guidelines, expectations, & PoliciesBe sure that you understand the information in the materials below.
It's your responsibility to watch the videos below and to ask me any questions you may have about plagiarism before signing the Honor Code & Secondary Sources document.
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AppsWe will use the following apps in our class.
You are responsible for remembering your usernames and PASSWORDS. Sign into apps using your school Google account when possible. Make sure your iPad and apps are updated BEFORE each class.
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An important note about the content of this course. Please read.
Many of the texts we will read (watch and hear) for this class explore complex and disturbing content and include graphic and offensive imagery and language that can produce strong emotions and reactions. My hope is that this class will provide opportunities for us to explore important and challenging topics and ideas together in an environment in which we feel both safe and brave. We should be sensitive to how we may react to some of the texts we will read, analyze, and discuss and allow ourselves to process these reactions in healthy and meaningful ways. To that end, it's important that we are thoughtful about the language and tone we use when discussing these topics and ideas. Similarly, we should be mindful of what we might need to best explore, understand, and process our experiences with the texts we read and the conversations we have. Below is a list of some of the challenging and complex topics our texts explore. If you feel that you will have difficulty reading about and/or discussing any of these topics, please speak with your dean and/or a school counselor about this matter as soon as possible so that you can be supported in the best ways possible. The texts we will read may include depictions, descriptions, and/or discussions of the following: physical, verbal, domestic, and/or sexual abuse, assault, and violence; self-harm; mental and physical illness and/or injury; death; family separations/divorce; and natural disasters. Please let me know (at any time throughout the course or after its completion) if there is anything I can do or avoid doing to support our reading and discussions about sensitive content.
A note about what you create (write, record, etc.) for this class. Please read.
Similar to the reading content of this class, the content you produce for our class may explore complex and disturbing content and include graphic and offensive imagery for creative reasons. If you choose to include such material (the nature of which is described in more detail above), it's important that you do a few things: 1) Discuss your choices with me before you write, and 2) Include a brief note about your choices and whether they are entirely imagined or are grounded in lived experiences of your own or other living or deceased people. I ask you to do this because I am required by law to report any incidents of abuse whether seen or read or heard. So, if I do not explicitly know that what you wrote is fiction, I must assume it is not. More importantly, it's important that any acts of abuse are addressed in the most helpful and healthy ways, and often that requires the help of trained and trauma-informed people. Again, please let me know (at any time throughout the course or after its completion) if there is anything I can do to support you or your friends or family.
Many of the texts we will read (watch and hear) for this class explore complex and disturbing content and include graphic and offensive imagery and language that can produce strong emotions and reactions. My hope is that this class will provide opportunities for us to explore important and challenging topics and ideas together in an environment in which we feel both safe and brave. We should be sensitive to how we may react to some of the texts we will read, analyze, and discuss and allow ourselves to process these reactions in healthy and meaningful ways. To that end, it's important that we are thoughtful about the language and tone we use when discussing these topics and ideas. Similarly, we should be mindful of what we might need to best explore, understand, and process our experiences with the texts we read and the conversations we have. Below is a list of some of the challenging and complex topics our texts explore. If you feel that you will have difficulty reading about and/or discussing any of these topics, please speak with your dean and/or a school counselor about this matter as soon as possible so that you can be supported in the best ways possible. The texts we will read may include depictions, descriptions, and/or discussions of the following: physical, verbal, domestic, and/or sexual abuse, assault, and violence; self-harm; mental and physical illness and/or injury; death; family separations/divorce; and natural disasters. Please let me know (at any time throughout the course or after its completion) if there is anything I can do or avoid doing to support our reading and discussions about sensitive content.
A note about what you create (write, record, etc.) for this class. Please read.
Similar to the reading content of this class, the content you produce for our class may explore complex and disturbing content and include graphic and offensive imagery for creative reasons. If you choose to include such material (the nature of which is described in more detail above), it's important that you do a few things: 1) Discuss your choices with me before you write, and 2) Include a brief note about your choices and whether they are entirely imagined or are grounded in lived experiences of your own or other living or deceased people. I ask you to do this because I am required by law to report any incidents of abuse whether seen or read or heard. So, if I do not explicitly know that what you wrote is fiction, I must assume it is not. More importantly, it's important that any acts of abuse are addressed in the most helpful and healthy ways, and often that requires the help of trained and trauma-informed people. Again, please let me know (at any time throughout the course or after its completion) if there is anything I can do to support you or your friends or family.
Why all the tech?
I don't know what the future holds, but, for now, I'm pretty sure technology isn't going anywhere. For better or worse, technology is part of our human experience. We use it to get information, share information, and express our thoughts and feelings. It's important for us to understand how technology shapes how we interact with people and the world around us. I try to incorporate technology, in its various forms, in our class lessons. Mastering some technologies available to you is empowering. Whether it's learning how to navigate powerful digital platforms such as Google Drive or gaining a better understanding of how to use social media outlets such as Twitter to gather information and communicate your ideas, my aim is to empower you to learn on your own and to use technology to express yourself. |
Why the iPad?
Because it is mobile, and it's less intrusive and more image friendly than a laptop. Yes, laptops (most models) are easier when you need to type. But we're living in a world that has become mobile and increasingly informed by images. The iPad caters to that world. With an iPad, you can create, manipulate, and share content easily while being mobile. The forms of communication are shifting. What we call "reading and writing" involve "seeing and/or watching" (consider this website as an example) increasingly. In order to contribute to many of the conversations taking place in our world, it's necessary to have the skills to produce and consume content critically via digital platforms. |
Why social media?
We use social media in this class because it's powerful and empowering. Our world is changing before us, and the means of communication are shifting. Whereas news and ideas first travelled by conversation, and then by letters, print, radio, and television, our news and ideas are ever-increasingly communicated and conveyed via the Internet. Social media has become present in our newscasts, entertainment, and now in education. It affects our understandings of people, things, and ideas. It's included in breaking newscasts, it's integral to our democratic society, and it's intrinsic to our culture and social lives. Much of our world is shaped by social media: world leaders gain or lose power and public goodwill because of social media movements. Our ideas are often formed and influenced by social media. Similar to previous or other forms of media, we must learn how to use social media to gather information, think critically, and communicate our own ideas responsibly and effectively. |
Be patient. Be inquisitive. Be heard.
Technology comes with its own challenges, and it's important that we're patient and inquisitive when we use it. Things will not always run smoothly. (This goes for life, in general.) Our best response is not to become frustrated and distraught; instead, try to see these challenges as simply that: challenges. They may not move us swiftly to where we want to be, but it's important that we meet life's challenges (including those don't have to do with technology) with patient and inquisitive minds. This is an exciting and significant time in the history of the world and learning. Your ability to navigate the digital world is critical to your understanding of the world in which you live and your ability to have your voice heard in that world. Be patient. Be inquisitive. Be seen and heard. |
Recording of any kind (including screenshots, etc.) is strictly prohibited without prior explicit consent from any persons being recorded.