A Balancing Act… I know you have a lot of responsibilities to juggle. Balancing a job, education, and family can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Help is on the Way… Whether you are new to the online learning environment, or a seasoned veteran, I am sure you will find some helpful information in this presentation that will assist you in making this semester a successful one.

The First Question Most Students Ask is, “How Can I Pass This Class?” This is nothing to lose sleep over. Following are some simple hints you can follow to increase your chances for success.

First Things First… You must have a clear understanding of what online learning involves.

Helpful Hints On the following slides, you will learn some helpful hints to make it easier to move through your first course in in human services.

Hint 1: Print Out the Syllabus When a project is due? When are my instructor’s office hours? All this information (and a lot more!) is contained in the course syllabus.

Discussion Board (DB) Reminders Remember that your DB posts will account for 36% of your grade…so even if you do everything else perfectly, your final grade would be a 64%

More on the DB… Quality DB posts will: -be written in complete sentences with punctuation, correct spelling, etc. -reference the week’s reading—show that you’ve read and can apply it! -be 100 words (initial response) **responses to peers: words

Projects… There are four projects for the term: -Unit 2, worth 100 points -Unit 4, worth 145 points -Unit 6, worth 150 points -Unit 9 (Final Project), worth 200 points

Late Policy All work is due by 11:59p.m. EST for that week’s unit. For example, your Unit 1 DB posts are due on Tuesday, August 9 th by 11:59p.m. EST. All work is due by Saturday of Unit 10, no later than October 8 th. Refer to the syllabus for additional details regarding this policy.

Netiquette Netiquette (Net Etiquette) Here are three quick reminders about etiquette on the Discussion Board and for seminar: 1. Please do not type in all caps. THIS LOOKS LIKE SCREAMING TO SOME PEOPLE AND MAY BE OFFENSIVE. 2. Avoid using acronyms whenever possible, unless you clarify what they stand for. For example, “DB” stands for Discussion Board to us, but it could be a number of things to other people—Defensive Back in football, data base, decibel, David Bowie, date before…see what I mean? 3. Avoid the use of curse words and other offensive language.

So, to sum it up …. How can I do well this class? 1. Read the text. Read the text. Read the text. 2. Develop a time management plan—it will be imperative that you learn to juggle life and education successfully. 3. Communicate with me. If you are experiencing a family emergency or something else, let me know! I will do what I can to work with you. I can’t help if you don’t let me know! 4. Refer to your syllabus for grading expectations. Use the grading rubric as a guide to ensure that you’ve included all important information in your submissions.

Now, to the reason we’re here… What’s the purpose in studying child and adolescent development? (Hint: think back to what you learned in HN115)

Future Seminars How often will we meet? -weekly? -project weeks? -other ideas?