Day: March 31, 2020

Hello Everyone,

Hopefully you have already read the last two blog posts, you found MS Teams online, and you are getting ready for our distance learning by getting set up at home. Please let me know via email or on the TEAMS general conversation page if you have any questions.

Yes, we will be doing a new unit! You will have to imagine our UNIT WALL, but here is the info for you to start thinking about.

Unit Focus Statement:

Humans create a variety of systems and tools to get their needs and wants met.

This will be an inquiry into:

• The nature of needs versus wants
• Our use and management of natural resources (renewable and non-renwable)
• Systems we create to get our needs and wants met
• Government systems
• How we use scientific information to get our needs and wants met (Rocks and Minerals, Geology, Geography, Chemistry)
• Basics of Economics and trade here and around the world
• Financial Literacy, Proportionate Reasoning, Budgeting
• French-speaking countries in the world

Core Competency Focus:

Critical Thinking

Your Questions:

Assignment # 3 is going to be making a chart. Can you make a T chart in MS Word or any other program you can save and upload, using the Microsoft tools you have online, that will show things you think are needs versus wants in this world? Can you do this in collaboration with someone from class by contacting them via phone or via email? (Remember, you have everyone’s emails in Outlook, you just need to be sure you know a person’s first and last name.)

Due by next Monday, April 6th

Hello Everyone,

Your next task is to get in to Microsoft Teams successfully, so we can all meet in the same place. First, read this entire blog post carefully!

How can I get to Microsoft Teams?

• Log in to your One Drive account at home.
• If you look up in the top left corner, you will see a small grid of dots. Click on it.
• There will be a menu of O365 Apps (Applications). Click on “All Apps”
• Choose the app called TEAMS (it has a purple icon/symbol)
• A new screen will come up for TEAMS, click on O-365 Suncrest Division 5 Team
• Scroll to the top of the GENERAL page to see my posts there from the start.

What can you do in the program Microsoft Teams?

• You can have a group written conversation on a topic or ask questions on the main page GENERAL section by replying to prompts Ms. D puts up on that page. Make sure you are on topic. Scroll through the page before you post a question. If you have a question for a specific member of the team, you can put an @ symbol in front of their name to address them, but it will be visible to everyone.
• You can be in a video conference with any number of members from our class team. Ms. D has to lead those meetings and send you an invite to join.
• You can see your assignments on the assignments tab at the top.
• You can upload your assignments using the assignments tab, and then it will show me you are done with something I assigned.

Submitting assignments:

• For our first assignment on the e-port, finish the e-port entry. Then, view your post online. Copy the LINK to your e-port entry that is in the address bar of your browser. Then, paste the LINK in the assignments part of TEAMS. Press submit and it will show me you are done!
• ALL assignments on the eport can be done that way.
• If the assignment is something else, like MAKING YOUR SCHEDULE AND TAKING A PICTURE OF IT, which is assignment #2, then you can upload a photo and submit it under that assignment.
• Questions, ask Ms. D.

What MS Teams is NOT:

• It is not a hangout where we chat at any time — it is for school.
• It is viewed by everyone, visible by myself and District people, so please use the Golden Rule.
• It is not a place to put spam like tons of pictures and random messages that are not on topic. It will ruin our ability to communicate learning together, so please don’t do it.
• It is not perfect — there will be some hiccups along the way, but we will be patient with the technology and make sure it works for us.  Thank you for your cooperation and collaboration so we can make distance learning work!

Okay, go check it out! If you have problems accessing it, let me know.

Ms. D

Hello Everyone,

I am so glad to see many of you have already written your e-port on Documenting History. I hope you are also setting up a schedule for yourself using the six categories I gave you. I will be sending you emails to show you how I am doing each of the categories, too!

Our next task will be getting everyone set up in Microsoft Teams and connecting via videoconferencing.

Please read these tips about video conferencing and communicating as we begin working together online.

What makes a quality video during a video conference?

• Find a space in your home where direct light will not be streaming IN to the camera, because then you will be washed out when we see you.
• Figure out what will be behind you when you video conference with us. It is best to have a blank, less busy, or neutral background. Look at the videos I send later today as an example.
• If you can put a light behind your computer, so light is shining on your face, that is a good idea. But, make sure it isn’t too bright. Natural light is the best, so facing toward an open window is great.
• Your video screen needs to have your face and shoulders in the shot. Prop up your device so it can be at the right level for this.
• Get dressed and make yourself presentable! Pajamas are cool, but maybe not in a video conference.
• Look at the camera while you are speaking, NOT at the picture of you on the screen or the picture of the person. It is hard, but do your best!
• Make sure you have your device set up so it doesn’t move. Put it on a table or make something it can prop up against so you don’t have to touch it.
• Find a private space as best as possible, or at least let everyone in your house know you will be on a call.

What is proper etiquette during a video conference?

• When you log in, start by making sure your audio is muted and video off.
• Remember, the person who called the meeting is the leader in charge, like the person who is the chair of a class meeting.
• Wait until the meeting leader says it is time to give your input. Until then, keep your microphone on MUTE.
• When you would like to speak, raise your hand and be recognized by the leader to speak before you turn on your microphone.
• Only one person speaks at a time.
• Remember, we can see what you are doing. Don’t do anything that will distract from the meeting.
• Remember, we all need to be respectful and courteous. Be kind, understand that this tool is new to many people, and be patient when the technology doesn’t work.
• Go to the bathroom before a conference call. Don’t ask to go to the bathroom during the conference call. If you have an urgent situation, leave the call, and then you can rejoin later.
• Please don’t take video or snap photos during the conference call of your screen, etc. We don’t take pictures of or record one another without permission.
• Do not “chat” during the meeting using a sidebar. That isn’t any better than the sidebar conversations we have during class. Do your best to listen to the entire conversation.

Chatting with one another in EMAIL or on MS Teams:

• When you send emails to one another or to Ms. D, think about how we are trying to support one another with kind words.
• Think about the tone of what you are writing, and ask if it is respectful or the write kind of writing for the audience you are speaking to.
• Avoid using a bunch of emojis. A quick smiley face is great! A whole sentence made out of 10 emojis is sometimes annoying, as it doesn’t really say anything to me. Use words.
• Use a greeting and salutation, or ask how the person is doing before immediately asking the person for something in email.
• Use pleases and thank yous. It helps with the tone of your mail and people will want to help you more.
• Don’t attach documents and videos in mail. Use other ways, such as sharing documents in One Drive with one another, or using links to photos in a shared album like Ms. D will do.
• Remember that we are still in school when we are learning in an electronic environment, even though you are physically at home.
• Remember the Golden Rule we discussed in class.

Okay, if you have read and you understand this, then take a moment now to find a videoconferencing space that will work best for you. 

Thank you,

Ms. D