Welcome

At-a-Glance

Getting started

Your First Week's Checklist

  • Explore your course website and set your announcement preferences
  • Install Microsoft Teams before the first meeting
  • Check your classroom on the first day
6 quick tasks
Open the checklist

Getting started

Taking Your Course

  • Technology issues never excuse course or assignment policies
  • Webcam and microphone on in every Teams meeting
  • Free tutoring and writing centers at every college
Read the page

Policies

Course Policy

  • Email only the address on your syllabus, not LMS messages or voicemail
  • Assignment extensions are rare; exam extensions are never granted
  • Ordinarily, missed in-class work can't be made up
Read the policy

Policies

Technology Policy

  • Use an email address you check every day
  • Your Teams name must match the course roster
  • The meeting room locks once class begins
Read the policy

Policies

After the Semester

  • Emergent issues must be raised by the day and time of the final
  • Break-time email is answered on the first Tuesday of January, June and August
  • Letters of recommendation for transfer applicants who earned a B+ or better
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Help & contact

Resources

  • Use AI to build understanding, not to outsource it
  • Common questions, answered. Check before you email
  • University help desks for the problems this site can't solve
Browse resources

Help & contact

Book an Appointment

  • Fifteen minutes, one-on-one, on Microsoft Teams
  • Cancel or reschedule until 24 hours before
  • One open appointment at a time
Book a time

Help & contact

Contact

  • Use the email address printed on your syllabus
  • Allow one to two business days for a reply
  • For anything longer than a short question, book an appointment
Get in touch

Course Basics

Whether you are joining online, in person, or both, a rewarding semester begins with a few good habits.

Habits that carry the semester

Tap a card for a quick how-to. New this term? Start with your first week's checklist.

01Check the calendar dailyReadings, drafts and assignments appear there as they become available.
How to

Check it twice a day, morning and evening. Or let the dates come to you: subscribe to the LMS calendar in your own calendar app (see the next card).

02Keep your own calendarPut every due date in the calendar you already use.
How to
  1. Canvas: Calendar → Calendar Feed, then copy the link.
  2. Blackboard: Calendar → Settings → Share Calendar, then copy the link.
  3. In Google, Outlook, Apple (iCal) or another calendar, add a calendar from a URL and paste it.
Blackboard instructions →
03Get clarity earlyAsk me, your TA or a classmate as soon as something is unclear.
How to

Ask in class, out loud. If you have a question, others in the room almost certainly have the same one, and the answer helps everyone.

For anything longer or more personal, you can always book an appointment.

04Use the Writing CenterWork with the tutors throughout your process, online or in person.
How to

Bring the assignment prompt and whatever you have so far, even a page of notes. Your college lists its Writing Center hours and booking on its website.

05Start drafts earlyBegin an essay the day it is assigned. An early draft leaves time for feedback and real revision.
How to

Start the day it is assigned. You need time to take the assignment apart and absorb what it asks, work with the tutors, and get your questions answered.

06Take notesYour notes are the most valuable thing you will build this semester. They shape how you approach every assignment.
How to

Lectures give the course its perspective, and your notes are how you understand it. The assignment prompt alone won't tell you how to complete the work. Your notes will.

Write down the ideas, terms and questions we develop in class, and return to them before every assignment.

Roughly ninety percent of a college course is completed outside of the classroom. Attend your lectures, keep good notes, and your success will follow.

Microsoft Teams Part 1 of 3

Microsoft Teams · Part 1 of 3

Getting Started with Microsoft Teams

I use Microsoft Teams for all meetings, whatever videoconferencing your university uses otherwise. Online lectures and one-to-one office appointments both happen there. Three steps, well before your first meeting.

Download Teams for Windows or Mac. The browser version lacks features you will need in a real meeting. If you have not opened it in a while, launch it before your meeting so updates can finish.

Download Teams

Use your university Microsoft account or a free personal one. Either way, the name displayed in Teams must match your official course roster, or you will be held in the lobby and marked absent until it is corrected.

Open Settings → Devices and run a test call to confirm your camera, microphone and speakers work. A webcam and a working microphone are required in every meeting.

Audio and video help
One small note A quick check the day before your first meeting spares an anxious scramble two minutes before class begins. It is the single easiest “A” you will earn all semester.

Microsoft Teams · Part 2 of 3

Teams Meetings: Lectures & Office Hours

Lecture links are on your LMS (Blackboard, Canvas, etc.) course homepage. Office hours links arrive in your appointment confirmation email. Tap a card to see why each policy matters.

Microsoft Teams · Part 3 of 3

Short Guides

A small collection of walkthroughs — a few from Microsoft's video library, a few from their support pages — covering the moments most students stumble on: installing, joining, and setting up sound.

Downloading & Installing Teams

A walkthrough of downloading, installing and signing in to Teams on your computer.

Official Guide

Join a Teams meeting — six ways in.

support.microsoft.com Read →

Joining a Meeting

Microsoft's living support page — covering the meeting link, the calendar, the meeting ID, phone dial-in, and anonymous join. Updated to show both the old and new invite formats.

Official Guide

Audio & mic settings, before and during a meeting.

support.microsoft.com Read →

Audio & Video Setup

Where to pick your speaker and mic, how to run a test call, how to turn on noise suppression, and how to change audio sources mid-meeting. The one to read before class one.

A Note on AI & Study Skills

Not Teams-related, but a bonus. A brisk primer on using AI tools thoughtfully — worth eighteen minutes of your semester.

Book an appointment