Mentoring Matters
Weekly Mentoring Update, Aug. 9th
Mentoring Focus for August: Course Homepage: NEWS and USER LINKS
This week I will communicate ways to demonstrate a vibrant and useful course homepage in addition to a few reminders. Throughout the month of August, our main goal will be to maintain an excellent course home page. I will also highlight items from your courses in addition to mine. Please feel free to share with me as well.
News Item Requirements
Posted weekly on Mondays (minimally). Best to add news items 2-3 times a week.
Include a start date (required) and end date (if appropriate).
Provide additional resources and opportunities for students.
News items should not distract from the learning environment.
Include a start date (required) and end date (if appropriate).
Provide additional resources and opportunities for students.
News items should not distract from the learning environment.
Use an image
Graphics help catch the reader's eye. For those who are not yet assigned a course, plan ahead and save useful images to your computer now. (This will save you lots of time.)
Font
Use black or blue font to assist visually impaired readers. Avoid distracting fonts, sizes and colors. News items should also look professional. Create general font images to use again and again like "Adobe chat tonight."
Include important information
Be concise and yet provide important details. Be sure to include dates, times, module and assignment names. Remind students of policies and procedures.
Sample News Items
User Links
Be sure to add your weekly Adobe sessions under Links at the top of your home page. This will allow students to view your recordings. Do not add links from the widget.
Helpful websites to get started with NEWS items
Clipart: www.animationfactory.com (royalty free clipart, see Teacher Forum for password)
Text: www.flamingtext.com (interesting fonts)
Ancient Images: www.vroma.org (images maybe used if vroma citation is provided)
Text: www.flamingtext.com (interesting fonts)
Ancient Images: www.vroma.org (images maybe used if vroma citation is provided)
Nota Bene
I will be observing courses next week to provide personalized feedback about NEWS items and USER LINKS. Thank you for filling out the mentoring survey sent earlier in the week. See you all at JIT on Monday. Email me if you have any questions.
Reminders
- Be sure to release eyeballs in your grade book everyday. http://screencast.com/t/aZkmVkLnUR
- Update your communication log. Document all communication from parents and facilitators as well as important communication from students.
- Be sure to hold a welcome chat. (Use welcome synchronous session template on page 5 under Current School Year in the Teacher Forum to help you get started).
- Contact me if you have any questions.