So much is going to depend on the school and the instructor. The biggest thing to take away is to read the college communications and be sure to use whatever form the school requires. I do email my students via the college and D2L accounts. But if a student doesn't check their school email account, there's no way I can get in touch with them. Thankfully the department managed to quash the suggestion for us to call students who miss first night. If they tell me to call students to check why they miss class, I'll stop teaching. Read all material from the school's website and course catalog. That will tell what accounts a student has (Blackboard, D2L, etc.) typically a school will use one format. The student should then take responsibility and check before first class. I'd strongly recommend starting to check a week before classes start. We've had situations where a classroom has been changed or a class has been cancelled. This is all communicated via the college email. One analogy...my son is going to a summer camp next week. I am looking online to see what we need to have for him in advance. We won't just show up at camp and expect to be told then what we need. A class costs a lot more here than a week of camp. Students should be checking on requirements before showing up first night in the same way that were getting prepared before going to camp.

We have a departmental syllabus for all classes. They're posted on individual department web pages. The catalog DOES tell students to check email. For instance, I have seen students dropped from all classes for unpaid parking fines. They got email notification but hasn't checked and as a result lost all classes. That's just stupid. As for instructors, students at our cc often have to register where instructors are listed as TBA. If students keep checking back, names do go in. Regardless, we use D2L and about five days before class starts, students have access to materials online for their specific class. Some colleges use Blackboard instead, but most now will have course websites where students have access before first day of class. When I have assignments due at the start, I have posted on D2L, sent an email to students college accounts and D2L accounts, and had the information up on our MML site. Students have no excuse for being unaware IMO.

Because it may vary according to instructor and not be across the board. This is why students at college need to check college email accounts regularly and course info. The course catalog does say that students are expected to check college email accounts.

When I was in high school here, students still had to repeat grades if they didn't pass. Zeros were zeros. When I did my student teaching 17 years ago now (eek), the district I taught for had the no zero policy. Students would get a 50 instead..."so they wouldn't get discouraged". It appears that that is now state policy rather than just at some districts. I hate saying,"back when I was a student". I also know teachers have said this for millennia. Calculators have made a HUGE change. For the worse at my levels. I see more and more students who can't multiply. They do repeated addition instead. Some students have had policies changed or not applied to them in high schools due to helicopter parenting. Those students think that will follow along in college. Depending on the school, sometimes it does. So yes, high school policies. Yes, parenting. Yes, culture... Show me ANYWHERE now that we see people taking responsibility for their actions. But again, this has been the complaint for generations. I try to remember that when I get discouraged. And I am awed by some of my students who work tremendously hard and against amazing odds. I'm thrilled to be able to help them. But it's the problem students who take up a ton of time and energy. I am lucky and we have a decent set of administrators at our cc. The prior cc I taught at didn't.

We use MyMathLab. I've got it set up for weighted percentages, so students can see bar graphs filled in as they progress through the semester (so they have a visual of what's remaining). It also shows how much time they've spent online. I'm currently teaching what's basically prealgebra (yup... start out with integer arithmetic, fractions, decimals... and it's appalling how much students can't do without their calculator). We have SIX tests during the semester plus the departmental final (required). I do the computation for final replacing lowest test in my spreadsheet that isn't uploaded, so sometimes students get a letter grade higher than what they see online. Definitely cuts down on grade complaints. For those of you who don't know, lots of times instructor policies come about because of prior experiences & in an attempt to cut down on the whining. Unless you've been there, you really can't understand how appalling some of the complaints are. And that's WHY you'd assign something before the first day... students who get it done will be ones who have a shot at completing the class. The whiners are obvious. (And yes, there are emergencies that come up... do check with your professor... but don't do it with a sense of entitlement! And poor planning isn't an emergency. Being arrested from class is (had that happen to a student once during my class. She still passed).)

I had instructors who'd post the grading scale as C: [70, 80), B: [80, 90), A: [90, 100}. So C under that scale is 70 Inclusive), to everything UP to 80 but not including 80. Thus, 79.99 is still not 80, so C. Gotta love math departments :) Now... what is typically done is some rounding... or you may see where cutoffs fall and do some curving, but when you have grade-grubbers (typically students who have NOT done everything they could during the course but are just begging (or demanding as you can see from regentrude's emails), you just don't have any sympathy. And no, I don't round every semester.79.8 isn't an 80. We don't have a departmental policy on rounding. It is very very rare that I've had a student that on the border that I haven't bumped up, but it is a boost and not a given. Although with the level of math I teach, I'd be pretty impressed if a student could make a case for a grade challenge and show the arithmetic.

I would probably tell the one with a 79 that even if he got to a 79.5, that still isn't an 80, so it would still be a C. Very glad I'm not teaching this summer. I don't get those emails typically, but I'm sure it helps that I replace their lowest test with the final if it helps, but they don't see that in the online software, so it's rare that someone ends up right on the border. Much less grade grubbing.

Our state has a policy where the grading scale starts at 50. I definitely see the effect of this with students in recent years. A zero in my class is a zero. I do show them averages and how one zero and 3 100s gets you to barely passing for my class. I also show them repeatedly where to see their current grade online. You can lead a horse to water....

Our local tv news stations have gone to needing a Facebook account to post comments on their stories. It's to cut down on the trolls. It does seem to make a difference.

DE is dual enrollment - taking courses at a college for both college and high school credit. IB is international baccalaureate - some schools have IB programs. Not something you can do at home but these will be people your kids will be competing with for college spaces and scholarships I believe (but not certain) that 100% EFC means the school meets all of the expected family contribution... that you would need to pay your EFC but the school would cover everything else, so no need for family (or student?) loans.

Did it arrive?

There's a grace period. In the Internet class, there isn't, but that's departmental policy. Students have to attend an orientation class before start of semester and if they don't, they're dropped. For my on campus class, when I have had assignments due first night, I've often emailed students who join when I see them on the roster or had extra assignments where they can drop one or two and that can count towards it. The biggest issue I see though is when students think that college is like high school and they can attend and that'll be enough to pass. I'll do anything I can do to convince them that this is different and I expect them to work. Some of them never get it though. Very discouraging.

Congrats!

My assignments due first day are online. The online software is a requirement and comes bundled with the text if bought at the bookstore. Students can also buy access separately online. Students can get temporary access for two weeks online if they're waiting for financial aid, so all a student needs is computer access. That's available at public libraries around town as well as on campus.

I'm oh so lucky that stuff bugs my husband more than it bugs me, so he does the cleaning! :) So I'm not quite sure where my line is since his is earlier.

I don't mind...but it may mean that we have so much not in common that we won't get along or I'll distance myself from you. (This depends on HOW much you're talking about your faith. Again, my parents are ministers. Their faith is part of who they are and it's their job as well! They manage it without it bugging me. It will likely only be a problem if you're sanctimonious about it.) If you're of the shoving type, I'll say things to cause offense to make it clear to back off.

KK... It's interesting how different experiences can be. I remember having longish philosophical discussions with my mother about the nature of God and about "his" existence. She'd talk with me about how even naming God can be limiting and using a gender was limiting. If I'd been atheist or agnostic while living at home, I'm sure I'd have had to continue to attend church, but I could have questioned anything without any repercussions. I imagine that's partially why I can still have respect for their faith.

I got married in a church. Our son was baptized. I felt that the community of the church would be a good thing for our son. I still think that community would be good for him in a number of ways. I just don't have the energy to waste on the hypocrisy I see, so I'm not willing to go back at this point. Before our son, my father would ask when we'd start attending church regularly. I have heard my mother and father say that one of their great regrets is that my sister and I don't have a relationship with the church. My sister didn't have a church wedding and her son isn't baptized. My folks leave religion alone around us. If they didn't, I'm certain they wouldn't have a relationship with either of us. That space is essential...and for me, it's one of those lines in the sand. We are fine with prayers at meals at their house. I think they don't insist on prayers here if they're here for a holiday. Mom has gone to church if they're visiting and here. We have let her take our son in the past. If they pushed at this point, the relationship would end. As it is, due to a number of past events, it's my husband who takes our son for visits. It does help that in many ways I see my parents live their faith. They tithe and are good stewards. They speak out against the people who are Christian in name but who don't follow Jesus' teachings. So I don't have a problem (I think) with their religion.

I think I started my son in 2nd grade. He was starting to hunt and peck on the keyboard and I wanted to be sure he could touch type. We used Typing Instructor for Kids and I took an old keyboard and painted over the keys so he couldn't look at them. He got in the 20s on timed writings. I'll have him do some more for speed in late middle school.

Anyone know how to see the alt text on an iPad? I love xkcd!

And I don't know how I'd feel if my son ended up religious. If he's like my folks, I'm okay with that. If he's fundamentalist... I might get to disowning...but if he we there, it'd go both ways. It would be very very sad and I would feel like I'd failed him. If he's mainstream Christianity or other religion, I'd be okay. I think my husband might have more problems with it. I'd also be fine if my son went to church with friends (again, depending on the church).

I'd say prayer is very individual. I don't have any problems with being prayed for. I'd identify as agnostic and probably headed towards atheist. I grew up in the Lutheran church (ELCA now) and both my parents are ministers. I could recite the Greek alphabet at 5 because my mother was learning Greek to read the New Testament and my father was stationed overseas with the army while she started Seminary. I can understand getting militant because otherwise sometimes you just don't get HEARD!

The iExcel books have a section that's approaches to problems (make a list, draw picture, etc). They'll have one example, then 4-5 problems for the student to do. Then they'll have some topics from the text...one example, then 4-5 problems of the same type. It doesn't have all the problem types, so CWP is still really good to have, but it will help with CWP because you've seen some of the approaches explained with the models a bit better before you do CWP.

I used iExcel (being replaced by Process Skills books) for the bar diagrams. I teach math at the cc and have a master's degree. I have looked online for explanations of using the bar models for some of the problems in 4 and 5 :) The bar model is really cool and very powerful. It's also extremely strange if you haven't used it before. I do work the CWP problems and IP word problems along with my son (or ideally before him). It's been neat to see him solve problems in a different way at times. I would strongly recommend the Process SKills books - probably backing up to 3. Working them before CWP or IP will be helpful too.

CTY starts in 2nd grade. NUMATS in 3rd. Duke TiP in 4th.