Instructor Playbook 

Week-by-Week Teaching Priorities 

Consistent engagement and communication foster a sense of community, keep learners motivated, and support learning outcomes. 

Be Present and Engaged 

• Log in daily or as often as possible, but no less than at least 4 times during the 7-day week. 
• Post a welcome announcement on Day 1 using a positive, inclusive tone. Be sure the announcement includes your contact info, and include a short welcome video. Here’s a great example from a UVM Nutrition Instructor. 
  • Creating an Announcement  (to insert video,  you can use the built-in video note tool or record on YouTube and insert a link) 
  • Here’s a template, if it’s helpful: Announcement – Week 1 Welcome to the Course Template
• During the first week, share 2-3 announcements, at least one of which contains a video. Here are some helpful starter templates:
  • Announcement – Week 1 Midweek Template
  • Announcement – Week 1 End of Week Template 
• For the remaining weeks, schedule a “welcome-to-the-week” message for Sunday night, and then 2-3 more announcements sprinkled throughout the week.Here are some helpful starter templates:
  • Announcement – Week 2-x Welcome to the Week Template  
  • Announcement – Week 2-x Midweek Template  
  • Announcement – Week 2-x End of Week Template 

Here’s a Calendar showing what to post when. 

foster community and connection

• In the first week, be sure to respond to learner introduction posts in the first few days, welcoming them to the course and inviting them to engage.
• In weeks 2 through the end: Demonstrate regular, meaningful engagement in discussion boards each week. How you do this will depend upon both course content and class size, but the key priorities are to keep interactions authentic and supportive, being sure that all learners feel heard and acknowledged.
• For tips on how to engage on Brightspace Discussion Boards, please check out Replying to Discussion Forums.

monitor learning progress, and intervene early

• Week 1: Monitor learners carefully during the first couple of days. Reach out by Day 2 or 3 to learners who haven’t logged in during Week 1.
• Throughout the course: If you notice a learner has disengaged, please reach out as soon as possible to offer support. Please document this reach-out. We suggest using growth-mindset language and a positive psychology lens like this: “Anita, I didn’t see you in the discussion area this week. Is there anything I can be doing to support you getting back on track? I am here to help!“
• If a learner expresses that they are unable to engage, please direct them to Student Support Services for support. They can be reached by emailing learn@uvm.edu or by calling 802-656-2085.

For best-practice methods of monitoring learner progress, we encourage you to use Brightspace data to inform your teaching and your actions. The data Brightspace provides can help you identify learner needs, personalize approaches, and ultimately, improve outcomes. Here are three tools that Brightspace offers to help you monitor learner progress and engagement:

• Class Progress Tool
• Course Report
• Viewing and Using the Gradebook

Based on the data above, we encourage you to focus your efforts in the following manner:

1. Monitor Engagement: Use LMS analytics (logins, discussion activity, assignment submissions) to spot patterns. This data will also help you identify students who are falling behind early and reach out proactively.
2. Inform Your Teaching: Adjust pacing or provide supplemental resources based on performance trends. You can also use data to highlight common challenges in announcements or live sessions.
3. Personalize Support: Based on individual issues or trends, you can reach out proactively to provide targeted support via announcements, emails, or discussions.

deliver timely and substantive feedback

• Grade and provide substantive, timely feedback for all assignments within 7 days of the due date. If you need assistance with the gradebook, please visit this page: Using the Gradebook.
• Monitor grading progress, and update learners via announcements when grading/feedback is complete for each assignment.

be accessible and responsive

• Use only your UVM-provided email for learner communication. This is important to protect student data privacy, and also vital should there be a time when a record of messages is required.
• As appropriate, list a phone number on your syllabus and/or bio. (A Google Voice number can be set up to forward to your phone number for free. You can also use one to collect voicemails that forward to your email.)
• Hold at least one office hour per week (evenings/weekends preferred, though please choose an hour that is accessible by students in Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern time zones). While learners may not always attend, research suggests that the offer of an open office hour creates a sense of security for learners. You have access to Microsoft Teams as part of your UVM-provided credentials, but you can also use other services if you are more comfortable with them (e.g., shorten to 40 minutes and use a free Zoom account).
• Respond to learner emails within 24 hours on weekdays, and 48 hours on weekends.

collaborate and communicate

• Attend scheduled instructor meetings (no more than 1x per course run, if applicable). These types of meetings will be communicated as early as possible so you can make the time and are often recorded for those who cannot attend.
• Participate in the post-course debrief meetings and/or end-of-course survey, if applicable.
• Escalate questions/concerns to the PACE Program Manager (or Helpdesk for tech issues.)