Class Norms

Hate-Free Zone

In our classroom, each student should feel free to express their own opinion and ideas in a respectful manner. Students should be open to listen to and appreciate differences in opinions, life experience, worldviews, values/beliefs, etc. Our class is a hate-free zone. Please be mindful of how you communicate your values, beliefs, ideas, opinions, etc. While we will often disagree with other people, it does not give anyone the right to intentionally hurt others with words or to discriminate against them.

Words matter. So please think about how what you are saying will affect others.

Class Norms

  • Make equity central

  • Focus on learning

  • Understand that those who work, learn

  • Seek clarification in language and ideas to increase understanding

  • Recognize that everyone has expertise

  • Be honest

  • Share talk time

  • Step up, step back

  • Center student success in school and beyond

  • Acknowledge racist foundations of systems, attitudes, and actions

Norms from Activity on first day

Attendance

In this class we function as a team – teaching and learning together in small groups that are frequently reorganized from one module to the next. As a result, throughout the semester you’ll become increasingly vested in the success or failure of your classmates and vice versa.

Less than full participation in this course is extremely disruptive to the learning environment, so

However, if you quit participating in this class, you should not assume that I would drop you. Should you choose to drop, ultimately it is your responsibility to officially withdraw.

COVID-19 continues …

Given the “new normal” we are all trying to get used to online learning during a global pandemic. I’d like to share the following principles for our class this semester.

  1. Nobody signed up for this

    • Not for the sickness, not for the social distancing, not for the sudden change to our school experience.

    • Not for remote learning, not for teaching remotely, not for learning from home, not for mastering new technologies, not for varied access to learning materials.

  2. The humane option is the best option

    • We are going to prioritize supporting each other as humans.

    • We are going to prioritize simple solutions that make sense for the most.

    • We are going to prioritize sharing resources and communicating clearly

  3. We will remain flexible and adjust to the situation.

    • Nobody knows where this is going and what we’ll need to adapt next.

    • Everybody (me included) needs support and understanding in this unprecedented moment.

(Principles borrowed and adapted from Chapel Hill University)