Teachers and Liaisons: Communicating with Mentors in Classroom Group
From completing the Group Overview to posting updates in the group forum, there are several options for communicating with mentors on the PlantingScience website.
Welcome Mentors and Share Timeline
Make sure your Group Overview is thorough and updated on the website.
Your Group Overview will be the first line of communication between you and potential mentors. In order to understand what you will need during the session, mentors will need to a thorough description of what you plan to do, what you hope your students will gain from PlantingScience the interactions with the mentors, when you plan to be active on the website, etc. With this information, the scientist mentors can decide whether or not they will be a good fit for your classroom. From there, they can decide to accept or decline the invitation.
Use the Group Forum
When your classroom group is created, PS Staff will populate the discussion forum with questions and prompts for you and your liaison and scientist mentors to answer. In the forum, you can hold discussions, ask questions, or simply post daily or weekly updates about what your students have done in the classroom or with their projects. Here are some examples on how to use the forum:
Update the Group Calendar
Keep important dates on the calendar to keep your mentors aware of start/finish dates and school breaks during the session. You can also use the calendar to post days and times when mentors can Skype or video chat with your classroom.
Update mentors quickly with announcements
Is school closed due to weather? Has a special assembly been organized during your regular class time? Keep mentors up-to-date with quick announcements that can be emailed immediately:
