This page is here to support you as you prepare to teach with Encore Learning and to help set the stage for a rewarding classroom experience—whether you’re teaching virtually, in person, or in a hybrid format. You’ll find practical, instructor-tested tips for engaging adult learners, along with format-specific guidance to help your course run smoothly and with confidence. These resources, compiled by experienced and highly rated Encore Learning instructors, are meant to spark ideas, answer questions, and ensure you feel well supported as you get ready to teach. Even if you’re an experienced, you may find resources that add to your toolkit.
GENERAL SUGGESTIONS
Preparing Course Materials Submit any materials for distribution to courses@encorelearning.net. For privacy reasons, neither Instructors nor Class Aides are permitted to email participants directly. Syllabi do not have to be lengthy and may duplicate some information available elsewhere (e.g., Encore Learning course catalog) but many participants will likely appreciate having this available in a single document. If your course involves technical concepts or terms likely to be unfamiliar to your class, consider assembling a glossary which can be distributed at the outset of your course. Arlington County is one of the highest educated in the country and our participants are generally bright and curious; some are instructors themselves. Sometimes jargon cannot be avoided; just be prepared to define terms and explain concepts in understandable language. In general, there is not a need to “dumb down” your teaching for our participants. Courses are expected to be at the college level.
Classroom management The challenges of classroom management will vary across teaching modes. In-person instructors often need to deal with participants monopolizing question time with sharing of personal anecdotes or delivering mini-lectures, whereas instructors in the virtual modes may need to ensure that the class remains engaged, particularly those on Zoom in hybrid classes. In all cases, coordinating with Class Aides about how these challenges will be met is essential. One of the first issues to be resolved and conveyed to the class at the outset is how you wish to handle questions (in the moment, during planned pauses, after class, all of the above?) and how Class Aides can best assist you in managing this.
Hearing/audio issues are a recurrent challenge in some Encore courses but many are preventable. Instructors are encouraged to:
Perform an audio check at the beginning of each session and invite participants to raise their hand during class if they cannot hear.
Repeat all participant questions before answering.
When using lavalier microphones (i.e. in the larger classrooms such as VMH 113) turn with your body rather than their head in order to keep the microphone properly positioned.
Join with Class Aides in encouraging participants with hearing challenges to move closer to the instructor.
Finally, respect participants’ time; begin and end class on time.
PowerPoint tips Think of PowerPoints as an aide to your teaching rather than a script to be read from. “Bludgeoning with bullet points” is a sure way to lose an audience.
Avoid black text on white background; white on blue is a popular alternative more pleasing to viewers. Supplement text with images and/or embedded short videos to maintain viewers’ attention and to emphasize important concepts (there is a wealth of symbols and art on the PowerPoint toolbar; Google Images also has a plethora of free savable images).
Consider the size of the room and the screens therein in building your PowerPoints. For larger rooms (e.g., VMH 113), a font size of at least 20 works best whereas Zoom teaching can accommodate smaller fonts and “busier” slides. There are any number of free PowerPoint tutorials online.
Consider delaying of sharing of PowerPoints until after class in order to make edits based upon questions and discussions that come up in class.
Finally, think of your PowerPoints as living documents that can be continually edited and updated if you plan to teach the course on subsequent occasions (as we hope you will!).
Coordination with Class Aides Class Aides are invaluable to Encore Learning instructors. They are volunteers who are also participants in the class. All have undergone teaching mode-specific training in order to assist you. They will reach out to you before the start of the course to learn how to best do so. Your relationship with them will likely be a fluid one as the course unfolds (e.g., see Classroom Management, above). It's a good practice to check in with Class Aides regularly; they may learn of issues or concerns that students may be reluctant to share with you directly.
TIIPS FOR IN-PERSON TEACHING
Tips from instructor Michael Stutts
Learn whom you’re teaching to. In small classes it may be feasible for each participant to briefly introduce him/herself. In larger classes, consider asking for a show of hands depending on your course’s topic (e.g., “Raise your hands if you’ve read works by this author”). In larger classes, you might also set aside a minute at the first session for participants to introduce themselves to their immediate neighbors. Finally, welcome new members and ask them to briefly introduce themselves if Class Aides have not already done so.
Thank Class Aides at the outset and ask them to introduce themselves.
Classroom management is particularly important in-person. Be clear with your class and Class Aides about how you wish to handle questions. Plan with Class Aides how you wish to “enforce” this; frequently there will be a participant who wants to make a speech rather than ask a question, or a “smartest kid in the class” who needs to demonstrate this. In both cases, one tactic can be to respectfully but firmly suggest that the person can speak with you at greater length after class. Try to keep in the back of your mind that loneliness is endemic in our age cohort; your class may be the social highlight of that participant’s week. Finally, consider promising to research any questions you can’t answer and share the answer(s) at the next class meeting. This will become more important with the rapidly growing presence and use of AI as material you present may be questioned by participants. AI is an amazing tool but its search results are not always accurate (Almost Intelligent?). As an expert in your topic, you are in a unique position to aid participants in sorting AI’s wheat from its chaff.
In-person teaching provides the best opportunity to continually read and engage with the room. If participants appear confused, consider eliciting questions in that moment and/or revisit the material just presented. Some of the best moments can be interactions among and between participants and you. This is tougher to manage in a large class but should not be outright discouraged either. Repeating the question asked to the class before answering can facilitate smoother interactions. Consider letting participants know that you’re willing to allow some modest deviations from your session plan if there is general consensus to do so and time allows.
TIPS FOR TEACHING ON ZOOM
Tips from instructor Janet Auten
Teaching on Zoom creates a new context for learning:
Zoom demands a visual presence --learners are not only listeners but also viewers. Make what they’re looking at count. And remember, you’re a disembodied voice, not a person up front.
PowerPoint slides can provide that key visual element to illustrate and clarify what you’re saying, even help learners focus on your subject. But slides should be purposeful --do some work. Otherwise, they may distract students.
Class participation and discussion feature prominently for these adult learners in most Encore Learning classes. But of course, on Zoom that presents a challenge. Make sure you have a clear plan and place for incorporating students’ ideas and comments as well as questions during the class.
Your Class Aides can be a big help in working out ways to make this all work effectively.
On Zoom your class is a visual presentation … NOT a textual presentation
Many/most of us grew up in the days when learning was largely a passive activity of “being taught.” And Zoom can easily seem to reinforce the sense of being lectured at, with students simply ‘watching’ the screen at home. However, with Encore Learning, we teachers have a wonderful opportunity to share knowledge with peers, having a conversation about a subject we care about.
Fortunately, with careful planning we can use the visual pop of PowerPoint and the now-familiar Chat feature on Zoom to connect to students -- working with technology rather than in spite of it.
PowerPoint puts YOU into a tiny image at the side, presenting a “slide lecture.”
Instead of hand or facial cues, you have images on your slides to illustrate or call attention to your main points. [If students have nothing to look at, they may be tempted to look at other screens.]
But since “A Picture is worth 1,000 words,” you don’t need -- or want! -- to put all those 1,000 words on the screen. Use slides to reinforce your main points, convey ideas or feelings about your topic, and use words sparingly.
EXCEPTION: A quoted passage: If it’s long, break the text into chunks and show each piece in stages [using the “animations” feature]
Class discussion is an important issue for Encore Learning classes on Zoom.
Our learners are often interested in participating, but there’s no leader up front to direct/prompt people to speak up.
Some Encore Learning instructors take frequent breaks for that. They pause the slides periodically, ask for questions, give students a breather.
Another solution is Zoom’s CHAT feature -- a space for discussion and questions.
Class Aides can be very helpful in monitoring chat: arrange with them ahead of time to field routine questions or tech problems themselves.
But taken a step further, one can frame a Zoom class as a virtual community of learners where the chat ‘room’ becomes an area of ongoing conversation, even during the lecture and Class Aides act as discussion facilitators, rather than just silent monitors, in the chat. They can then call attention to ideas or questions from chat to spark unmuted discussion in breaks and at the end of class.
A final thought About Class Participation:
For some learners, participation means active listening and thinking about it.
Others get more out of a class where they can contribute comments and exchange ideas.
You can make room for both learning styles in a ‘community of learners’ on Zoom.
TIPS FOR HYBRID TEACHING
Tips from instructor Robert Albro
The Hybrid Classroom: Since hybrid teaching means that you will meet with students in a physical classroom space but at the same time with online participants, you should think of the classroom as both physical and virtual. Gauging how much, and in what ways, online attendees hope to participate will be one initial task of classroom management. Some people are content to *audit* the course and prefer to remain largely unengaged or passive listeners. For them, the course experience is comparable to that of a podcast. This form of participation is fine. Other learners hope for greater involvement but aren’t able to be present in the physical classroom. It is therefore helpful to plan in advance, and build in, regular ways of involving more engaged virtual learners. This begins by reviewing with them your plan to orchestrate the hybrid environment in an initial class, making clear what routines and habits you plan to maintain for the in-person and virtual classrooms. Since people are not present in the same place in a hybrid classroom, incorporating community building opportunities is a plus. These can be as simple as making sure virtual participants have a chance to introduce themselves along with their in-person colleagues.
Hybrid Awareness While In-Person: Encore’s physical classroom spaces come with all the technology necessary to manage the digital dimensions of teaching and learning. This includes a computer connected to a projector, at the front of the classroom, which you can use to upload PowerPoint slides and related visual, video, or audio content, available to both in-person and online learners. The space also comes equipped with audio mics, and you might be given a mobile microphone to wear.
Most importantly, as the course instructor, you need to be aware at all times of where you are in the physical space so that you remain onscreen for those participating at home. In addition, occasional checks that people at home can hear and see what’s going on are typically good classroom practice.
Class Aides in the Hybrid Environment: A major resource for managing the hybrid environment is the Class Aide. You should make sure you know who this person is and get to know them. You might take time, in advance over email or in person, to coordinate with the Class Aide about how you anticipate handling the hybrid environment, so that you are both on the same page. Since Aides are also often experienced instructors, they are likely to bring their own constructive suggestions. Unlike in either the in-person or zoom classrooms, the hybrid Class Aide will likely be the primary point of contact between the physical and virtual classrooms. For this, Aides need to have a laptop on hand in the physical space and be *in* the virtual classroom at the same time.
Two key functions of the Class Aide in the hybrid environment are:
Helping the instructor maintain an ideal balance fielding both in-person and virtual questions. The two of you should clarify how this will work in advance. It is difficult for virtual learners to participate in the same ways as their in-person counterparts without establishing some ground rules and creating expectations about how this will work. Not doing so invites cacophony. One way to approach this is to encourage those online to share any questions by using Zoom’s chat function, and to regularly set aside one or more pauses per class to address online questions. The Class Aide can read each question in the chat, and the instructor can address these either one at a time or altogether. Encore Learning classrooms are technologically enabled, so it is possible for virtual and in-person participants to talk with one another directly and in real time. Alternatively, therefore, select moments during the class meeting can be used for virtual participants to engage in direct back-and forth with the instructor and other class members.
Helping to troubleshoot any unanticipated disruptions between the virtual and in-person classrooms. Technical snafus can occur, though they are uncommon. But these might temporarily disable the virtual classroom. The instructor will likely not be aware of this, so the Class Aide will need to let them know. Typically this might mean a brief delay as connectivity, or the sound or visual component, is restored. Another role the Class Aide often plays in this regard is to alert the instructor in the event that something said was unclear, or garbled, for virtual learners. This might occasion a brief moment of clarification on the instructor’s part.
In September 2025, three experienced Encore Learning instructors—Mike Stutts, Janet Auten, and Rob Albro—met virtually with new instructors to share insights from teaching online, in person, and in hybrid formats. A recording of their conversation is available to watch on YouTube.
Instructor Mentors
The instructors listed below have generously offered to serve as mentors for new and returning Encore Learning instructors. They bring a wealth of teaching experience across virtual, in-person, and hybrid formats and are happy to share practical advice, lessons learned, and encouragement. Whether you’re teaching with Encore Learning for the first time, and have specific questions or are looking to refine your overall approach, these colleagues are a great resource and sounding board.
Janet Auten taught literature and composition courses and directed the Writing Center during her 25 years at American University, where she also developed and team taught a gender studies course, Women’s Voices Through Time. Her research and publications focus on teaching and 19th-century American women writers. She earned a PhD in composition/American literature and an MA in journalism.
Robert Albro
Hybrid Instructor
Robert Albro received a PhD in sociocultural anthropology from the University of Chicago. He is associate director of the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University, where his long-term focus has been urban and indigenous politics in Bolivia, as in his book Roosters at Midnight: Indigenous Signs and Stigma in Local Bolivian Politics. More recently, he has researched and published on the intersections of cultural policy with climate change, science and technology, human rights and public diplomacy. He is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress and the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
Geerten Michielse
In-Person Instructor
Geerten Michielse is a native of the Netherlands and lives in Arlington. He received his PhD from the Katholieke Universiteit Brabant in Tilburg and taught tax law as a tenured professor in the Netherlands. He was a visiting professor in Paris and at Georgetown University. Since 2000 he has worked at the IMF, first as a lawyer drafting tax laws and later as a senior economist designing tax policies. He has advised governments in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Michael Stutts
In-Person Instructor
Michael Stutts earned a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Louisville, followed by an internship at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and fellowship training in clinical neuropsychology at Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia. His patient care, research and teaching at Eastern Virginia Medical School focused on clinical/geriatric neuropsychology and rehabilitation psychology. He retired from EVMS as professor emeritus in 2018 after a 33-year career.
