Before School Starts
- Create an online course selection sheet (requiring Parent signature).
- Assist with enrollment. Ensure the course meets graduation requirements and NCAA, if applicable.
- Get classroom/lab setup (if applicable).
- Create Syllabus to hand out to students so they know your expectations of them.
- Create a learning environment that is welcoming, supportive and flexible.
- Make sure students have the necessary books and/or resources for their online courses. The school is responsible for purchasing resources.
- Resources that are available to Mentors:
Beginning of Term
- Guide students to the SLP to sign into their course. They should have received an email with their login information. If needed, they can click on the “Forgot your Login and/or Password” link.
- Send guardians a letter or email explaining their student’s online course and expectations. Remind guardians that they also have a login for the SLP.
- Encourage students to read the Welcome Letter from their instructor, the Teacher Feed, and Teacher Contact Information located in Brightspace.
- Have students print the Pacing Guide that is located on their SLP dashboard. Mentors and Guardians also have access to Pacing Guides on the SLP dashboard.
- Discuss netiquette when sending messages and participating in discussion board activities as well as plagiarism, and grammar and spelling.
- Verify all enrollments at the beginning of the term to make sure students are in the correct courses.
- Encourage students to take notes while completing the Student Orientation Unit. They must complete the quiz with 100% before their course content will become available.
- Establish and communicate clear expectations and guidelines with your students. Building relationships is key!
- Read Welcome Letters that instructors email you. Test and Exam passwords will now be added to all Welcome Letters! It’s best to print or store in a folder in your email to refer back to for instructor contact info and/or passwords.
- Write on board or post the start and end dates for courses.
- There are progress checks at the end of each unit. This is a good way to see if students are understanding the material.
- If in a lab setting, seat students together who are taking the same course. This is great for collaboration.
- Communicate with the online teacher on a regular basis regarding student progress.
- Log into the Student Learning Portal daily to check on student progress, login information and to read messages. If you are an Affiliation and a Mentor, make sure you are on the Mentor drop-down to view messages.
- Prepare for Count Day! Always check with your auditor to see what they expect from you for pupil accounting purposes.
- Check to see which students have an IEP or a 504. Create a special populations record in the SLP. Michigan Virtual will let you know what accommodations they can provide.
- If you don’t see your students every day, consider using Remind or another online tool to communicate with them on a weekly basis.
Middle of Term
- Meet weekly with each student, if possible, to review pacing and grade.
- Eligibility rules normally apply to online students (this helps keep students accountable).
- Earn the right to work in the library or off-site if grades are above a certain percentage (optional).
- Continue to check the Student Learning Portal to monitor student progress.
- Continue to encourage and motivate students.
- Contact the online instructor if you have any questions or concerns.
- Remind students of the importance of being on task and keeping up with their pacing guide.
- Find out if any student has a midterm exam that is password protected. Locate Test or Exam Passwords in the secured, on-demand password dashboard in the Brightspace Insights Portal. We highly suggest that all tests and exams be proctored by their mentor if at all possible.
- Look at your trimester/semester end date in the SLP (when the online course ends) because it may not correlate with your school’s end date. With flexible scheduling, please choose an end date that closely aligns with your school.
- Send an email to parents letting them know their student is halfway done with their online course. Remind them to review their student’s pacing guide.
End of Term
- Review the Michigan Virtual Course Extension Policy.
- Locate your students’ exam passwords in the Brightspace Insights Portal.
- Start a spreadsheet of final exam passwords for easy access (helps if you have several students).
- If a student needs to end their course earlier than the published SLP end date, including seniors during second semester, the mentor must plan and manage this process locally. Note that Michigan Virtual instructors are not involved in the early end date process. Review the Early End Date Requirements and Expectations.
- Continue to meet with each student weekly. You can reconfigure the pacing guide if necessary. Divide assignments by the number of days left to help students finish on time. Another way is to print out the 10 or 12-week pacing guide for them to follow.
- Print the “24-25 Completed Gradebook Report” to view final grades. This list will populate as the instructors finalize grades.
- Get an early start and sign up students for summer and/or fall courses!