Explorer for Teachers Creating a Learning Site account Most teachers will need to create their own account on the Learning Site. The Learning Site contains all digital components, including Explorer courses and FlexText ebooks. Go to learningsite.waysidepublishing.com and choose Sign Up. Register as a teacher, fill in the required information, and click submit. Wait for a confirmation email to arrive to activate your Learning Site account. Click on the link in the email to complete the registration, and log in.
Explorer for Teachers Creating an Explorer course To create an Explorer course and access online content, complete the following steps: Go to the dashboard and click +New Course Find your textbook and click Create Course
Create a title for your course. o Note that all course titles must be distinct, even from year to year. o Consider using your last name, school year, and period/section (e.g., Jones: 2017-18 Periodo 2) Choose a start date for your course. o Students will not be able to enroll prior to this date. o The course will remain active for 365 days from this date as long as you have at least one student enrolled within 30 days. o If no students enroll within 30 days, the course will expire. 2
Once you have created your course, the online Explorer content for that course will automatically load. If you want to change the title for your Explorer course, click on the pencil icon to the right of your course name. You can change the title anytime. To create additional courses, return to the dashboard and repeat the above steps. o If you are teaching multiple sections of the same level, create a new course for each one. 3
Explorer for Teachers Adding students A student can enroll in an Explorer course in one of two ways: 1. Student Self-Enrollment (instructions for students): Go to learningsite.waysidepublishing.com and choose Sign Up. Register as a student, fill in the required information, and click submit.
Wait for a confirmation email to arrive to activate your Learning Site account. Click on the link in the email to complete the registration, and log in. Click on + Join Course on your Dashboard. Enter a valid, unused, 16-digit access code (either provided by your teacher, inside the front cover of your textbook, or received via email). 2
Click on Unlock, and then Start Subscription. Search for your Explorer course by course name or teacher name (as indicated by your teacher), and Join for the correct course. Confirm enrollment. 3
2. Enrollment by Teacher Invitation (instructions for teachers): Enter your Explorer course. Go to the Students tab and click on Invite More Students. Enter the valid email addresses of the students you want to invite to your Explorer course, and click Invite. Students will need to enter a valid, unused, 16-digit access code after they accept the invitation. 4
Explorer for Teachers Content tab Here you will find the online content that accompanies your Explorer course, organized similarly to the Student Edition print book Table of Contents. Content includes downloadable audio and video clips, downloadable PDFs, flashcards, activities (sometimes referred to as quizzes) for student practice, and discussion forums. There are also extension activities in the Explorer course that are not found in the textbook. The magnifying glass icon will allow you to search for a resource by keyword, file extension, or activity type.
In the Explorer course, unit or chapter folders are broken down into sub-folders based on the parts of the unit/chapter of the book you are working with (e.g., in EntreCulturas, the sections are Compara, Comunica y Explora A/B, En Camino A/B etc.), and from there the parts are further broken down by individual sections. The folder structure can be found in the left-hand navigation pane or across the top of the folder that is currently open. Clicking on a resource or activity will allow you to see and interact with it in the same way your students will. As long as your Explorer course is active and has at least one student enrolled, you can download and save as many resources in a 24-hour period as you wish. 2
If your Explorer course is expired or does not have students enrolled, you are limited to a maximum of three downloads in a 24-hour period. Teachers may attempt activities (referred to as quizzes, discussion forums, flashcards, or surveys) and, if applicable, post or submit them for feedback in the same way a student would. o Completing a task or uploading an artifact yourself is a great way to become familiar with the many grading and feedback functions offered in Explorer. Use the Classroom Forum to share information and documents with students that are not included in the Explorer course. This might include activities such as the following: Teacher-created activities or practice assignments Internet links to reference materials Online activities or games for general practice Proverbs or sayings Music videos, commercials, photos, etc. Cultural information that is time-sensitive, such as El Día de los Muertos or Las fallas de Valencia Current events from the target culture o Post items in a way that has students respond and comment on each other s posts. o You may also use the Classroom Forum to inform students who have been absent by choosing a different student to be the weekly blogger. 3
4 Use the Conversemos forum to share similar resources that are directly connected to the unit theme and content. This could expand to discussion questions and inquiries about homework assignments or material presented in class.
Explorer for Teachers Assignments tab This section will allow you to assign tasks or quizzes to your students. You can also view the items you have previously assigned to student. To assign an item: Click the Add Assignment button. Course content o Navigate through the unit/chapter folders to find the task you would like to assign. o Drag it to the Assignments area on the right side of the window. If you would like to assign multiple tasks with the same due date, you may add them at this time. o Click Next Step.
Students o Choose the students to whom you would like to assign the selected tasks. You may choose all, or to differentiate, choose selected students. o Click Next Step. Due date o If you would like to add a due date and time, add that information. o You may also decline to specify a due date by checking No due date. o Click Assign. 2
You have the option to add an automatic penalty for any activity submitted after the due date. o Click on the Settings icon to the right of your Explorer course title. Turn the penalty feature on or off. Choose the percentage you want deducted and save. 3 Once a task has been assigned, it will appear in your list of assignments. It will also appear in the list of assignments for those students you selected. You will be able to review the following information: o Quiz represents the name of the task o Assigned date will show when the task was assigned Click on the arrow to reverse the order in which assignments appear, oldest to newest and vice versa o Due date includes the due date and time, if applicable o Submitted/Assigned shows the number of students who have submitted the task out of the total number of students to whom it was assigned Click on the link for detailed information regarding what students have and have not submitted the task o Edit (as represented by a pencil) allows you to change the students to whom the task is assigned, or the due date and time
o Archive (as represented by a folder) will turn the assignment red You may clear an assignment from view on the list by clicking the link that appears at the bottom of the list (Hide archived) You can view archived assignments at any time by clicking on the new link that appears (Show archived) If you accidentally archive an activity, click on the folder icon of the activity in question again, and choose Unarchive To delete a task that you no longer want assigned to students, click on the trash can icon next to the add assignment button. 4
Then, check the square next to the tasks you wish to delete, and click on Remove selected. Teachers can also assign an activity or a resource directly from the Content Tab while searching for a previewing the activity or resource. Click on the gray assign link under the name of the activity or resource, and the dialogue box from the previous method will appear. Note that this option will only allow you to assign the particular activity or resource that you have clicked on. 5
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Explorer for Teachers Grades tab Here, you will find a list of all students enrolled in the course who have submitted at least one task for feedback. You will also see yourself registered on the list if you have submitted any tasks or artifacts. You may choose to sort students alphabetically by first or last name. The Quizzes column lets you know how many tasks the student has submitted. The Need Grading column lets you know how many tasks you need to manually review and assign a grade for.
2 Click on a student s name on the screen pictured above for more detailed information on each task submitted in chronological order. The student s most recent submission will appear at the bottom. o The Quiz column states the name of each task. o The Started column indicates how many times the student started the task. o The Evaluation column indicates if the task needs to be graded. o The Completed column indicates how many times the student completed and submitted the task. o The next series of columns show the student s scores on the following: The First attempt The Last or most recent attempt The Average score If a student starts but does not complete a task the system will average it as a 0 unless the teacher manually deletes the incomplete attempt. See below. The Highest score o The Result column indicates if the student passed or failed the task, based on the threshold set.
Click on the name of a quiz to see more detailed information, including when it was started and how long a student took to complete it. o Click on the red x to the right of an individual attempt to delete it from the gradebook. Click on an individual attempt to see the activity and how the student responded to individual questions. o You can also manually override the score posted for activities that are automatically graded, and leave feedback for the student. 3
You can also view choose to view information by each activity to see how all students who have submitted attempts have scored. In the Content Tab, navigate to the activity you would like to review. Click on the gray grades link under the activity name. This will open up a list of all students who have submitted the activity, and show their scores. You can click on an individual student s name and attempt to see more detailed information about their answers and to provide feedback. 4
The Export Grades button on the main page of the Grades tab will create an Excel spreadsheet of grades that you can use to upload to your school s gradebook, provided it has that functionality.ß To export grades: o Choose if you want the highest grade, average grade, first attempt, or most recent attempt recorded. o Choose the date range. o Choose the activities you want included. o Click Export. o An editable Excel spreadsheet will be generated. You may change the name of an assignment or any grade value before following the steps to upload the data to your school s gradebook. 5