AfterClass Help Pages For Teachers

AfterClass Overview (Back to top)

AfterClass is a place for students to discuss educational topics and receive rewards for great remarks. As a teacher, you can create blog posts, tape a lecture or upload photos all with the intention of having your students discuss them after class. Their entire discussion is tracked carefully with some posts requiring your approval and all posts organized into an easy to read report for you. This report will show which students participated and which did not. For those that did, the system gives you feedback on how valuable their participation in the discussion was.

Getting Started (Back to top)

To get started using AfterClass, you simply follow a 5-step wizard. The first step asks creates your profile page. It asks you to upload a picture of yourself and write a few words about yourself and the grades & subjects you teach. The next steps ask which tools you would like to enable in your own AfterClass version. After you complete the wizard, your students will be able to access your blogs, podcasts and more via links above your classroom Websites, on the left bar of your school's Website and via the teacher listing page.

Supported Browsers (Back to top)

The following browsers are fully supported. While others may work, we can simply not guarantee and support them.   Win 98 Win 2000 Win XP Win Vista Mac 10.3.x Mac 10.4 IE 7.0         IE 6.0       Firefox 2.x Firefox 1.5.x   Opera 9.x   Safari 2.0x

Shortcuts (Back to top)

The AfterClass tools are accessible in many different ways if the school is using the SchoolFusion Website solution. If not, your AfterClass solution should be accessed via http://www.AfterClass.net. The image to the right highlights the bar found above your classroom Websites. Additionally, these tools have shortcuts setup on the left or top bar of the Website as well as from your profile page.

Side Bar Links (Back to top)

In order to create a fast and efficient experience, there is a "AfterClass Tools" link added to the links that appear under your name after login. Each of these links take you to the 'add' page while the "View My Profile" brings you to your profile page similar in fashion to how a student would view your profile page. Please also notice the "Reports" link. This pages offers reports on how active your students have been and how constructive their posts have been.

Teacher's Profile Page (Back to top)

A teacher's profile page includes the following: Image: The image should be any professional photo of yourself. Text: The text area is a place for you to insert a rich-text description of yourself and what you like about teaching! Quick links: The quick links to your blog, podcasts and/or photo album includes additional information about how recently updates were made and how many students have participated in the discussion areas. Classrooms Listing: This offers links to all of the classrooms you teach. Message Center: You no longer have to manage everything through your inbox. This message center organized your mail into parent/student/teacher categories and much more. RSS: The RSS feed offers everyone a way to be automatically notified the moment you make an update.

Blogs (Back to top)

Overview A teacher's blog is a place to post topics for review and discussion. Via the "discuss" link, these topics are discussed by your students. All of the student comments are organized into a simple report for you to see who participated and who offered the most educationally sound comments. Posting a topic To post a topic, simply click on the "Create Post" link. From there, simply insert a title and then the body itself. Once published, your students will see it in the list as well as via your class Website and RSS feed. Editing or Deleting a post To edit a post click on the pencil icon (). To delete a post, click on the delete icon ().

Podcasts (Back to top)

Overview A teacher may maintain a "podcast" which is simply a series of audio-files. Students may listen to these by subscribing to the podcast or pressing the play/pause icon found just below the audio clip's title. Creating an audio clip Many resources exist that help you create an audio clip. All you need is a bit of time and microphone and you will be creating podcasts in no time! Since you will be publishing the audio clip here in AfterClass, you should only concern yourself with the creation of the audio clip via the guide accessed by clicking here. Uploading an audio clip To upload a clip, simply click on the "Upload Podcast" link. From there, simply insert a title and then the body itself. Once published, your students will see it in the list as well as via your class Website and RSS feed.

Photo Albums (Back to top)

A teacher might upload photos to a various number of albums. These albums are only available to the teacher's students and their parents. A Tip for Students To win rewards, participate in the discussion associated with each photo album in a way that is educationally constructive.

Student Participation (Back to top)

If you have something to lend to the conversation or maybe have done a bit of research on the topic, you're encouraged to enter into the discussion area and lend your thoughts. You may post a new comment or reply to one by clicking the "reply" link. And if you just wish to rate someone else's comment simply click on the 'thumbs-up' or 'thumbs-down.' By rating other comments, your comments will gain additional merit. Most importantly, if you ever think a comment is inappropriate for class, click on the icon next to the words "Cause for concern?"

Comment Approval (or Rejection) (Back to top)

In AfterClass, students are guilty until proven innocent. This means that all student comments will have to be approved before they can be seen by anyone. Once a student has had a certain number of comments approved without any rejections, the program realizes that they can be trusted. After that moment, their posts can then be seen without a teacher first reviewing them. So over time, the amount of reviewing you will have to do will decline while your students are posting more! To approve or reject a comment, simply click on the appropriate icon next to the 'pending' word.

Participation Profile (Back to top)

To amass participation awards is to show your parents, friends, teachers and yourself that you are a valuable part of any conversation. Challenge yourself to add your thoughts, do research and participate in topics of your choice. As noted above, a comment may receive positive and/or negative awards. You may give these at will but please note that if you give a comment a negative award and your teacher disagrees, your confidence level will go down. The high your confidence level, the more importance the weight your awards and comments will have.

Reports (Back to top)

Documentation on reports is coming soon.

RSS Feeds (Back to top)

RSS, known as "Really Simple Syndication," is a Web feed that publishes summaries of frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually. RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader" or an "aggregator". The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds. To subscribe to your teacher's RSS feed, simply find their RSS icon and follow the steps!

* - Feature only available for schools using the SchoolFusion Website solution.