Objective:

• I can agree to abide by the virtual classroom norms by reviewing the established policies and procedures to help ensure the class is a safe and fun place for everyone to learn and share.

Links:

None.

Topics Discussed:

• Classroom policies and procedures
• How are you doing?

Assignment:

1. Welcome back! Today we’re going to go over the class rules, or as I like to call them, the policies and procedures.
2. Society’s based on policies and procedures. Without ’em, we’re no better than poo-flinging monkeys in the jungle. Humans agree to abide by laws so we can all get along and get things accomplished with a minimum of screaming, head-bashing and poo-flinging.
3. The policies and procedures are pretty straightforward, and they’ll all posted in the Plan for Success document that I’ll provide you later where you’ll be able to see them at all times. They’re all really based on one simple thing: respect.
   1. I’m going to show you respect at all times here in the classroom, and all I ask is that you return the favor.
   2. I also ask that you treat everyone else with respect, so that they can do the same for you.
   3. We’ll have plenty of opportunities to work together in this class. If you want to work together with a partner on an assignment, that’s great. Just don’t use the main chat stream to carry on lengthy conversations. If you want to talk to someone beyond two replies, double-click their names to start a private chat.
   4. Have respect for other people who are trying to get work done, and don’t bother them. (You can set your status to Do Not Disturb if you don’t want to receive private messages.)
   5. Don’t steal anybody’s work (or ideas, for that matter).
   6. Treat the school’s stuff with respect, so that it can stay in good shape for you and for everyone else. Let me know right away if any of your school equipment or accounts are damaged or not working so I can address it immediately.
   7. We’re going to have a lot of opportunities to critique the work of others in this class. Keep it respectful, positive and constructive, please. Don’t feel bad if someone else critiques your work, it’s only going to help you improve and get stronger.
   8. I’ve got a lot of cool stuff to teach you in this class. Please don’t make it any harder for me than it already is by disrupting me while I’m speaking, or making it harder for the people around you to pay attention. If you have a question or want to make a comment, please click the “Raise Hand” button and I’ll call on you. You may also post questions any time in the chat and I will respond to them as I see them.
   9. I promise not to come to your room and mess it up; can you do me the same courtesy? I’d appreciate it. Don’t spam the chat with random things or make noise while I’m talking. If I mute everyone’s mic, please do not turn on your mic until asked to do so. If you can’t abide by this rule, you may get perma-muted, and I really want you to be able to speak when you need to.
   10. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES record and/or share the video of the student meeting. This is a violation of federal student privacy laws and can have severe consequences for the person sharing and/or hosting the content. I’m not even allowed to record the meetings and share them without getting written permission from all of your parents, so please just don’t do it.
   11. You should be getting a digital copy of this year’s Student Handbook soon. Read it! We all (you and me both) are required to abide by its policies, so it’s important to know exactly what those policies are so you don’t violate them unintentionally (Or intentionally!).
4. Do any of the class policies seem strange? Like something you shouldn’t have to be asked not to do? Guess what: the reason that policy’s in place is because some knucklehead decided to be a creep and had to be asked to stop. Please: Don’t be that knucklehead.
5. Did I miss anything? If there’s a policy you feel needs to be added, then by all means, let me know and we can discuss its addition to the policies and procedures.
6. This virtual environment is new to us all, and the policies and procedures may need to be modified and adjusted from time to time to address new problems or conditions. I will alert you to any changes to the policies and procedures as they are made.
7. If you can agree to abide by these policies and procedures, then we can all get along. If there’s anything you feel like you can’t agree to here, let me know and we can talk it over.
8. We’re going to finish up the day with a “How are you Doing?” activity. I’ll give you all the details in our meeting and on our Microsoft Teams page.

Posted: January 6th, 2021