There are plenty of little details regarding the homework downloads and Mulligans. Most are straight-forward and logical, but here are some questions you might need clarification with, and their answers, just in case.
See also the Assessment part of the Course Guide.
Loading Videos:
A video you want me to watch won't load.
There's this puzzle icon with a question mark when I try to load the video - what do I do?
It asks me to update Flash Player to view the video; should I?
The video just seems to randomly start and stop - wha do I do?
Receiving Homework Notification:
How can I receive automatic notification when the homework is ready to be done?
General Homework Points
What if I'm an ESL student - do I have to do the homwork?
How much of an effort do I have to make in order to get 5/5 on homework?
Mulligans
What sort of excuse do I need to use a Mulligan?
Do Mulligans count for big in-class projects, or just for homework?
What about Extreme situations where I don't think I should have to use a Mulligan?
Do I actually have to do the questions, when submitting as a Mulligan?
What exactly is the "Benefit-of-a-doubt Policy", for if I use up all of my Mulligans?
SOAs ("Sick or Aways")
What are the "Sick or Away" check boxes that appear after a homework deadline has passed?
Do you actually have to be sick or away to use an SOA?
What does -999 as a grade indicate?
If sick or away do I have to make up the assignment?
How long do I have to make up an SOA assignment?
What if I see a -999, but I still want to do that (SOA) assignment for a grade?
What if I make a mistake using Mulligans or Sick or Aways?
Loading Videos:
A video you want me to watch won't load.
Well, the first thing to do is try it in another browser; that usually does the trick. So try either Firefox, or Safari, or Chrome, whichever one you have not tried yet.
There's this puzzle icon with a question mark when I try to load the video - what do I do?
That means you need to either click it to load a plug-in, or allow the plug-in to run from this site all the time.
It asks me to update Flash Player to view the video; should I?
Yes, you should keep Flash Player up-to-date, and doing so should solve your current problem.
The video just seems to randomly start and stop - wha do I do?
in certain versions of the Mac OSX operating system, hat may be that you are two-finger-scrolling up and down while the mouse is over the video. If you want to scroll the page up and down, and not scroll through the video, move the mouse off to the side of the page, and do it there.
We are having internet problems at my house and it's just too slow to load the video. Should I use a Mulligan?
Yep, that's one of the major things that Mulligans are for.
Receiving Homework Notification:
How can I receive automatic notification when the homework is ready to be done?
In order to receive an e-mail notification of when the new homework is ready, you will need to allow the following address: adelaide@johnrayworth.into. You will likely have to go to the advanced part of your e-mail account and make a filter to prevent mail this e-mail address going to the spam folder.
What if I'm an ESL student - do I have to do the homwork?
Yes and No. For most homework, yes, try to do your best. I'll mark it keeping in mind that you are ESL, or Intensive ESL.
But multiple choice homework assignment will particularly tricky for you. So for Multiple Choice kinds of homework ESL Students Do Not Have To Do Them; they are optional for you. So you can try them or skip them and they will not count. Also, if you do attempt multiple choice homework assignments, and you receive a low grade, it will automatically be bumped up as follows: 0 and 1 become "-999" meaning they don't count. A grade of 2/5 becomes a 3/5, and a grade of 3/5 becomes a 4/5. And 4/5s and 5/5s remain the same.
How much of an effort do I have to make in order to get 5/5 on homework?
Good effort on homework gets 5/5, even if not perfect; less than that gets less than 5.
Can I copy and paste?
Please only copy and paste when the question sends you to a website to copy and paste some particular information, for example, a definition from webopedia.com. Otherwise, do you best to put your answers in your own words, the way the answer makes most sense to you.
For an uploading kind of homework, what's the problem if after I upload, I can't see the link back on the upload page?
If you go back to the upload page, right after you've uploaded a file, in order to see the link, you'll have to Refresh the upload page.
What sort of excuse do I need to use a Mulligan?
Mulligans are for absolutely every single situation that result in you not doing your homework by the due date. This could anything from "Had no Internet access", to "Didn't feel like doing it". Often enough there will also be family reasons, or extracurricular reasons. But, whatever. The point is that I don't want to have to be the a judge in deciding what is a valid reason and what is not a valid reason for not doing homework by the due date. Everyone gets four Mulligans, so it's up to you to use them when you need to: no questions asked.
(Though, you really shouldn't use a Mulligan for "Didn't want to do it" kind of reasons; at least that's my humble opinion.)
Do Mulligans count for big in-class projects, or just for homework?
No. Mulligans are only for homework assignments. The Upper School SSAC Major Assessment Late Policy applies to in-class projects.
What about Extreme situations where I don't think I should have to use a Mulligan?
If it is truly is a serious situation, like having no electricity in your house for several days in a row, then you should only have to use one Mulligan for that situation; talk to me in cases like this..
Do I actually have to do the questions, when submitting as a Mulligan?
Yes. To count as credit, the Mulligans have to be actually done - they are not a "pass", they are an excused late submission.
What exactly is the "Benefit-of-a-doubt Policy" for if I use up all of my Mulligans?
If you use up all four of your Mulligans, it is possible to get "Benefit-of-a-doubt" credit at the end of the course. Every assignment handed in this way will contribute toward me giving you the benefit-of-a-doubt when I calculate your final grade for the semester. At that time, if you need your grade bumped up just a little bit to get you to the next grade level - for example from a 79.3 bumped up to a 79.5 which will round up to an 80 - going from a C+ to a B-, then I will feel justified in doing so.
What are the "Sick or Away" check boxes that appear after a homework deadline has passed?
These are what you'll check if/when you are away or sick the day that a homework assignment is due. Remember that you don't have to do the assignment in these cases, and they won't count, but you're welcome to do them and get the 5/5. Check "Sick or Away (excuse only uploaded)" if you don't want to do it at all; but upload a .doc file with the date and reason you missed. Or check "Sick or Away (excuse & HW uploaded) if you want to get the points; but include an explanation with the date and reason you missed.
Do you actually have to be sick or away to use an SOA?
SOAs only will count when you are sick and absent, or absent for some other reason. All other missing homework situation are Mulligan situations. See the Mulligan situation above.
What does -999 as a grade indicate?
-999 indicates that you were sick or away either the day before the homework was due, or the day the homework was due.
If sick or away do I have to make up the assignment?
You may make up the missed homework at any time for full credit, or you may choose to not do it at all. I would prefer that you do it at some point, since it is part of the course for a reason; it is for your own learning, not just for a grade. But if you have a lot of work to make up after being away, I understand if you choose not to do it.
How long do I have to make up an SOA assignment?
You have exactly 10 days from the original due date. The ten days goes from 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. After the ten day period you will no longer be able to upload SOAs; in fact the check boxes to do so will no longer appear.
Why the 10 day limit?
It's a ten day limit because otherwise either or both you and I will forget whether or not you really were sick or away on any given date. But ten days should be plenty of time to, at the very least, upload a note saying you won't be doing the homework for credit. In any extenuating circumstances - for example, being away for a week or so - just see me in person when you get back.
What if I see a -999, but I still want to do that (SOA) assignment for a grade?
If I get to marking the homework before you get a chance to make up a "Sick Or Away" homework, you'll see a -999 for the mark. But that does not mean that it is too late to upload it in its completed form, should you choose to. Just upload it, and when I mark it, a (probably) 5/5 will replace the -999.
What if I make a mistake using Mulligans or Sick or Aways?
If it is completely obvious that you've made a mistake with how you used your Mulligans or Sick or Aways, then I'll manually change your number of Mulligans. I'll call this a "Mulligan Mulligan", and you all get only one.