Before we do ANYTHING else in this class, you need to understand how to get help when you need help - especially when we are not in class together. The information below will walk you through how to use our class PARKING LOT to both ASK QUESTIONS and get ANSWERS to your questions - especially when you are trying to complete work outside of class.
As we move forward, everyone needs to understand a couple of key terms: asynchronous and synchronous. You'll be hearing those terms a lot and we need to make sure you are comfortable with the meaning of those terms and how they apply to your different learning environments this school year.
In terms of learning, a synchronous environment is when we are all doing the same thing at the same time - like when we are all together in a classroom. We are all in "sync" - we are doing everything together at the same time. You can ask a question and you can get an answer immediately.
In an asynchronous environment, we are "out of sync." Homework would be a traditional example of asynchronous learning. You get assignment during class, and you work on it sometime before the next class begins. The tricky part, for you, is how to get help when you are outside of the classroom.
This school year, we will have both asynchronous (work you do outside of class) and synchronous (work we do together during class) assignments.
Time is your enemy in an asynchronous environment - especially when you need help.
When we are in class, you only need to raise your hand to get your questions answered. Additionally, if someone else asks a good question in the classroom, you are also in the room to both hear the question and the answer.
When you are away from class, you are typically working alone. If you have a question, you will have to reach out digitally and hope that you get an answer in a timely manner. To help facilitate you ability to get answers to your questions, we have two primary systems in place:
The Daily Class Announcements (which are posted every school day - as the name implies)
The Question Parking Lot (which is our class method for posting questions (and answers) when away from the classroom.
We will tackle the Daily Announcements in our next activity. On this page, we are going to tackle the Question Parking Lot (QPL).
The Question Parking Lot is available 24/7. It is where you should post any class questions (or comments) when we are not together in the classroom.
Do NOT send your questions via email or Schoology.
You can post a question to the QPL by filling out and submitting a simple Google Form. When you submit the form, your question/comment populates into a spreadsheet. There is an embedded version of that spreadsheet on the home page of this website. However, I recommend that you bookmark the link for both the form and the spreadsheet so that you have easier access to them when you need them.
Names are hidden from view on this spreadsheet so all questions/comments post anonymously (only I can see who posts the question/comment). Periodically, I will edit the spreadsheet in order to give brief answers to the questions/comments that have been posed. More detailed answers to certain questions will be posted in each day's Daily Class Announcements AND/OR we will review them at the beginning of the next class.
While the QPL doesn't perfectly simulate the classroom experience, it does offer advantages over sending email requests:
Since the spreadsheet is publicly viewable, every student has the benefit of seeing every questions/comment that has been posted (just like you can hear all the questions of your classmates in a classroom). Plus, from a teacher standpoint, I only have to answer each question once and everyone has access to the answer.
Many times, someone else has the same question as you. A quick scan of the spreadsheet might give you the answer you need without having to post a question yourself.
Anonymous posting usually encourages some students to ask questions they might not otherwise do in a large group, classroom setting. [Again, to be clear: Your name IS attached to all questions that are posted. I know who posts them. Student names, however, are hidden from the public view on the spreadsheet.]
You should submit any questions/comments to the QPL Form as soon as they come up. You should also do a quick check of the QPL Spreadsheet multiple times per day. Before you start any work outside of class, you should check to see if any new questions (and answers) have been posted. It could save you a lot of headaches in the long-run if you do.
To help you out, a link to the spreadsheet is always on the home page of our class website. Ideally, though, you should bookmark this spreadsheet document and add it to your browser tool bar for quick and easy access.
Brief answers to questions will be posted in the QPL Spreadsheet. More detailed answers to the previous day's questions are frequently posted in the Daily Class Announcements. The Daily Class Announcements will usually post no later than 8:30 AM on every school day.
This assignment serves three main purposes:
It gives you practice accessing and using the QPL so that you know how (and more importantly, where) to post your questions and comments in the future.
It allows me to double-check the QPL form and spreadsheet to make sure everything is working (before we get into the full swing of things this semester).
It gives me just a little taste of the many personalities that I will be inheriting this session. Again, surprise me . . . or, do something boring. I don't care. It's your choice. Either way, it gives me a little insight into your personality.
So, let's get to it. Complete the following four activities:
Post a question or comment to the PARKING LOT FORM.
When you post your question/comment, keep in mind a few things:
Obviously it should go without saying that you need to keep your comment/question school-appropriate.
For this first interaction, you can post:
a question (if you already have one that you want to ask)
a comment (about you, the class, the school . . . )
a hello message
anything, really. Be creative. Have fun with it. Show me a bit of your personality. Surprise me.
Bookmark the form in your browser so that you will have easy access to the form in the future.
Review the PARKING LOT SPREADSHEET to make sure your question/comment posted correctly.
Bookmark the spreadsheet so that you have easy access to it in the future.