Pre-Semester Tasks

Before everyone shows up for the first AguaClara class, there are a few tasks to take care of. You should probably start on these tasks a week before classes start. The first thing you should do is schedule a meeting with Monroe to talk about how these items will be addressed.

General Wiki Updating

Update miscellaneous wiki pages that give current statistics and information about the project, i.e. the About AguaClara and Technology Overview pages

• These pages often contain info about where we have plants operating and what stage of construction new plants are in. These statistics change regularly.

Update "common" wiki pages used by team members that give current information about team structure, i.e. the Research and Design Team pages.

• These pages contain info about which sub-teams are operational each semester and some general comments on what work the teams are focusing on

Note that if there is a Wiki Organizing team, this will be their responsibility. It is a good idea to keep in touch with this person (or team) to make sure that you are on the same page as to what's required for the wiki pages of each team.

Class Wiki Updating

This is still the responsibility of the team lead, even if there is a Wiki Organizing team

Create a new team member list to become a child page of the Team Roster and Alumni page. This template is the Fall of 2011 roster, but names and teams can be updated on the 'input' tab and the wiki markup code will be automatically generated so you don't have to create the table yourself. Be sure to make the columns sortable - take the first line from the wiki markup of a previous semester's roster to do so.

Create a new syllabus as a child of syllabi. Work out a general pattern for it by reviewing past syllabi (Fall 2011 Syllabus can be used as a template if you want). Try to have at least one day per week available for team work. The number of days devoted to teach-ins will be dependent on the number of active teams in a given semester. When scheduling teach-ins, be sure to keep in mind how many people are on each team and the time limit associated (i.e. 5 min per person plus a 5 minute introduction). Additionally, try to have old teams with experienced members present first. A new team or a team with entirely new people will likely not have as much material to present in the beginning of the semester. The number of speakers or other activities is up to you.

Make sure the Challenges for the semester are compiled and Monroe is happy with them. We send all team members a link to the challenges so they can get a better idea of what projects are available for the semester--they really shape the way teams plan their semesters!

Check the assignments page to make sure each assignment has all the correct information on grading and expectations that you and Monroe agree on. These assignments evolve every year based on our experiences the previous semester.

Preparing Lectures

The first week or two of classes is normally the same each semester. Make sure you have a plan for the full first two weeks before classes even start because you will be pretty busy! Work out with Monroe in advance who is covering which days and what resources are needed to make sure each lecture is ready to go. More details about each lecture are available on the early semester responsibilities page.

Surveys

We use a series of surveys throughout the year. They are all located on the aguaclaraadmin gmail account. To access them, log in with the username and password (ask the old team leader for it and DO NOT share it with students) and go to Documents in the top left corner. There are a bunch of docs on the account, so please try to keep them organized. Most of the surveys need to be updated each year so they have the correct subteam leader's name, correct active teams, etc listed.

Last Minute Advertising

You may want to place a brief announcement in the Sundial, DPE Newsletter, etc to catch any last minute additions to the class by the time they get back to campus. Be sure to also add the time and place of the first class so people are less likely to miss it. Consult with Monroe to see if this is necessary since the class size has become very large recently and we may not need to recruit more students.

Team Planning

Sit down with Monroe and discuss which teams you plan on having active this semester. Some times we put certain projects on hold in favor of emphasizing others and it is good for planning teams if you know before classes start approximately which teams you want to run. This should be done after you have the enrollment total for the class- be sure to ask Monroe for the course roster that he gets from the department.