New

Mentor

Onboarding

v.08.2025

PART A: Student Information System -

Student Learning Portal (SLP)

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PART B: Learning Management Systems - Brightspace and Buzz

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PART C: Mentor Role Description & Best Practices

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LINKS & RESOURCES: Mentor, Student, Guardian

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Mentor Checklist

This checklist features guidance for mentors at key times during the school year.

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• Mentor Checklist Knowledge Base article.

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• Mentor Checklist (Copy to Google Drive or print.)

Keep this handy and refer to it often throughout the school year!

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PART A:

Student Information System

Student Learning Portal (SLP)

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PART A: SLP - Table of Contents

SLP Login Information - How to login to the SLP

Mentor Dashboard - Helpful tools for mentors

Observer Role in Brightspace - You can view your students’ Brightspace course

Student Tab - How to monitor students’ activity and progress

Enrollments Tab - Student list with courses, start and end dates

Course Catalog - List of all courses, prerequisites, and tech requirements

Reports Tab - Print various reports, including count day report

Affiliation Tab - List of all mentors/affiliation users at your school

Messages - communication from instructors

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The Student Learning Portal (SLP)

The SLP is the system entry point for all Michigan Virtual accounts, including mentor, student, and guardian.

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HOW TO LOG IN:

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• Go to: slp.michiganvirtual.org
• Type your username (should be your school email) and password.
• If you or a student forgets their login and/or password, click on the “Forgot your Login and/or Password” on the homepage.
• The SLP will send you your current password to your email. ��

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Mentor Dashboard

The mentor dashboard is where you can…

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-Contact Customer Care

-Edit your account

-View notifications (Messages)

-Go to a Learning Management System (LMS), i.e. Brightspace or Buzz

-Use one of the several highlighted widgets.

Observer Role in Brightspace

To view your student(s) course in EdReady, Brightspace, or Buzz, click the “Go to Courses” link in the left navigation window and then click on the monitor next to appropriate LMS.

Learn more about navigating Michigan Virtual Brightspace and Buzz classrooms as a Mentor.

Student Tab

Clicking on the “Students” tab (found in the top navigation bar) will show all students that are enrolled in a course.

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Click Basic Search and then Get Data to view all students.

Viewing an Individual Student

When clicking on a student, a new page will appear. This information only pertains to this particular student.

Student Login Data

When viewing an individual student and by clicking on “Logins” under Historic Data, this will show how many times a student has logged into the SLP.

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The darker the color, the more times they logged in on that particular day.

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By clicking on a date, it will bring up an hourly breakdown of when the student logged in.

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NOTE: SLP data is from the previous day, not real time.

Pro Tip: Use the Brightspace Insights Activity Heatmap dashboard for more current and detailed login and course activity information.

Add Communication

While viewing an individual student, you can add any type of communication regarding that student. Ex. phone calls home regarding progress.

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The student and parent cannot see what you write. The instructor, and the Affiliation user at your school can only see this information.

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Gradebook

While viewing an individual student in the SLP, click Gradebook under the Enrollments menu.

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Gradebook

The table on top of the gradebook page shows the students start and end date, cumulative grade, and number of assignments completed.

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Gradebook, cont.

The Gradebook will show a breakdown of each assignment, the points received, and the date the assignment was submitted. It also shows the percentage of the Unit Progress Checks.

Current Enrollments

By clicking on “Current Enrollments” you can view all of the courses the student is currently taking.

Enrollment History

Clicking on Enrollment History will display all of the courses the student has completed, and their final grade.

Gradebook History

The Gradebook History will show the student’s gradebook after each course has been completed.

�We now have a “Completed Gradebook Report” widget on your dashboard that shows the full gradebook in a much more user-friendly format.

Enrollment Link

By clicking on the Enrollments link on the top menu bar and clicking on Get Data you will see a list of your active students.

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By clicking on Customize Columns you can change columns to view IEP’s, 504’s, end dates, teacher names and emails, and more.

Mentor Tab

Click the “Mentor” link on the top menu bar.

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Next, click on your name. Choose, “Current Enrollments” on the left navigation bar. This will display all current students you are mentoring, including their course, start and end dates, grade, number of assignments completed, and the last date they logged into their class.

Course Catalog

There is a link to the Course Catalog. This is where you can view information about a specific course.

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�There is an easier way to view these materials by clicking on this link to a Knowledge Base article. https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements-device-restricts-software-downloads/

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You can filter the results by term, subject, Instructor Provider, school level, NCAA, or Content Provider.

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Messages

The “Messages” link is where you can send messages to students, instructors, and parents.

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You cannot enter an email address in here. You can only message people that you are directly connected to in the SLP.

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Messages in the SLP

Sending emails to a student, instructor, and/or parent�

• Please require the students to communicate with their instructors through the SLP because you can track these communications. When the student sends an email, it will automatically go into their Communication log.�
• You can communicate with parents and/or online instructors with your school email or in the SLP, that is your choice.

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• Mentor SLP communication is recommended, ensuring transparency and providing a digital communication record for stakeholders.

Reports Menu

Click on the “Reports” link on the top menu bar �

Click “Run Report” on the left navigation menu�

You will have several choices of reports to download.

Reports

1. The School Year Completions report - This report will show all students who have completed their course. This report lists the student’s name, course, instrutor, term, final grade, and completion date. �

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What Next?

Click link to advance to desired location.

PART A: Student Information System - Student Learning Portal (SLP)

PART B: Learning Management Systems - Brightspace and Buzz

PART C: Mentor Role Description & Best Practices

RESOURCES: Mentor, Student, Guardian

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PART B: Learning Management Systems

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Brightspace LMS

Housing Advanced Placement and Plus (flex-paced) courses

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What is Brightspace?

• Brightspace is one of the three Learning Management Systems (LMSs) utilized as a platform for Michigan Virtual’s student course offerings.
• The majority of Michigan Virtual’s student course offerings use the Brightspace LMS.
• You have the ability to log in to Brightspace as an “Observer” for any student to whom you are associated as a Mentor.
• Although the SLP is the best place to view the entire gradebook, Brightspace does have a Progress Summary where you can view categories and login information.
• NOTE: If you have students enrolled in Essentials credit recovery courses, these are housed in the Buzz LMS.

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Observer Role in Brightspace

To view your student(s) course in Brightspace, click the “Go to Courses” link in the left navigation window and then click on the monitor next to appropriate LMS.

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Brightspace Home Screen

This is the home screen in Brightspace.

Yellow or Purple Box - by clicking on either box will always take you back to this main screen.

Red Box - All your students will be listed here. By clicking on the arrow next to Student Summary, you will see the class each student is enrolled in.

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Accessing Individual Student Grades

On the Brightspace home page where you can view your list of students, there are two ways to access their Progress Summary (Grades).

You can either click on the purple box, where the course is listed, or the View User Progress symbol (red circle).

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Student Orientation

Students are unable to view course lessons until they have completed the Student Orientation with a 100%.

To see if a student has successfully completed the Student Orientation course, do the following:

In Brightspace, you will see a list of your students. Click on the arrow underneath their name next to the words Student Summary. You should see a 100% Met Expectations if the student has successfully completed the Student Orientation Unit.

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Click HERE for further information on how Mentors can view Student Orientation completion status in Brightspace.

Click HERE for an article to send to your students so they can view their Student Orientation progress.

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Progress Summary

The progress summary is where you can view the individual student’s grades on discussion board posts, assignments, and quizzes.

You can also view their course access and their unit progress check total points vs. points earned.

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Grades Received

When clicking on Grades Received, you will see a Last Modified Date. This is not necessarily the date the student submitted the assignment, but most likely the date the instructor graded it.

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Checking Student Submission Dates

To see the date the student submitted the assignment, click on Assignments on the left menu bar and then click on the arrow next to details.

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Awaiting Grade

On the Summary page you can scroll to the Assignments or Quizzes area to see if there are any assignments or quizzes that have been submitted but not yet graded.

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Progress Summary Explanations

NOTE: The SLP is the best place to view the entire gradebook in order.

Brightspace will let you break down the gradebook according to quizzes, assignments, discussion boards, etc.

• The yellow box shows the different categories that you can sort.
• The purple circle shows the students cumulative grade.
• The red circle will show the arrow to open up that particular category.
• The green rectangle, allows you to view the teacher’s feedback.

You can print this page or save it as a pdf.

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Viewing Course Content in Brightspace

On your Brightspace homepage, scroll down to My Courses.

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You will see individual course tiles for the current courses your students are enrolled in.

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Click on any one of these courses to view the content only. (No student data.)

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Homepage, cont.

Once inside the course, mentors cannot see Instructor Info or the Instructors Announcements like the students can.

You can click on Lessons on the top menu bar to view lessons but you cannot view assessments.

By clicking on the Waffle Icon (yellow highlight), you can easily toggle between classes.

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Large and Small Arrows Inside Course

When navigating in the course, there are 2 sets of arrows. The top arrows take you to the next topic.

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Once inside the topic, there may be a small black arrow on the bottom of the page to navigate within the topic.

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📢 IMPORTANT: If only the top arrows are used, students can skip over the content of the course.

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Pacing Guides

• Pacing guides can be found on the Mentor and Student SLP Dashboard. For AP courses, the pacing guide is a static calendar inside of their Brightspace course.
• The pacing guides will be determined on the students first login date. It will configure the time remaining in the course and create an individualized pacing guide.
• There will be a “Unit Check” at the end of each unit. The grade at the end of Unit 1 will be all the work from that unit. The grade at the end of Unit 2 will be all the work from Unit 1 & Unit 2, etc.

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Further Brightspace Resources

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Brightspace Guide for Mentors

Brightspace Guide for Students

Brightspace video for Students

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Buzz LMS

Housing Essentials credit recovery courses

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Mentor Guide to Essentials Courses the

Buzz Learning Management System and the

Student Learning Portal (SLP)

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Objectives:

• Show an overview of the student perspective in Michigan Virtual’s Essentials courses.
• Demonstrate how mentors access student information and monitor student progress in the SLP (Student Learning Portal) and in Buzz.

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Overview of Key Terms:

Essentials are our online credit recovery courses, with a selection of 24 course titles.

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Buzz is the learning delivery and management platform for all Essentials courses.

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SLP (Student Learning Portal) is Michigan Virtual’s Student Information System (SIS).

Accessing Essentials Courses

• All students and mentors will access Essentials courses by first logging into the SLP: www.slp.michiganvirtual.org

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Forgot Login and/or Password

If you or a student forgets their login and/or password, there is a fast way to retrieve it.

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Just click on the “Forgot your Login and/or Password” on the homepage.

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The SLP will send you your current password to your email.

The Buzz Student View

SLP: Click on Essentials Course Title

Students click on the course title to access the Essentials course in the Buzz learning management system.

Buzz: Student App

• Student view in Buzz.

Buzz: Student App

1 - Course Menu

2 - Order Courses Students enrolled in multiple courses can choose the order in which they appear.

3 - Announcements

4 - Help

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Buzz: Essentials Course Access Options

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• Students enter the course by clicking on the title or “Activities” button on the bottom right.

Buzz: Essentials Course Access Options

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• Clicking the “Grades” button provides access to the course grade book.

Buzz: Essentials Activities Stream

• Students access lessons, assignments, and assessments within the “Activities” stream in Buzz.

Welcome and Getting Started Folders

• There is no required student orientation for Essentials courses.
• Encourage your students to view all items in the “Welcome” and “Getting Started” folder.
• Students will find a recently-added Navigating your Essentials Courses walkthrough.

Essentials: Module Design

Modules typically contain:

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1. Pretest
2. Lessons and Quizzes
3. Assignments
4. Module Exam (Unit Test)

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Pretests

• Pretest at the beginning of each module.
• If students test out of certain sections, those items are no longer visible in the student activity feed. Student’s grade book in Buzz and the SLP will be automatically adjusted.
• Note: If students demonstrate mastery of all assessed standards in a module, it is possible to test out of an entire module.

Buzz: Teacher Gradebook Showing Exemptions

Student Activity Feed-Exempted Work No longer visible to student

Buzz: Essentials Lesson View

Buzz: Essentials Lesson Interactives

Buzz Gradebook: Mastery Goal 60% and Retry Icon

Essentials: Discussion-Based Assessments

• Modules contain a Discussion-Based Assessment (DBA) before the module test. A score of at least 60% on the DBA unlocks the test.
• Student interaction with our teachers is a key feature of our Essentials credit recovery courses and the DBA is an opportunity for teacher and student to interact and to check for understanding before the test.
• The first Discussion-Based Assessment of the course will be synchronous, i.e. live meeting via phone, Zoom, etc., but subsequent DBAs may be completed asynchronously, if preferred.

Student Learning Portal

• Viewing Essentials course progress in the SLP gradebook as mentor or observer.

Viewing a Student

When clicking on a student, a new page will appear. This information only pertains to this particular student.

Current Enrollments

By clicking on “Current Enrollments” you can view all of the courses the student is currently taking.

SLP Gradebook View for Essentials Courses

• Essentials assignment scores are represented as percentages in the SLP, which is why “Points Possible” displays as “100.”
• Note that nothing will appear in the “Earned Points” column, since Essentials scores are only represented as percentages.

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SLP Gradebook View for Essentials Courses

• Items “Excused” (exempted) in Buzz display in the SLP with blank fields.
• **CAUTION: Unsubmitted assignments in Buzz also appear with blank fields in the SLP. Please verify within Buzz, whether a specific assignment is exempted or not. This is indicated by an “x” in the Buzz gradebook.
• Both the student gradebook in Buzz and the SLP automatically adjust total points for exempted assignments.

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Log into the Buzz learning management system as an Observer

Observer Access in Buzz

• Mentors can directly log into the Buzz LMS to view your student’s progress directly within the Essentials course.�
• See activity and view the course from student perspective.�
• View Student Activity Feed and Gradebook in real time.

Accessing Buzz as an Observer

• You will log into the SLP: www.slp.michiganvirtual.org

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Accessing Buzz as an Observer

On the left menu in the SLP, select Go to Courses.

Accessing Buzz as an Observer

Next, select the computer monitor icon to the left of Michigan Virtual Essentials (Buzz)

Accessing Buzz as an Observer: Choose Student

Note: You must be associated as a mentor to a particular student in the SLP, in order to have observer access in Buzz.

Accessing Buzz as an Observer: Gradebook icon

Click on the gradebook of the student’s course you want to view.

Accessing Buzz as an Observer: Buzz Gradebook View

Example of student gradebook in Buzz.

Accessing Buzz as an Observer: View Assignment Details

As an observer, you can click on a particular assignment for details.

Accessing Buzz as an Observer: View Submitted Assignment

As an observer, you can see submitted assignments.

Accessing Buzz as an Observer: Cannot start an assessment

Accessing Buzz as an Observer:

Can view assessment after submitted by student

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Essentials Online Credit Recovery & Alternative Learning

�Navigating the Essentials Gradebook

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Buzz Navigation

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Buzz Activities Stream

��Mentor Checklist

�Best Practices of Mentoring

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��Parent Guide

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SLP - Parent/Guardian FAQ’s

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Michigan Virtual Parent Page

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�SLP - Parent/Guardian Quick Start Guide

�Logging in and Viewing the Guardian Dashboard

RESOURCES

What Next?

Click link to advance to desired location.

PART A: Student Information System - Student Learning Portal (SLP)

PART B: Learning Management Systems - Brightspace

PART C: Mentor Role Description & Best Practices

RESOURCES: Mentor, Student, Guardian

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PART C: Best Practices of Mentoring

-Description of the Mentor role

-Mentor Responsibilities

-Student Expectations

-Suggested Practices

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What is a Mentor?

• Mentors serve as a liaison between the student, online instructor, parent and administration.
• Mentors provide the personal connection to the student who is learning virtually. Mentors support students throughout the term and build trusting relationships.
• Effective mentors…
• work with students on a regular basis, ensure students have all needed course materials and technology and access to all course websites, and provide structure at the local level for course completion.
• establish pacing and course completion accountability, monitor student course progress, and conduct regular check-ins with students.
• initiate regular and frequent communication with all local stakeholders (students, guardians, administrators, counselors, etc.) about student progress and online program expectations.

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Mentor Responsibilities

• Create a learning environment that is welcoming and supportive
• Monitor student progress weekly and help the student stay on track
• Establish and communicate clear expectations and guidelines
• Communicate with the online instructor and parents on a consistent basis
• Establish rapport with students and ensure academic success
• Meet with each student weekly to discuss progress
• Teach and encourage students to be self-directed, independent learners who are responsible for their own coursework

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Beginning of the Year

• Set the tone at the beginning by establishing clear expectations of what you expect from your students and what they can expect from you.
• Distribute a syllabus for your online learners. Example #1, Example #2
• Know that your students will struggle in the beginning, but it will get easier!
• Michigan Virtual online courses have a pacing guide to keep students on track to finish their course on time.
• If your students come to a lab, it is important to create a welcoming and supportive learning environment.
• Arrange your classroom so students who are taking the same course can sit by each other. It’s great to see them asking each other for help!

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Consider the following…

• Students will be taking different courses, so their needs will be different.
• Some will have certain technology requirements, i.e. headphones, webcam�
• Allow students the right to work off-site if their grade is above a certain percentage, such as 80%. This is a great incentive for students to stay current and do well in their course.�
• Students struggle with time management and being self-directed learners.
• Make sure students are logging in daily and spending quality time in their course.�
• Help students become an advocate for themselves by contacting their instructor when they have questions or concerns. Mentors are not tutors or content experts, but are there to help motivate and encourage students to be successful.�

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Communication

• If you don’t see your students on a daily basis, how will you communicate with them?

• Google Classroom

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• Remind - can be sent to cell phone or email. You can also have a Remind for parents. Great tool to use when completing your 2-way communication for count day!�
• Email - it’s important to make sure students are checking their email on a regular basis.�
• Zoom meetings - very effective when trying to build relationships with students.

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Accountability

• Have stages of accountability or goals to help students succeed
• For example: Breakdown the term into 4 goals. Set a date for each of the four goals with the expectation that students should be at a certain place in their course (pacing guide) by each goal date.
• Consider using ‘unit progress’ check points to help set goals.
• Communicate these goals with parents for extra support.�
• Meeting with students once a week to discuss their pacing and progress is a great way to hold them accountable and build relationships.�
• Proctor tests and exams whenever possible.

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Student Expectations

• Students need to log in to their courses every school day.
• It is important for students to read all information from their online teacher, including any announcements they put in their course.
• Their online course is just like a face-to-face course where they will read, submit assignments, and take quizzes and tests.
• It can be stressful for students to see all of their assignments for the entire semester.
• This is where the new Student Pacing Tool is helpful.�

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Links and Resources

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Mentor Checklist

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The Mentor Checklist Knowledge Base article features guidance for mentors at key times during the school year.

Keep this handy and refer to it often!

🗎 Make a copy of the Mentor Checklist for Google Drive or print.

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Helpful Links

Mentor Web page - there are a lot of resources to help support you as a mentor, including Online Mentor Contracts, Parent Communication, example syllabi, etc.

Mentor Quick Start Guide - This is our Knowledge Base (KB Articles) where you can find quick answers to your questions regarding the SLP and Brightspace.�

Mentor Fundamentals Guide - This guide has a lot of resources on the best practices of mentoring from our Michigan Virtual Research Institute.

Mentor Resources

BRIGHTSPACE

Brightspace Video for Students�

Brightspace Presentation for Mentors

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MENTORING

Mentor Checklist�

Best Practices of Mentoring�

Teacher Welcome Letter

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STUDENT ORIENTATION UNIT

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Helping a student see their progress in the Student Orientation Course (Students)�

Checking Student Orientation Course Completion Status (Mentors)

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Resources

Strategies for Online Success (SOS)

Online Learning Agreement

Sample Online Learning Mentor Job Description

Mentor Guide to Online Learning

Mentor Web Page

Mentor Checklist

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Guardian Resources

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Parent Guide�

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Michigan Virtual Parent Page

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Guardian Dashboard

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SLP - Parent/Guardian FAQ’s

SLP - Parent/Guardian Quick Start Guide

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Guardian Letter (Example/Template)

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Parent Resources

Parent Guide�

Michigan Virtual Parent Page

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Guardian Dashboard Information

SLP - Parent/Guardian Quick Start Guide�

Parent Letter

�Guardian Quick Start Guide (KB Article)

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Questions? �

Andrea Kistler

Mentor Support Manager

P: 517-664-5470 | E: akistler@michiganvirtual.org | Click here to schedule a meeting