sheet so that others can see it!

Preparation Phase

Teaching Phase

Let's go to the next section and dive into the tools: Essential Tools

Welcome to ReDI School! We really appreciate that you are part of our community. In this page, you'll find an overview of the course. By volunteering, you contribute to our main goal: help our students gain the necessary skills to find a job in tech. ReDI School has now helped over 17.000 people advance their tech skills. This is only possible with the support of our volunteers <3

ReDI Students

Our student community brings together people from over 138 countries. Your course won't be different. Your students will come from a wide range of countries. They also come from diverse professional backgrounds - some are currently unemployed or underemployed, while others are students looking to prepare for their careers. With an average age of 32, many of our students hold a university degree and have several years of work experience. What unites all students is their passion for technology and their aim to build a career in the tech industry.

❤️ Thank you for supporting our students as they take another step in their journey! To learn more about ReDI students and our community, visit About ReDI School.

Curriculum

The Python Foundations Course is a 14-week beginner-friendly program designed to introduce students to programming fundamentals and data analysis techniques using Python. Each cohort consists of 25 students who meet twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays from 19:00-21:00). The course follows a project-based learning approach, allowing students to build practical programming skills through structured exercises and projects.

Students progress through three main learning phases:

1. Python Fundamentals – Covers variables, data types, conditionals, loops, and functions, establishing a strong programming foundation.

2. Working with Data – Introduces lists, dictionaries, JSON parsing, and Pandas, enabling students to manipulate and analyze data.

3. Final Project – Students apply their learning in an independent project, demonstrating their ability to write structured Python programs.

Each phase includes weekly exercises and assignments, culminating in a final project where students showcase their coding skills on Demo Day.

Structure

The weekly schedule consists of two regular classes. Monday begins with a review of the previous week’s content. Students participate in live coding exercises and problem-solving activities. Homework from the previous week is discussed and feedback is provided. On Wednesday, teachers introduce new Python concepts, such as functions, loops, data structures, and working with APIs. Students engage in hands-on coding demonstrations and guided exercises. The session concludes with the assignment of the weekly homework task.

Between sessions, students are expected to dedicate 10-12 hours per week to coding assignments, and independent study.

Sessions

The course has two online sessions per week. For on-site events, check out On-site Activities. The session format differs from what you might have seen before.

Roles

On-site Activities

Two sessions during the course will take place on a hybrid format - students in Hamburg will have a session on site, while the other students a parallel session online. We are also organizing on-site activities in our three main locations. Find out more below.

Conclusion

We hope that by reading this, you have a better idea of the course and what it means to volunteer at ReDI. Let's explore the Timeline now 📅.

Most important Resources

Course Material

Weekly Class Schedule

Teaching Roles Overview

About ReDI

• Find out more about ReDI: About ReDI

• Find out about the career services ReDI offers: Career Services

Help

• Check out: I can't teach tonight, I am dropping out, I feel uncomfortable.

• Reach out to Sevval, your Course Manager, for help via Slack.

❤️ Thank you for supporting the ReDI students ❤️

Hands-on

This is a hands-on course. That means we aim to teach with students being active and coding a lot! That's why you will find many notebooks (colabs) used to show code and let the students practice with them. We use slides to complement the notebooks. At the end, you are free to choose how you want to introduce the concepts. The given material is a suggestion.

Weekly Schedule

• Monday: Regular Class. We recap the homework.

• Wednesday: Regular Class. We give homework to the students.

• Wednesday - Monday: Students work on their homework

Key Resources

How do I update material?

We know the material is not perfect! For sure, parts are not so clear and can be improved. Please help us to improve it further! If something is unclear or missing - feel free to add it! Thanks to your contribution, we can improve the material in the future!

As the session owner, you can structure the session as you wish. The existing material is a suggestion. By changing the material, you help us improve the content. Here is an explanation of how to change it:

1. Google Drive - Add or change material on Google Drive - To access Google Drive content, you need to be enrolled in the Google Classroom. If you are not, ask your Course Manager.

2. Gitbook - Your changes are also highly welcome in the Student Hub Gitbook. Get editor access to Gitbook to make changes to the student hub. Please ask your course manager about it.

How do I share material with students?

We use Google Classroom to share material with the students. Please have a look here:

How do I create more engagement in class?

How to teach? Best Practices!

We share several best practices. For example, the concept of "How little is enough?" or the "I Do, We Do, You Do" methodology. In the end, it is your decision how you want to teach it. We recommend to browse through the concepts before teaching a session: Course Content

That was a lot of content! Thanks for staying with us. Let's complete the self-onboarding now: Complete your Self-Onboarding

Thank you very much for going through your Self-Onboarding! This ensures a smooth onboarding into your volunteer experience. Please complete the following typeform to finish the self-onboarding. If you face any problems, you can indicate them in the typeform.

🙌 Done

That's it! Thanks for completing your self-onboarding. Feel free to browse around the teacher hub. See you soon!

Attendance Tracker

• Who: The teaching assistant tracks attendance

• When: Every regular class (usually 20 minutes into the session)

• Access: Credentials are pinned in your teaching teams' Slack channel

Why track attendance?

We ask learners to join at least 80% of the sessions to obtain a certificate. We believe students can only learn if they attend. That's why attendance tracking is essential. ReDI follows up regularly with students with low attendance to offer support.

Attendance Status per Session

100% – Present: Arrive on time, actively participate, and keep the camera on.

50% – Excused: Notify in advance if unable to attend

50% – Late: Arrival more than 15 minutes late

50% – Early Leave: Leaving before the break

0% – Absent: No prior communication of absence

Camera on Policy

Students will only be marked as "present", if they join the class with their camera on.

If a student should experience internet connection problems during the class, they should either write it in the chat or unmute themselves to inform teachers and fellow students. If this is not possible, students should inform the class through a message in their students slack channel.

How to track Attendance?

Zoom

• Zoom? It is our video conferencing tool for the classes.

• Zoom Link: You find it pinned in Slack. The Zoom link is the same for the whole semester.

• Join early? The Zoom call opens 45 min ahead of time. Feel free to join early.

How to Join Zoom & Claim Host

1. Find the link to the class meeting either in your calendar invite for the session or pinned in the teachers slack channel. Join with one click

2. Go to the participants list and “Claim host”. Sign in with the host key to become the host. You can find the host key (a series of 6 numbers) pinned in the teacher Slack channel.

1. Please make your co-teachers for the sessions co-hosts by right-clicking on their name from the participants list.

2. Please do not forget to record the class. We record only Input and Q&A Sessions.

Recordings

Recordings automatically save into a drive students have access to as viewers. This Drive is pinned to the students slack channel. Recordings are available for whole semester. Break out rooms cannot be recorded.

Default Zoom Settings

• When starting the meeting, audio is off, your video is off and recording is off.

• Hosts are allowed to add co-hosts.

• Possibility to send files via meeting chat.

Welcome to the teaching team! Here's where you can find all the materials you'll need to teach in this course. Your feedback and contribution are highly appreciated to improve the content further.

Key Resources

How do I update material?

We are aware that the material is not perfect. Probably you would like to change and improve it! Please do so! As the session owner, you can structure the session as you wish. The existing material is a suggestion. By changing the material, you help us improve the content. Here is an explanation of how to change it:

1. Google Drive - Add or change material on Google Drive - To access Google Drive content, you need to be enrolled in the Google Classroom. If you are not, ask your Course Manager.

2. Gitbook - Your changes are also highly welcome in the Student Hub Gitbook. Get editor access to Gitbook to make changes to the student hub. Please ask your course manager about it.

How do I share material with students?

We use Google Classroom to share material with the students. Please have a look here:

How do I create more engagement in class?

Best practices for teaching?

More material, feedback or ideas?

If you find good material, ReDI could use, and if you have feedback or further ideas, feel free to contact Julian via Slack or email (julian@redi-school.org).

Google Classroom

• Purpose: We use Google Classroom as our learning platform. We use it for two functions: Sharing material with the students and assigning homework. You can also use it to create material.

• Google Drive: Your Google Classroom is connected to a Google Drive where material is stored.

• Calendar: Students are invited to the sessions through the calendar from the classroom

How to Upload Materials on Google Classroom

Go to Classwork. Go to Create. Select material to upload material, which is shared with the students. Select Topic to create a new section that can hold multiple materials.

How to create Homework

2. Give title, instructions and set the due date to the next session on Monday 7 pm

Review Homework & Projects

• Go to the Grades section. You find all the students; you can see who turned in the homework. Once you click on it, you can review their work, write a comment, and return it.

Are you not in Google Classroom?

You should have received an email invitation from ReDI. Please check your emails and spam folder. Otherwise, please get in touch with the ReDI team via Slack.

We provide additional tools that you can use to engage students more in your sessions! At ReDI, we like to use the following tools and icebreakers:

Mentimeter (Interactive Polls)

• Create live polls, word clouds, and Q&A

• Perfect for:

  • Icebreakers: Ask students about their expectations or background knowledge.

  • Quick polls: Check understanding of a topic in real-time.

  • Exit tickets: Gather feedback at the end of a session.

• Login credentials in teachers' Slack channel

Kahoot (Learning Games)

• Quiz-based learning with competitive elements

• Perfect for Revision & Recaps - You create a quiz, and students participate live in class via browser or cell phone.

• Login credentials in teachers' Slack channel

Icebreaker Ideas

You can use quick icebreakers at the start of your sessions to energize participants, build connections, and create an engaging and interactive learning environment. Here is a list of icebreakers. They shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to run.

1. Two Truths and a Lie

• Description: Participants share three statements about themselves—two true and one false. The group has to guess which one is the lie.

• How to Run: Use breakout rooms for smaller groups or let everyone participate in the main room.

• Objective: Participants get to know each other in a fun way.

2. Virtual Scavenger Hunt

• Description: Give participants a list of items to find in their home within 1-2 minutes (e.g., something red, something that makes noise).

• How to Run: Ask them to bring the items back to the camera and share a quick story about one of them.

• Objective: The activity is an energizer.

3. Emoji Reactions

• Description: Pose a question or statement (e.g., "How are you feeling about today’s session?") and ask participants to respond using emojis only.

• How to Run: Use the chat in Zoom.

• Objective: It is an easy way for participants to share how they are doing.

More Resources

Teaching Method: I Do, We Do, You Do

The "I Do, We Do, You Do" method is a teaching method designed to help students learn new concepts by first observing, then practicing with guidance, and finally working independently.

• I Do: The teacher demonstrates the task while explaining the steps and thought process aloud. This stage is about modeling the correct way to approach the task and highlighting key concepts and techniques.

• We Do: The session owner walks the students through an activity. The students follow along (code or design along). This collaborative stage allows students to apply what they've seen with support, ask questions, and receive immediate feedback.

• You Do: Students work independently on the task. This stage allows them to practice the skill on their own.

Example: Introducing Javascript

• I Do: The teacher introduces JavaScript and demonstrates a simple script that shows an alert when clicking a button. Key concepts like variables, functions, and events are explained briefly.

• We Do: The teacher walks the students through creating a function that changes a heading's color when clicking a button. The students follow and code along. The teacher shares their screen and gives the students time to code along. Together, the teacher and the students write the function, select the element, and add an event listener, with the teacher guiding and asking questions to engage students.

• You Do: Students independently write JavaScript to change the text of a paragraph when a button is clicked in a breakout room. They practice using variables, functions, and event listeners and then share their work for feedback.

Tips and Tricks

• Context before content - We experienced that explaining why a concept is important helps a lot in understanding what the concept is about. Why should you learn this concept? Try to give the context. Maybe explain where you use it in your daily work life. Or explain how this concept can help to solve a bigger problem

• Engage with Students: Ask questions to check understanding. Use their names and keep the tone friendly and encouraging.

• Be Prepared but Flexible: Have a plan but adapt based on student needs.

• Feedback is Key: Provide constructive feedback to help students improve. Celebrate small wins to keep motivation high.

More Resources

• Watch this video on how to run the Regular Class.

• Ice Breakers and Energizers - Do you want to start the session with an energizer? Have a look at Class Engagement

Overview

As a session owner, you lead the weekly Regular Class, introducing key concepts and guiding students through exercises. You can use prepared materials. However, you have the freedom to adapt them to your teaching style.

Session Preparation

1. Review previous class feedback in Slack

2. Review milestone of the week and material (Course Content)

3. Test coding exercises

4. Coordinate with the teaching assistant

5. Add material to Google Classroom (24h before) (how to use Google Classroom")

Class Structure (2 hours)

• Join as co-host (5 min early)

• Previous content recap (10 min)

• Introduce key concepts with live coding and or exercises (45 min)

• Hands-on practice (45 min)

• Introduce next milestone (10 min)

Teaching Materials

• Head over to the: Course Content

Time Management Tips

• Focus on core concepts introduction

• Point students to additional resources for deeper learning

• Use recap weeks to cover missed content

• Direct students to Q&A/support sessions for extra help

Resources

• Teaching Guidelines

• Session instruction slides

• Student Hub - Gitbook

• Class Engagement Resources

FAQ

Overview

The homework reviewer reviews the homework assigned for the Monday class and submits the reviews by the Wednesday session. Homework is not graded. We ask students to complete at least 80% of the homework. ReDI will follow up with students who are not completing enough homework to offer support. The goal is that students learn by working on the homework. If it is not complete or perfect, it’s okay.

Why reviewing homework?

• Your review helps students to know if they are right on track.

• The teachers of the Wednesday class get an overview on the concepts that may need some extra attention in class and they see which students need some extra help.

Review Tool

Homework are reviewed from Google Classroom. Students submissions land under the "Grades" section. Just click on the submission link and add comments for review via the chat function. Everything be kept private and only visible to the reviewer and the students themselves.

Tips for reviewing

1. Positivity - It can happen easily that feedback only points out the mistakes, but it’s important to give positive feedback as well. Commenting on aspects that you liked about the code is crucial to make the students more confident. We also learn from what we did well.

2. Specific - Try to make your feedback as specific as possible so the students know which part of the code needs improvement.

Suggestions - Good feedback contains suggestions for improvement. This way, the students will have ideas on how to improve the code, and you will push them in the right direction. Keep in mind the balance between suggestions and self-study; giving away the solution is not always the best thing to do.

Homework Guidelines

Overview

Backup teachers provide emergency coverage when teachers cannot attend class. No session attendance is required unless called upon.

Substitution Process

1. Absent teacher posts in #teachers Slack channel and tags @backup teacher

2. Backup teacher confirms availability

3. Role assignment:

   • If assistant is absent: Backup becomes assistant

   • If lead is absent: Assistant becomes lead, backup becomes assistant

Purpose

Weekly class where students learn new concepts and get introduced to their next project milestone.

Session Details

• When: Thursdays, 19:00 - 21:00

• Where: Zoom (link in Slack)

• Team: Session Owner leads the session and Session Assist supports

Class Structure

1. Review previous content

2. Introduce weekly milestone

3. Present new concepts

4. Guided practice ("We Do")

5. Group practice in breakout rooms ("You Do")

More Resources

• Course Content

• Session Owner

• Session Assist

Overview

As a session assistant, you provide technical and administrative support during Regular Classes. You open the Zoom call, track attendance, help answer questions, and provide support in break-out rooms.

Key Responsibilities

1. Technical setup and support

2. Student attendance tracking

3. Question moderation

4. Breakout room management

Session Checklist

Before Class:

• Coordinate with the session owner

• Review class content

During Class:

• Join Zoom Call (link pinned in Slack and Google Calendar)

• Claim the host (host key pinned in Slack)

• Make the Session Owner co-host on Zoom (safety measure)

• Start cloud recording

• Monitor student questions

• Support breakout activities

• Track attendance

After Class:

• Share feedback on the class and student engagement in the Slack handover bot for team visibility

Important Links

All essential links (attendance tracker, Zoom) are pinned in Slack.

FAQ