Hi, INRW 0340.
Welcome back to ACC.
I hope that you had, was able to relax on your extended Spring Break.
But now we're back to finish out the semester.
I'm using this medium as a way to introduce, the way, um,
the structure of the course, um, through May.
Due to the virus that's, you know, crippling our country,
ACC has decided that all courses, face-to-face courses, will move online,
and so that includes us.
So I want to kind of cover a few things that, um, have changed.
Um, and so you can be mindful of that and respond accordingly.
A couple of days ago, I uploaded a revised, uh, syllabi,
or syllabus, excuse me, syllabus,
that outlines some changes that will be made to your grading, as well as your,
um, assignment submissions and as far as exams.
The first thing I want to address is, uh, attendance.
Uh, for this course, prior to Spring Break, there was a attendance requirement
and it was part of your grade.
Um, but it still stays, up until Spring Break, but after Spring Break,
starting Monday, March the 30th, the attendance will not be, um,
calculated the way that it was previously.
Basically your attendance is just you,
is your participation, your getting your assignments done
your checking in, your doing your work, that is your participation grade.
There will be no more attendance taking going forward.
Another thing is your assignments.
All of your assignments will be submitted through Blackboard.
I-I do believe, um, 0340, paired with Sociology, has had extensive experience
with me uploading assignments into Blackboard.
I'm not sure about 0430 with English 1301.
So you guys will have to reach out to me if you're having difficulty,
not sure how to upload assignments in Blackboard,
and I can do a little, mini, um, introduction
to how to do that as well for you.
So just let me know.
Another thing that has changed is, uh, your exams.
Your exams will—
We have two left in the semester and they will all be on Blackboard.
Uh, they will be timed.
Most likely they will be open-book.
Uh, so, you, you, it's good that you study, but you will
have the opportunity to use your notes.
The longer you're in your notes, the less time you will have to finish your exam.
So take that in consideration.
So don't just go "I'm not gonna study,
I'm not gonna be prepared;
I'll just use my notes or books when I get the test."
Remember, the test is timed, so if you are constantly looking up things,
you're more likely gonna run out of time to finish your exam.
And that will count against you.
So just be mindful of that.
Another thing with your assignment submission, uh, previously, you had
an extra day past the due date to turn in your assignments,
because of this changes, because of the changes that are happening,
I've decided to go ahead and allow an extra week.
And that assignment will be, there will be a due date,
and it will be at midnight that you have to submit your work.
It will not be taken after that time period.
So, for instance, if I say the due date is March the 30th, you have until,
I believe it's, uh, April, I think, 7th.
It's on time March the 30th, but it's late
between March the 30th and April the 7th.
And after April the 7th, it will not be accepted.
So you will have a week to get it done.
So, and you'll lose 10% or 10 points, whichever is greater, on the assignment.
I've outlined that in your syllabus.
So please take this time to go ahead and look at it.
Like I said, it's been updated in the Syllabus Textbook section of Blackboard.
Um, another thing that has changed is, of course,
how we are going to be communicating
with one another. Since we are not on campus,
then, um, email, uh, phone, and live streaming
are going to be our options.
Uh, please email me, feel free to email me, of course.
Uh, if my response or my reply is going to be extensive,
I'll probably tell you to call me.
Um, or I could tell you, you know these are some dates
I'm available so we can livestream,
and we can have this back and forth conversation
or discussion about your question.
Um, I don't, I'm trying to avoid sending long emails.
Uh, that's very cumbersome and time consuming,
and then you're having to reply
and then there's a loss in translation in terms of understanding
what's being said.
Did we accurately write what we meant?
So it's a lot, it's going to lead to a lot of back and forth,
so I just want to minimize that as much as possible.
So even if you ask me a question and my reply is going to be extensive,
I'm going to reach back and say call me or, you know, log in to, uh,
Blackboard collaborate for further information.
Um, call my office: 512-223-0067.
Of course I'm not in my office, but that number
has been forwarded to my private number.
Uh, so I will be more than happy to, I'll be answering those.
If by chance you are reaching out to me about the phone and I'm not responding,
then that must be a disconnect with the phone, so send me an email
saying hey I've been trying to call you,
and then we'll, and then we'll kind of go from there.
Um, what I want to emphasize with this new format going online,
is that it's going to require a significant amount of self-discipline and
a significant amount of self-motivation
for you to complete the course.
Because now, you're no longer going to a class, coming on campus,
walking up the steps, going into the classroom.
You're now going to have to be very intentional about trying to sit down,
read what's available to you, since you process that,
and do the work or reach out for questions, and, uh,
questions, if you have questions or need clarification.
So it's going to require a lot from you.
And so the stretching out of the homework and those kinds of things,
I'm hoping is going to help with the transition.
Please don't take advantage of it, because I will not be able to respond
to something, um, if you have a question the night before it's due.
That's not gonna work.
So, it didn't work when we were on campus, trying to make that happen now
is almost, is gonna be almost impossible to do as well.
Uh, I do, uh, there was a question that was brought up to me, uh,
with my colleague, um, in terms of availability.
You guys, I'm not available at night.
So, you know, trying to reach me after 5:00 is off the table.
Get me during those office hours, uh, which are on the syllabus.
Reach, you can reach me through my office hours, but I will be responding
to you beyond the office hours, if I can.
But definitely not, you know, in the evening.
Um, so, just because we're online doesn't mean I'm, you know, I don't want
you to think that I'm available 24 hours, that's not the case.
Uh, but I will try to respond to you timely, you know, timely because I will be
sitting and working and doing, you know, on the computer.
Uh, please be, uh, patient with me as I'm learning this new medium.
Um, I'm, this was a severe crash course in even putting this video together.
It took me three days to do this.
Uh, so I'm now trying to figure out how to edit my videos, so you're probably
gonna get a lot of stuff you don't want to hear, or some weird things.
I apologize to you up front about that.
Hopefully I'll get better in editing by the end of the semester.
If not, we're just, just push through it, just push through it,
cause our goal, our goal and objective is to finish
this semester and finish it successfully.
Um, if there is a concern about your grade,
all I can tell you is stay on top of it
and make an effort.
Make an effort.
Self-discipline is what it's gonna take.
And make an effort.
Uh, questions, don't, you know, don't hesitate to ask.
I will also, I also encourage you to, uh, at the beginning of the semester
I told you about the sending an email link in Blackboard,
on the left side of your screen to your classmates or peers,
I strongly encourage you to communicate with one another about,
on topics, clarification or those kinds of things.
Don't just feel like I'm the only one that can talk to you.
I will be available.
But, you know, you have other sources to use.
So please use those.
Um, prior to the Spring semester,
we did some extensive note taking on SQ3R
which is guiding the rest of our assignments for the remaining semester.
It is important that you have those notes accessible, um, and refer to those notes.
In addition, we also, you took lots of notes weeks
early on main idea and supporting detail
make sure that you have access to those as well.
If you don't, then please use the send an email link to your peers to get
that information because I don't have any notes for you.
You're going to have to reach out to your peers to get that information.
Um, I will say that Blackboard will still be organized in the way its always been.
The current, because what we're talking about now, if you need anything
that happened a week ago, previous week, then you're going to have to go
to the previous folder, previous week folder, open it up, and then search
for the information you're looking for.
So I'm trying to keep that as, um, familiar as possible.
Uh, these are trying times, but we can do this.
We will do this.
Um, I'm very confident in what you can do.
I'm very confident in what I can do.
And between the both of us, this is, we're gonna end this on a high note.
Again if you have any questions, please reach out and ask.
But, uh, practice, uh, good social distancing.
Stay safe.
Stay healthy.
Get out and breathe some fresh air.
Get some exercise when you can.
Thank you so much.
And I look forward to visiting with you in the near future.
Thank you.