Teaching Manual for MHT 101

WELCOME!

Welcome to the exciting adventure of teaching a class here at KVCC! You are taking on a very special responsibility by teaching this class as you will be a very important "first contact" for new students coming into the program.

You have been selected to teach this class because you have performed well in your courses and have graduated from the program. You exemplified leadership qualities that are needed for this kind of work.

In this role you may encounter students who were your peers in classes just a short time ago. Or you may know some of your student professionally or personally outside of school. It is important that you practice exceptional "professionalism" and "boundaries" as you may be in a "Dual-Relationship" with these fellow students.

Below you will find some links to materials I have prepared for you to use as you orient yourself to your course. Some of these are things you need to address prior to the course starting, others are habits you need to get into each week, and then there is a section on grading.

Good luck!

Information to Know about your Class and your basic Job Description

  • Your class has been edited and set up so you can concentrate on facilitating the course rather than creating it.
  • Although you will be grading the Discussions in the class, the quizzes are designed to grade themselves.
  • You will not be responsible for calculating Final Grades or submitting them to the Registrar.
  • You should report if a student is "Absent" from doing the work in this course to Mark Kavanaugh, who is the Lead Instructor in this course.
  • The basic expectation is that you will work closely with each student to help them through each lesson plan, participate actively in the discussions, and (if needed) offer one-on-one assistance (either virtual or face-to-face) to assist students with the course.
  • You will work closely with the Program Coordinator and the Department Chair as you make your way through this course, reporting any issues with the course materials, with students, student behaviors, etc.
  • You will conduct yourself in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct but also with an added degree of professionalism due to the dual nature of your role with your peers.

Prior to the Start of Class

  • Get familiar with the layout of the course in Bb.
    • Just as when you were a student, the best way to get to know the course is to simply dive right in!
    • You can't really "break" anything, but if something seems to go "wrong" be sure to get in touch with the Program Coordinator or the Department Chair.
  • Send the Department Chair your Bio information
    • Within the course section on the main page called "Course Information" there will be a link to your own personal Instructor Bio page that will be created for you.
    • Click HERE to see a BLANK TEMPLATE of the Instructor Bio created for this course and send the information needed to the Department Chair.
    • The Chair will place a link to this Online document into the Course Information section of your course when it is completed.
  • Create a "Welcome to Class" message in the "Announcements" tool in your course.
    • This announcement should welcome your class, introduce YOU to your students, and describe some basic expectations that are part of this class.
    • Click HERE to view a tutorial on how to create an Announcement.
  • Modify the Basic Course Information section that can be found in the "Course Information" section on the main page.
    • You will need to modify the INSTRUCTOR NAME and INSTRUCTOR EMAIL
    • Please only use your KVCC email in this section.
    • The object in Blackboard you are editing is called an "Item." To edit an item you hover your cursor over the title and a small "pull down" arrow will appear. Select this and then select "Edit"...you will then be brought to an interface that will allow you to edit the content. When you are done, simply press "Submit"

At the Beginning of Every Week

As you can likely see in the structure of the class, the class is organized in weeks. (The objectives for each week are laid out in the Course Navigator on the main page of the class).

Each week you will need to do a number of things...I suggest that you create a specific time (preferably Monday morning when the Online "week" begins) and do these activities each week at the same time.

  • You will be editing the Item that is on the main page of the course which is titled "Welcome to Week X"
    • This is an "Item" so you will edit it the same way you edited the "Basic Course Information" section prior to the class starting.
    • However, you first want to open up the Course Navigator (it will open into a new window).
    • Switch back to the main page in Blackboard and click the pull down to Edit the "Welcome to Week X" item.
    • Copy the list of things to do for the given week from the Course Navigator into the item.
    • Change the title of the item to reflect the accurate week...i.e. if it is Week 2 change it to "Welcome to Week 2"
    • Press "Submit" and that is it!
  • Post an Announcement that the Discussion for the week are now closed. This gives you a "time stamp" as to when you went in to grade the Discussions. Discussions posted after this date should not be counted in the grading. Don't get too hung on up this. The point is to engage your students in the discussions (which I'm assuming you have been doing all week) not to catch them failing.
  • Post an initial posting into the new discussions that start that week to get things going.
  • Grade the prior week's discussions (see below)

Every Week

  • You are expected to the following through the week.
    • Check the Messages section daily.
    • Check the Discussions Daily.
    • Send a message to any and all students who have not participated in the Discussion or Activity that week by Thursday.
    • Send reminders that you are available to assist your students.
    • You are the HOST of the discussion boards...the HOST must POST the MOST...that is my motto. You should be very active, but not overwhelming in the discussions. Remember, you are there to FACILITATE dialog, not dominate it.

Course Lessons

As you well know, the courses in the Mental Health program are designed around Lesson Plans. This course is no different. There are now only 7 Lessons in this class and the class only lasts 6 weeks. Here is a breakdown and some thoughts to consider on each Lesson.

  • Lesson 1: Introduction and Orientation
    • This is the opportunity you have to connect with your students and have them form a bond with each other.
    • Encourage them to participate a LOT and early in the week.
    • Send EACH student a message through the Messages tool and post a LOT in the first discussions.
    • Get in touch with the Program Staff if someone is "missing"
  • Lesson 2: Is the Mental Health field the right Career for Me?
    • This is where your personal experience can be so essential to the success of this class.
    • Post an Announcement about Lesson 2 talking about your own experiences in the field.
    • Again, participate a LOT in these discussions. We want individuals to get into this field for the right reasons!
    • This lesson also has a unique kind of Assessment...it is a survey. Be sure to provide your students with some guidance on this survey. Make sure that each student has completed this survey and reports their score in the Discussion board.
    • You should be able to review the results of this survey by visiting the Grade Center section of the course.
  • Lesson 3: Is KVCC's Mental Health Program the right path for me?
    • As much as this Lesson is about all aspects of the program we have here at KV, a lot of the discussion may focus on the technology we use and the iPad.
    • Part of your role is to assist students in connecting with support services available at KV in relation to the iPad. We have not integrated any iPad uses in any courses until Week 3 so you might want to communicate with your students pretty early about the expectations.
    • Feel free to provide individual support for the students on any apps they are struggling with.
    • As part of this process we have introduced an external survey that ALL of the students need to complete. We want to document each students' understanding of the changes that we have made in the program and the changes that are on the horizon. We will communicate directly with you in KV email when we have received your students' submissions so you can go into the Grade Center and assign them a score of 100 for completing this assignment.
    • This is the most important time to be positive about the field and about our program. You are the primary cheerleaders at the time when students might be the most vulnerable.
  • Lesson 4: How to be a Successful College Student
    • Each of you knows how to do this!
    • Feel free to share your stories of personal success, tips and ideas on studying, and to open the door for asking for help. If we are going to be "helpers" then we need to know how to ask for help ourselves.
  • Lesson 5: Professionalism - Communication, Boundaries, and Self-Care
    • This is a vital section of the course. We are trying to address the issue of individuals coming into the program with some pretty poor communication and interaction skills.
    • Again, personal experience in the program that reflect your own healthy communication, boundaries, and self-care is vital.
  • Lesson 6: Working in Groups
    • This is really the only ASSIGNMENT you are going to be facilitating in this class.
    • I would suggest that you begin to prompt the group on this assignment early in the class. Your group can begin to work on this at any time and the earlier they start the better.
    • You will be grading this as a "Discussion,", but your group needs to complete the actual assignment to get any grade at all.
  • Lesson 7: Making Connections and Planning your Career
    • Two goals of this Lesson include connecting your students to the Mental Health Facebook page and to their Advisor.
    • Each of you should be a member of the Mental Health Facebook site and you can monitor and track as your students become members of this group.
    • Students can contact either of their advisors (many may have both Mark K. and Wendy S. as their advisor.)
    • The key is that they meet with Mark or Wendy...even if they have "advisors" already (including TRiO and other programs at KVCC.)

Grading

The only portion of the course that you will be grading will be the Graded Discussions.

Click HERE for a tutorial on the steps you will take to grade these discussions.