Srta. Earnest's Communication Policy

 

 

Communication is extremely important in achieving and maintaining student success. This includes communication between teacher and student, student and peer, parent and student and parent and teacher. Therefore, below you will find rules and guidelines for our class about communication. Please make sure you and your parent/guardian read through each rule. As always, please email me with any questions or concerns.

 

 

     -I will send out a survey, through Google docs, to each student that will ask you how you prefer to communicate with me: Email, Twitter, Face-to-Face, Blogs, Facebook, Comments/Discussion Forums, etc. Please fill this survey out so that I can make sure to communicate with you in a way that will be most beneficial to you as a learner.

 

     -Please feel free to email me at any time! This applies for both students and parents/guardians. As I mentioned above, communication is absolutely key for student success. There are no bad questions so don't be afraid to ask me! During weekdays, if I am not able to respond during the day due to teaching I will make sure to respond to your emails by the end of the night. On the weekends, please allow for more flexibility as I can't guarantee I will always have access to my email. I will do my best to respond to your email within 24 hours on the weekend. 

 

     -Every other day, on B days, I have a planning period from 10:15am - 11:45am. I do use this time to plan lessons but I can also schedule a time to meet with you face-to-face, on the phone, or through Google Hangout during this time as well as long as I am given proper notice. Once again, this applies to both student and parent/guardian. However, I am almost always available before or after school to speak with you as well. 

 

     -There will be the option to attend "office hours" at least once a week outside of school hours. Although these are not mandatory, I will be available to work with students and answer any questions that they might have. I will work with the students to decide which day works best for the group. If the day/time changes, I will make sure to inform you of this change as soon as I can. Please be aware that the day/time may change at times to accommodate our assignment schedules. These "office hours" will be an open forum for students to ask questions, clarify assignments and brainstorm. Students are not required to attend for the full session and these office hour sessions will not be graded.

 

     -You will also have the opportunity to post comments on or about each lesson. This is for you to to ask questions, make suggestions, brainstorm, etc. At times, there will be specific prompts which you will be notified about and therefore those discussions will be graded. Additional activity, such as questions or brainstorming ideas, will not be graded but it will of course be monitored to ensure netiquette guidelines are being followed.

 

     -When communicating with each other, please use your gmail account for email, and our Wix communication tools, i.e. comments. If I decide to use any other forms of communication, such as Twitter, I will make sure to let you know how we will be using that platform for communication.

 

     -As always, all students are expected to follow proper Netiquette guidelines. Please see our Netiquette section below. Remember, if you would not say it in person, do not post it or send it.

 

     -You can expect feedback from me on assignments to be provided within one week of the due date. If you choose to redo your assignment, you must let me know why you would like to redo it, what your plan of action to redo it is, and what you think a good due date will be--this is something that we will discuss and decide on together but I would like input from you first based on your schedule and what other assignments you may have during this time. 

 

     -As in any course, feedback to and from peers should show respect and courtesy by responding in a timely manner and demonstrating deep thought. You will be graded on the quality of feedback you provide! Please remember to be constructive and helpful to your peers without criticizing anyone or their work. 

 

 

 

¡Recuerdo!...

• Always communicate in a positive way!

• Realize that NO question is a dumb question and always remember that if you have a question, someone else probably has the exact same question!

• Always be respectful of everyone and everything! Just as our classroom and materials are to be respected, so is this online community in which you are all a part of and make so wonderful. 

 

 

 

Netiquette Requirements:

• Use clear and concise language

• Remember that all  communication should have correct spelling and grammar

• Avoid slang terms such as “wassup?” and texting abbreviations such as “u” instead of “you”

• Avoid using the caps lock feature AS IT CAN BE INTERPRETED AS YELLING

• Limit and possibly avoid the use of emoticons like :) or =)

• Be cautious when using humor or sarcasm as tone is sometimes lost in an email or discussion post and your message might be taken seriously or offensive

• Be careful with personal information (both yours and other’s)

 

 

When posting in the Comments section in your online class, you should:

• Make posts that are on topic and within the scope of the course material

• Take your posts seriously and review and edit your posts before sending

• Be as brief as possible while still making a thorough comment

• Always give proper credit when referencing or quoting another source

• Be sure to read all messages in a thread before replying

• Don’t repeat someone else’s post without adding something of your own to it

• Avoid short, generic replies such as, “I agree.” You should include why you agree or add to the previous point

• Always be respectful of others’ opinions even when they differ from your own

• When you disagree with someone, you should express your differing opinion in a respectful, non-critical way

• Do not make personal or insulting remarks

• Be open-minded