Frequently Asked Questions

If you need help navigating Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, or other applications, a bunch of bored teachers over the summer got together and created a nifty spreadsheet with hyperlinked tutorials for everything you could imagine. This spreadsheet is useful for both parents and students: Check it out!

1. Have your student log-in to Google Classroom, and sit down with them.

2. Using the assignments list on the left-hand side or the "Classwork" tab at the top, you can access any assignment given to your child.

3. Click any assignment to learn more details about it.

4. Click the actual documents to make sure they're done. Any student can mark "TURN IN" without having completed the actual assignment.

5. You can also ask Mr. Whitman to add you as a parent contact for the student in Google Classroom. A weekly automated email will be sent home with finished, late/missing, and upcoming assignments; however, you won't be able to look at them to see if they were actually completed.

6. The schedule page (above) has an agenda for each Google Classroom so that you can see what assignments are coming up or have passed.

1. Mr. Whitman will add any parent emails to students' Acellus profiles at the start of the year. You should have received an email inviting you to receive updates. If an email has changed, or if you did not receive an invitation from Acellus, let Mr. Whitman know ASAP.

2. Acellus sends monthly updates to parents that are quite holistic. They'll include student growth areas, student struggles, assignments completed/missing, times logged in and amount of time worked, and recommended courses of action for students who need extra help or accelleration.

1. At the top of this page or in the navigation menu, you can access a webpage dedicated to schedules. Here, you can find not only a day at a glance for HS ELA, but you can also find auto-updated calendars from Google Classroom that will list past, current, and upcoming assignments.

2. What about Acellus assignments?: Acellus will send a monthly report home to parents' emails. You can also find a recommended pacing guide for Acellus and Google Classroom assignments on the "General ELA" page beneath your student's class.

1. Most of our assignments are digital. They will be either on Google Classroom or Acellus.

2. Physical materials should be brought with students. General ELA materials have been divided for students and stored in isolation baggies and cubbies to prevent the sharing of materials due to the novel coronavirus.

1. Google Classroom: Make sure your work is done, and then hit the big "TURN IN" button before you log out of the assignment.

2. Acellus: Complete the desired activity.

1. Google Classroom: Once you've submitted work, you'll have to wait for me to return it to you. Then, it is yours again!

2. Acellus: This system auto-grades most work, and you'll receive immediate feedback. Supplemental assignments like essays and projects will be done in Google Classroom (see above).

1. If in-class, raise your hand or use a non-verbal form of communication in our technology (e.g. the raise hand icon in Zoom)

2. Outside of class: Use my email [whitmann@usd369.org] or contact me using Google Hangouts. Acellus also has a communications system. I'll see your inquiry in some way, shape, or form!

1. For issues not related to English class, send a help desk email to Mr. Everett: help@usd369.org

2. For issues related to technology used in English class, see "How do I contact the teacher for academic help?"