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This page is the on-the-job guide for supporting students well, across all programs. Keep in mind that escalation contacts and a few course-level practices vary by program, flagged with 📌 notes.

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💬 Communication Best Practices

Slack

• Your main channel with your team in and out of session. Check at least once a day out of session, and watch your course channel during session.
• Lead with a bold header and put details in the thread; be concise and use formatting for technical info.
• Post in the right channel, don't cross-post (link to the original thread), and keep student-facing and internal conversations separate.
• Redirect student outreach to the appropriate student support channel or email.

Email

• Everything at CodePath runs through your CodePath email, so make sure you can access it. Reply within 24 hours and be mindful of time zones.
• Never share confidential student information (grades, contact info) outside approved channels.
• Use clear subject lines and standard formatting, proofread, use CC, BCC, and Reply All carefully, and make sure shared links are accessible.

🗺️ Support Approaches

Empathy first: acknowledge the student's experience, validate effort, avoid assumptions, and listen to what they're actually asking.

Recognize learning styles: some talk it out, some process quietly, some need visuals or hands-on practice.

Respond to different needs:

• Overwhelmed: break problems into smaller pieces, one concept at a time, and celebrate small wins.
• Silent: create safe ways to participate, use private check-ins, and don't force it.
• Struggling: start from what they understand and connect new ideas to the familiar.
• Confident but incorrect: ask guiding questions and help them test their assumptions.

Psychological safety: follow through, admit when you don't know, normalize struggle, and celebrate questions.