In order to deliver the best teaching and learning experience to our students both online and on campus, the following are expectations of all employees who teach classes.

• Canvas Home Page
  • Every course home page must include the following:
    • Course syllabus or link to syllabus
    • Overview of course objectives/essential questions for the course
    • Communication expectations, contact information, and teacher availability
    • Clear communication of when and where class meetings will take place (Canvas Conferences, Teams, Zoom) and attendance expectations
    • Clear communication of how/where course resources are organized
    • A link to the Overlake Online Learning Expectations
• Online Class Expectations
  1. Teachers must be present and reachable during the entirety of all scheduled class blocks 
  2. Based on instructional goals, teachers should make decisions about how to balance synchronous and asynchronous time
     • Synchronous time may include differentiated group sizes (whole group, small group, 1:1)
     • Asynchronous time may include independent work, group work, personalized learning pathways, assessments, or projects
  3. Each scheduled class meeting must have a synchronous component in order to facilitate: 
     • Face-to-face interaction
     • Personal connection
     • Clarifying learning objectives
     • Q&A
     • Attendance
  4. Grade level teams should coordinate to consider screen time impacts on students 
• Canvas Assignments
  1. Teachers must post assignments on Canvas calendar no later than 4:15 pm the day before they are due
  2. Major assignments must be posted at least 48 hours in advance, preferably a week or more
  3. Upper School major assessments posted to Major Assessments Calendar (MAC)
  4. It is highly recommended that teachers post an announcement including the in-class and at-home goals for the week by Monday morning.
• Grades
  • Teachers must use Canvas Gradebook to record and share grades
    • Best practice: Hide grades while grading and providing feedback
  • Student feedback and grades should be posted/updated regularly, at least once every two weeks.
• Attendance and Communication
  • Teachers must record attendance in Veracross for all scheduled class meetings.
  • Based on the Overlake Online Learning Expectations, teachers should communicate course-specific expectations and norms to students and parents
  • Teachers should clearly communicate when, where, and how they will hold regular office hours.
  • Communication with students may only happen via Canvas Message or Teams in concert with the Overlake Employee Handbook Communication Policy. We encourage you to use Teams for employee-to-employee communications. 
    • Teachers should clearly communicate how and when students will use different platforms.
    • Sending text or SMS messages to students is not permitted except in extreme circumstances where travel or internet connectivity necessitates it. Please contact the Director of Technology with any questions.
  • Teachers may require students to turn on their cameras during online meetings but must also encourage blurred or non-distracting virtual backgrounds
  • Teachers may only conduct one-on-one video or audio meetings with students in Teams.

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