OCTOBER 26

In this issue:

Covid & Faculty Absence Policy Reminder
CU Halloween @ Providence Tuesday Lab
CU Student Success Contacts
Recordings from Trauma Informed Workshops
Important Reminders for Fall 2 Faculty
Literacy Partners Virtual Conference [external]

Covid & Faculty Absence Policy Reminder

We are moving into the cold and flu season and coming off a weekend of a large gathering. Please be mindful of your health and well-being, and that of your students and colleagues. We have heard that a few attendees from the inauguration have tested positive for Covid 19. If you were present for the inauguration or the Imagining America Gathering, please test and continue to test to make sure you are clear.

If you are not feeling well, experiencing flu symptoms, and/or are testing positive for Covid 19, we encourage you to take care of yourself and get some rest. If you are unable to be present for your class, please complete the Faculty Absence Plan Form to let us what your plan is to provide continuity of learning for your students. In addition, please review our policy for absence/transitioning class online.

For those who are not experiencing symptoms or testing positive but may have had contact with someone who is sick, we encourage you to mask up.

Please take good care of yourselves. Let us know if you have any questions.

CU Halloween @ Providence Tuesday Lab

Halloween falls on Tuesday of next week. Classes are scheduled that night in their normal format of in-person or online. CU Providence will be hosting a family-friendly gathering of Lab classes during community time for in-person classes at the Met. Children are welcome to come in costume and "trick or treat" at CU. Babysitting will be provided when students go into their cohorts. Goodies will be provided by CU.

CU's Student Success Team

The Student Success Team is here to support students during their time at College Unbound. If you are working with a student who you would like to connect with more resources, please share contacts from or connect with our incredible Student Success team:

“Chris” Charles Dickson is Assistant Dean of Student Success.

Chris supports students in navigating personal, family, and community challenges. If a student is struggling with an issue, reach out to Chris.

E-Mail: charles.dickson@collegeunbound.edu

Ph: 404-956-9657

Wanda Brown is the Community Care Coordinator.

Wanda assists students with emotional, financial, and food insecurities and connects students to resources and more. She is committed to helping students remove barriers preventing them from reaching their goals.

E-Mail: wbrown@collegeunbound.edu

Ph. 401-226-2698

Monshell Reyes is Case Manager for CU students in Philadelphia.

Monshell provides individual counseling sessions, connects students to resources and makes referrals to supportive services.

E-Mail: monshell.reyes@collegeunbound.edu

Trauma Informed Storytelling Workshop Recordings

We recently had two amazing sessions with Sokeo Ros on trauma-informed education. It was powerful and poignant for the work that we do here at College Unbound. For folks that missed it, we encourage you to check out both of the recordings linked below. Each session had its own emphasis and direction, one with lab faculty and the other with instructional faculty.

Trauma Informed Education with Sokeo Ros (10/6/2023) with Lab Faculty (68 minutes)

Trauma Informed Education with Sokeo Ros (10/18/2023) with Instructional Faculty (80 minutes)

For those that attended or watched it, we would love your feedback on this short form.

Teaching & Innovation ~ Fall 2 Faculty

Fall 2 Faculty–Good luck on your first week of classes! We’re so grateful to have such amazing faculty caring and learning with our students!

And since we’re here, let’s share a few reminders:

Attendance/Engagement Is Now Recorded in Moodle:

We continue to require faculty to submit weekly engagement.

This video (9:20 minutes) explains how (and why) to use the Attendance: Engagement tool in Moodle.
You can also learn more about the Attendance: Engagement tool here.
Submission for engagement should be completed by Monday of the following week.
Attendance: Engagement should be completed no later than 10am on Monday, October 30 for Week 1 and then by every following Monday thereafter.

Spend Time in Moodle With Your Students During Class:

Live classes should include time to walk students through how YOU are using Moodle and how you expect them to use it. This will help you and your students tremendously!

If you teach an asynchronous course, consider doing a video recording (using Zoom + the Share Screen function) to give students a tour of the space. Also, remind students that they can learn and practice in Moodle and Online Learning 101, a self-paced course that all students are enrolled in within Moodle.

Nudge students to join the Moodle space:

By Thursday of Week 1, go into your course and select "Participants" under the course title at the top. See who has not yet entered the course. Send them an email checking in and encouraging them to check out Moodle. It can look something like this:

"Hiya [Student Name]

I'm so excited you're in the course and I'm looking forward to future conversations. I noticed that you haven't gone into our Moodle course yet and would encourage you to do so. The syllabus, course materials and other important elements of the class can be found there. If you need some guidance on how to get into Moodle, here is this video (3:29 minutes) that shows you how to log in (after watching, you can log in to Moodle here) and also you can reach out to techsupport@collegeunbound.edu if you are running into issues.

Post your Zoom link:

If you are teaching a synchronous course, be sure to both post the Zoom link in your Moodle course and to send it out to students. This video (2:00 minutes) shows you how to post the Zoom link as a link in your course. As for emailing it to students, if you Add a Discussion to your Announcement forum, it will also be emailed to students.

Zoom Cameras Guidance:

When in Zoom, discuss guiding rules for having cameras on.

Cameras on help to foster a sense of community and connection– seeing each other is important. Therefore, ideally, the class commits to making sure that at least 50% (or some mutually agreed upon %) of all cameras are on in any given class. If there are times when it falls below that, faculty or even students can/should make “I notice” comments. “I notice that we’re under 50% of cameras, can we get back up above that level?”

~Christine Eaton (CU faculty) & Danae Laura

Other Tips & Considerations

Check your email or forward it regularly! This video (2:43) shows you how to forward your CU email if you're not checking it regularly.
Checking the Weekly Checklist: This checklist has a week-by-week list of actions that you should keep on top of. If you need additional guidance/support, let us know!
What do I ask in my one-on-ones? Great question! Check out the strategies here.
Send a video welcome announcement: Once you open your course, send a welcome announcement using the Announcement tool (it sends an email to all students). Include a short (2 minutes) welcome video by using Moodle's video tool (2:44 minutes). Be sure to preface it with some text, "Hey folks, I wanted to welcome you into the course with this video".
Teaching asynchronously: Create a video recording tour of the Moodle space to highlight what's in your course and how you anticipate students to use it.
You can use Zoom for this by sharing your screen and recording--let us know if you need guidance on how to do this.
Use the Due Date feature for activities & assignments: All assignments and many activities (e.g. discussions) have the ability to set Due Dates (under settings for each activity/assignment). This video can explain more about Due Dates & how to use them in Moodle (4:55 minutes).
By using these, you are helping students because these due dates will show up on their Moodle Timeline and Calendar, providing them with a more integrative view of what to expect each week.

Literacy Partners

Online Author Talk & Marathon Reading

Join Literacy Partners on Wednesday, November 1st, 2023, for a captivating talk as Author Julia Alvarez discusses family, language, and identity with Concepción de León, senior editor for nonfiction at Pantheon Books, and previously a reporter with The New York Times. There will be a special introduction by Sandra Cisneros, author of the best-selling novel, The House on Mango Street.

Then, on November 2nd, 8th, and 9th, the online events continue for three evenings of marathon readings of Julia Alvarez’s best-selling novel, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, read by an amazing cast of powerful women who have a special connection to Alvarez and her work.

Registration is free.

Thank you to CU faculty Ayana Bass for sharing this information with our CommUnity!