Remote work

Because of the COVID-19 situation, the entire course will be done remotely. I have not done this before, so bear with me while I figure it out. Constructive feedback is encouraged!

Class time

• The class is scheduled to start at 9:00 am, MWF. I will start a zoom meeting around 8:50 am each day. I will post the link in the slack #general channel.

• Please mute your microphone unless you are speaking

• Breakout Rooms: We will make liberal use of breakout rooms during class. Be prepared to work in assigned pairs and small groups during class.

  • Please reserve the #in_class channel for discussions of class material. If something wacky is going on (you’re in a breakout room alone, you just got kicked off of zoom, jupyter suddenly stopped working etc.), please post this on #help. We’ll monitor this as well and can chat with you there.

  • When we start a breakout session, we will post a message on #in_class that says “WE NEED A TA!” While you’re in your breakout room, you can reply to the “WE NEED A TA” message to get help. Include your breakout room name in the message. (The breakout room name will be in the title bar of your main zoom window). We’ll react with a thumbs up and someone in as soon as we can.

  • When there are a couple minutes left in the breakout session, we will post three interactive messages:

    • POINTS FOR DISCUSSION: Reply to this message with questions or thoughts you’d like to discuss in the main session. Emoji reactions on others’ questions help us judge which questions are most important to address as a whole group.

    • SOMETHING I LEARNED: Reply to this message with something(s) you learned during the breakout session that you did not know previously. Again, feel free to react to others.

    • ASSESSMENT POLL: Answer the poll so we can get a feel for overall understanding of the material.

• If you have a question during the in-class discussion, you can Raise your blue hand

Material

• The material for each week will be posted on the main page prior to the week’s class.

• After each class session, I will post:

  • Video of the zoom session

  • Text of the #in_class chat log

  • Any slides or notebooks I put up on the screen in class

• Homework will be submitted via canvas.

Slack

Slack is going to be the primary means of communication in this class. You should have gotten an invitation to the slack organization for the class. If not, please email me.

Direct messages

• I prefer slack to email; this is the best way to reach me for class business.

• For content questions, please post on #help rather than sending a direct message so others can see.

Channels

• #general:

  • I’ll post announcements here.

  • I’ll post zoom links to class and office hours here.

  • Feel free to use this to organize study sessions, group work, etc.

• #random:

  • Fun stuff not directly related to the class.

  • Great for building community.

  • Remember to keep things respectful.

• #in_class:

  • This channel is for conversations, questions, and polls from class.

  • Post questions and thoughts about course content on this channel at any time during the class session itself. (If you are having technical difficulties, please use #help during class).

  • Reactions and replies to others’ questions will be very helpful.

  • I will post the #in_class log after each class.

• #help:

  • Use this any time throughout the week if you have questions on homework or content.

  • Before posting, check recent entries to see if someone has already posed the question.

  • Do not email the TAs or me with content questions; put them on the channel so everyone can see them.

  • Feel free to reply to others, comment, etc. on each thread.

  • Use threads

Recommendations

• Get the zoom and slack desktop apps.

• During class sessions, use slack on your phone or tablet to save screen space.

• Make liberal use of the #help slack channel.

• Upload profile photos to slack and zoom so everyone has some idea of who they are talking to!