Communication Plan Administrative Tasks Checklist: Time management is an essential part of being an effective online teacher.

Setting up and sticking to a schedule can help teachers with time management. I like to set up my schedule in Outlook and color code tasks. I can quickly view the schedule to see if I am on schedule or if too much time is allotted for a particular task. Below is a check list of the administrative tasks needed to communicate as an online teacher: o o o o o o o Check content area discussion forums for new posts Check and respond to emails Calls to parents/students Provide feedback in grade book Monthly newsletters Synchronous meetings with students Update FAQs as needed

Discussion Board Activities: I have created a list of activities for fourth grade discussion boards. The first two are designed to establish the class community.

Icebreaker: Make a recording showing how to use the discussion board for the selected icebreaker activity. This will allow students to get familiar with the discussion boards and how it works. Rules/Guidelines: Students will complete a netiquette scavenger hunt and then post what is they think is appropriate netiquette for discussion board posts. Compile the information posted by students and create rules/guidelines for discussion boards. Math Problem Solving: Post weekly or biweekly math problems allow students to think critically and post their thoughts and respond to others. Example: What is the 8th number in this pattern 3, 9, 15, 21? Explain how you could solve this problem. Reply to at least one other group members post. Try to solve it the way they described in their post. Compare and contrast the two ways of solving the problem in your response. Book Club: Small groups of students will read the same book and use the discussion board to discuss the book and respond to questions where students will analyze characters and stories. Group project: Students will use the discussion board to come up with a plan to complete a group project in a synchronous lesson. Students will research a topic individually and then post the information and links on the message board. They will also decide before the synchronous lesson how they will share the information with the class.

Discussion Board Rubric: Points Content 4 Four or more sentences that are related to the discussion board prompt. Discussion board post was posted on or before the due date. 1 Three Two One sentence sentences that sentences that that is related are related to are related to to the the discussion the discussion discussion board prompt. board prompt. board prompt. Discussion Discussion Discussion board post board post board post was posted was posted was posted one day after two days after three days the due date. the due date. after the due date. Three or more Two One sentence Discussion sentences that sentences that that board post contribute a contribute a contributes a was not meaningful meaningful meaningful meaningful to response to response to response to the the discussion the discussion the discussion discussion. board. board. board. Discussion Discussion Discussion Discussion board board board board response was response was response was response was posted on or posted one posted two posted three before the due day after the days after the days after the date. due date. due date. due date. Discussion board posts reflected proper netiquette. One instance in discussion board posts of improper netiquette. Two instances in discussion board posts of improper netiquette. Three instances in discussion board posts of improper netiquette. 3 2 0 The post does not relate to the discussion board prompt. Discussion board posts more than three days after the due date. Did post a response.

Timeliness

Response content

Response Timeliness

Overall Netiquette

Discussion board response more than three days after the due date. More than three instances in all posts of improper netiquette.

Discussion Board Management: This is a list of possible issues I might encounter when using discussion boards with fourth grade students. I have included possible solutions so I can be proactive in implementing discussion boards with my class.

Time management: Discussion boards have to be monitored often and in within a certain time frame. Setting a specific time to read, grade, and respond to discussion boards in

critical. Letting students know how often you will be responding to the discussion board should help keep you to that schedule. FAQ: A FAQ allows student to find the answers to many of their questions at any time. Inappropriate posts: allow students to help create discussion board rules/guidelines, part of posting grade, and teacher monitoring. If needed, contact students to review netiquette and the rules guidelines of the discussion board. Students not posting: Use one of their posts to make a positive comment on the discussion board. Teachers can also call the student and find out why he/she is not posting. Student will need to be encouraged to participate in the discussion especially if they are shy or not confident in their writing skills. Plagiarism: Teachers should call students if they plagiarized work and remove the post. The guidelines for the school about plagiarism should be followed. Students being overwhelmed with messages: using small groups for discussion topics will allow students to participate with having to read through posts from the whole class. Students getting off track: If the discussion gets off track, students will not have the learning experience that was intended. Consistent teacher monitoring will allow teachers to know if they need to redirect the discussion. Student conflict: There is a possibility that students might encounter conflicts with others beliefs or suggestions. Use the conflicts as teachable moments for debating and learning to value others views.