PLANNING YOUR WORK
When you begin a course, take some time to look at the learning objectives that appear at the beginning, to help you focus your learning and manage the workload. Plan to make your own copy of each course assignment and keep your assignment responses organized in folders on your computer or personal device that include the name of the course. You will be required to provide a copy of each assignment to your Instructional Coach. The easiest way to do this will be via email, so make sure you have everyone who you will be working with in your Contacts folder in your email client software or someplace similar. Make note of what each course assignment requires and pay particular attention to the instructions about how to complete the assignment. You will be graded not only on the content you provide, but the formatting and presentation. Be sure to include your name, the name of the course, the name of the Assignment, and the date you submitted your work, at the top of the first page of each assignment, and number the pages when there are more than one.
Once you have submitted an assignment, you may ask for conformation that it has been received, but please do this only once as your Instructional Coach will be supporting other students as well. It will take time for your Instructional Coach to review your work and submit a grade/response, so leave at least 2 working days (48 hours) between the time you submit your assignment and any inquiry about its status.
Once you being the course work, you will be required to work through the list of courses in order, unless you have been granted an exemption for some of the courses. For more information about exemptions, please contact your Instructional Coach directly.
YOUR LEARNING PROCESS
Each course will describe a minimum number of hours it should take to complete the course work. This does not mean you will actually finish in the time stated. Leave time for reflection. Review your assignment responses and be sure you are confident that you are submitting your best work. While a course introduction may state the course requires 10 hours of work, that is the minimum expectation and you should, as a general rule, expect to complete one course every week to two weeks, depending on your other time commitments. It is important not to rush. If you simply want to complete minimum requirements you can effectively eliminate the interactive nature of the course work and you will not benefit from the learning that is intended. Talk to your Instructional Coach about your expectations and experiences and discuss what pace is best for you.
Engage in learning conversations with your peers. A learning conversation takes place when several people get together to genuinely and openly explore ideas, concepts, and skills. In this program we encourage these discussions between groups of students and between students and coaches.
In the most effective discussions of this type, you will begin to see a specific pattern of conversation in which each new entry adds value to the talk. One person presents an idea based on an issue raised in the course, and then other people add to this idea through their responses.