Quickstart Guide for Instructors

Quickstart Guide for Instructors

 

 

Logins and Access

 

How do I log-in the first time?  (I’m an instructor)

If your site has issued you an Instructor Account, you’ve received a welcome email from hello@refleq.com with a log-in link. 

I’m having trouble logging in

  1. Go to https://refleq.com/
  1. Click the white login link (top right).
  1. Click the aqua Forgot Password link.
  1. Enter your school email address.
  1. You’ll now receive an email so you can select a password and log in. 
  1. If you still encounter difficulty, please contact your site administrator or ReflEQ support. 

My first three steps (Instructor)

Step 1: Create a new Journal

  1. Go to Dashboard (left purple nav bar).
  1. Click on “Untitled Journal” (or the New Journal button).
  1. Name your Journal (e.g., Civil Rights Project, Mock Trial, Spring Portfolio Review). 

Step 2: Browse the curated question banks

  1. Browse the curated question banks in the right panel. 
  1. Drag/drop questions into your Queue that seem interesting to scaffold your project, unit, course, or other instructional sequence.
  1. Your Queue is a “holding pen” for questions you might want to assign. You can add, remove or rearrange the order of questions in your Queue at any time. 
  1. The Queue is built to be flexible, so you can make choices along the way as you assign each question. The more “sticky” a question is to a particular learning moment, the more relevant and deep the student reflections will be.

Step 3: Get ready to work with students

  1. Click into your Journal. Use the “Add Groups” link (below Journal name) to connect a pre-formed Group and Section(s) of students to your Journal.
  1. Note: all Sections connected to your Journal will be issued questions on the same time schedule, with the same due dates.
    1. If Sections need different due dates, consider running them in separate Journals
    2. Another approach is to keep them all in one Journal, and set due dates to fit the last/latest Section. Communicate your due-date expectations in class. 
  1. For help creating a Group, see Setting up Groups / Sections

Setting up Groups / Sections (Instructor)

How do I create a new Group / Sections?

  1. Click New Group button.  Name your Group, typically by course name.
  1. Save and add Sections of students you want to work with (e.g., Section A, Period 2, etc.). If there’s only one class of students, you can name it “All”
  1. Here are some examples of Groups and Sections:

 


I can’t find the students I need in the list. How do I add them to ReflEQ?

  1. If you don’t find the students you need, your Site Administrator can upload student lists.
  1. You can also add students manually by clicking HERE on the bottom of your screen:

 

Collaborating with a colleague (Instructor)

How do I invite a colleague to view a Journal with me? (Optional)

  1. On your Dashboard, click 
  1. Enter your colleague’s email address. If it’s not recognized, ask your site administrator to create a ReflEQ user account for your colleague.
  1. Your colleague shares your view of student reflections, and can help you assign questions to students if you choose.
  1. The two of you can also share notes in the Teacher’s Lounge alongside student reflections.  What you write in the Teacher’s Lounge is not viewable by students, just each other.

Assigning a reflection to students (Instructor)

How do I get ready to assign a question to my students?

  1. Click the Assign link (right side of any question in your Queue) to start the process.

How do I set the assign / due dates for a question?

  1. Leave the Assign date alone if you want to assign immediately to students. Otherwise set a future assign date/time.
  1. Set the Due date. It will be possible to edit the Due date once a question is assigned.

What other choices do I have?

  1. Notify students by e-mail: You may want to turn this ON if you’re assigning the reflection for homework.  Students will receive an email that the question has been assigned, and another email 24 hours before the question is due.
  1. Require students to submit evidence: Turn this ON if you want students to attach a piece of PDF evidence alongside the reflection, e.g. for a portfolio review process.
  1. Allow late responses. This feature is currently locked ON. A student can still submit a reflection after the due date, but a “late” icon will appear next to that reflection.

How do I issue the reflection question to my students?

  1. After setting the question assign/due dates and other choices, simply click the aqua Assign button.

Viewing student reflections (Instructor)

How do I view all responses to a certain question?

Click View Responses on any assigned question to see anonymized reflections in real time.
  1. The Search Reflections box helps you skim reflections for keywords.
  1. Click the Show Names button (right top) to associate student names with their reflections. 

How do I view a particular student’s journal?

  1. Click on any name to view that student’s journal across all assigned questions.
  1. There’s also an aqua “Journals (by student)” button on your main set-up screen.

How do I see data on the questions I’ve assigned?

  1. In Assigned Questions, hover over Data to see the pie chart. This helps you understand the meta-skills associated with the questions you’ve assigned.

Finalizing a journal with students (Instructor)

How do I assign the final meta-reflection to students?     

  1. You may use the meta-reflection slot (below the Queue) to issue one final question, prompting for overall trends and learnings across students’ previous reflections.  The “meta” category in the ReflEQ banks are designed for this phase.


What can students do with their journals outside of ReflEQ?
  1. Ask your students to print, export (PDF) or share by secure weblink their completed journals. 
  1. For example, a PDF journal can be turned in alongside other assignment deliverables.
  1. As another example, a weblink journal can be shared more broadly with other instructors, counselors, parents (e.g., for student-led conferencing, portfolio-review, mastery-transcript evidence).


 

 

 

 



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