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Facilitator Duties and Responsibilities

Here are some guidelines to help you have a successful school year.

1. Communicate! Keep me apprised of successes and problems by telephone, fax, or e-mail. Keeping connected is our lifeline. Together we can resolve difficulties, clarify issues, and rejoice with student successes.
   
   
2. Stay in the classroom with students. Not only do you need to be there with the students, but you also will find that I routinely discuss grading, scheduling, projects, etc. at the beginning of class. You won't want to miss this information.
   
   
3. Keep roll of the class each day. A form is provided in this guide if you are not able to record attendance on the Internet. Your records are needed to show whether a student is excused or not when absent, which in turn will affect how scores and make-up work are assigned. When a student is absent, try to arrange a time for that student to view the tape of the missed class(es).
   
   
4. Maintain a relaxed but controlled atmosphere. Help students with their work and make sure they stay on task. Encourage them to pronounce words and phrases after me. The nature of a distance learning class fosters a good rapport between students and facilitator. Use this camaraderie to your advantage, but be certain students also recognize your authority.
   
   
5. Maintain an up-to-date notebook of class activities, assignments, and exercises. It will be mainly for reference when students are absent.
   
   
6. Mail Procedures: Check with your school administration about the procedure for paying for postage for materials to be sent to KET. Observe deadlines for materials sent to KET. If an extenuating circumstance interferes with meeting a deadline, please let me know. Students will have points deducted for late materials-and after a pre-set date, no credit at all will be given.
   
   Check e-mail, Internet and the U.S. Mail daily for materials from KET. The Internet will replace the postal services as the conveyor of documents from KET. Download documents in a timely fashion.
   
   
7. Maintain the integrity of quizzes and tests. Unless directed to do so, students should not work together on quizzes or tests. A student may clarify some portion of the test instructions for another but should never help with answers. Giving or receiving information about answers on a test or quiz will invalidate the grade of the entire paper for both the giver and receiver. Call me promptly should problems arise. When students take quizzes on the Internet, they need supervision.
   
   
8. Maintain the integrity of passwords. Your password should not be shared and students should be encouraged to not share their passwords with other students.
   
   
9. Maintain an up-to-date grade book. Forms are included with this guide. (See Forms.) There is also be a grade book program on the Internet, which is explained in "Using the Grading Program," found under Site Information on the KET distance learning home page (www.dl.ket.org). Grades for a test must be entered into the grading program in order to download the next test.
   
   
10. Download materials from the Internet to distribute to students.
    
    
11. Photocopy materials for students; there will be many pages to duplicate over the course of the year. Maintain a file of materials to be distributed. Please don't wait until the last minute to copy materials. Duplicating machines in schools are usually overused and often decide to "rest" just when most needed. Check with your administrator about duplicating procedures early. If you have a monthly limit, you might ask to be exempt since you will occasionally receive many pages in one mailing and only a few in another. At year's end, you will see a monthly average that should meet your school's policy. I will try to keep the number of pages to be duplicated to a minimum. Materials sent through the Internet can be sent to your printer with the number of copies needed printed out for you.
    
    
12. Here are some things you need to do as soon as possible:
    
    • Call KET for facilitator ID and password for Internet access (800-333-9764).
    • Enter the names of students and their data on the Internet. Choose "Roster" under FacilitatorLogin. For help, refer to "Using the Grading Program" found under Site Information on the KET distance learning home page. Call KET for the student passwords.
    • Get to know your equipment
    • Program the VCR to tape for an hour (to be safe) at 1:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
    • Complete the Facilitator Photo and Information Form provided in this binder. Have your students complete their Photo and Information Forms and send all to me as soon as possible. (See Forms.)
    • Check the materials list in the "Read Me First" section to see whether you have everything needed for your site. If you don't, contact me as soon as possible.
    • Assemble a guide for the substitute. Include general information about the class, a roster, and the KET hotline numbers. Please leave the facilitator ID and password with a responsible adult who can share it with the substitute should he or she need it in your absence (as for downloading documents).
    • Read the Student Guide with your students. It has additional information that will be important to you and outlines the students' responsibilities and duties. Reading it together also ensures that students have read the data. Encourage them to take the guides home to show their parents.