Welcome Back or Almost Welcome Back

West Valley learners are already at work, registering into our Connect Plus account, reviewing the syllabus and exploring Angel.

Cabrillo online leaners, I have sent you an email with some basic information about getting started on 9/2.

ALL students will need the CONNECTPLUS url specific to YOUR class. That information can be found on your syllabus and on the ConnectPlus link I post in your classroom. If you can't find it, send me an email and I can email it to you, along with a direction sheet for getting registered.

Face-to-Face (F2F) you have probably not heard from me but we will cover all of the getting started information in our first day of class. If you are hoping to add into a F2F, it is important to attend. Students hoping to add online should attend orientation, if possible, or at least email me.

I would tell you that I am hanging onto the last few days of summer, but since returning from Iowa, where the book publisher took us for training, I have been getting classes ready, hoping to make the transition to a new textbook, with the ConnectPlus platform, smooth as blueberry pie for all of us.

Have any questions? Send me gmail....my id is nutritionrusso.

Eat well, play fit,
Denise C. Russo, MS RD CGEI

Summer Update

I will be sending out information to all enrolled and waitlisted students during the week before our class begins. Feel free to email me but anticipate a delay during these last weeks of summer vacation.
Eat well, play fit,
Denise C. Russo, MS RD CGEI

Spring has Sprung and Summer is Soon

Greetings Students,
This summer, I will be teaching two online nutrition classes, one at each of the colleges at which I am employed. It is the same class for each school. Classes for summer fill up quickly as do waitlists. I will post more information the week before school starts. But, the textbook for summer will be the same (although it is changing for Fall). If you are hoping to be added, please do keep trying to get on the waitlist (if not already on it) as I do have to fill adds from the waitlist, first.
Eat well, play fit,
Denise C. Russo, MR RD CGEI
Cabrillo College, Aptos
West Valley College, Saratoga

Late Start West Valley Class
Class starts on March 17th with class content and syllabus available by 6 pm on Monday night. All enrolled students will need to confirm enrollment via email (by 3/18) and participate in at least one of the first week's assignments.

If you are looking for information on the Late Start Class at Cabrillo, it starts on March 24th. Check with Eileen MacKusick for more information.

This blog is for general information, only. Information specific to each section of class will be made available within the classroom portal (Angel for West Valley, Blackboard for Cabrillo).

Spring Semester 2014: Welcome Back

Welcome Back to School!

Online Learners: There is still room in the West Valley online classes. Cabrillo students, they are adding a late start, online class with Eileen Mackusick.

West Valley Students:

NS15 Online (2 sections). Classes start January 27th. I will have our syllabus released by 5 pm on that Monday. Until then, you will find no course content and, during development, the link may even be missing in your class list but will be available by that 5 pm time. Course content will be available by Tuesday night, January 28th.  There is no face-to-face orientation scheduled, however you must read the entire syllabus to better understand how to navigate the class. In addition, there is an online orientation, posted on youtube, see below. All enrolled students must email between 1/26 and 1/28, to confirm their spot in the class. Students who do not make contact with me during that time may be dropped from the class to make room for those wishing to add. In addition, please make sure that your email address is up-to-date with the college as I will email all students on my class roster by January 24th.

West Valley Online Orientation (Please note that there may be some subtle changes to orientation information and that update information is available in the syllabus and within the class.)

Orientation, Part 1, Introduction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwk60s0LqJM

Orientation, Part 2, Quizzes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6xZyAVikUY&feature=related

Orientation, Part 3, Discussion: http://www.youtube.com/watchv=h5C3HJLH700&feature=related

Orientation, Part 4, Assignments: http://www.youtube.com/watchv=lKuS9VDddcI&feature=related

Orientation, Part 5, Communication: http://www.youtube.com/watchv=kH0B2zn1V6M&feature=related

Cabrillo Students 

CAHM 20 (3 sections): All classes (online and face-to-face) begin on Tuesday, January 28th. Students enrolled in the online section must attend the mandatory orientation/first class meeting on 1/27 from 7-9 pm in room 510. Any student who cannot attend the orientation  will need to email between 1/25 and 1/27 (before 5 pm) to prevent being dropped from the class and to make alternate arrangements. See Spring schedule-of-classes for more information. All online students should log into class, via Blackboard, on January 28th, after 5 pm. In addition, please make sure that your email address is up-to-date with the college as I will email all students on my class roster by January 24th. In addition to attending orientation, students must have positive participation in class within the first week to prevent being dropped from the class.

Face-to-face students (T/Th mornings) need to attend class on January 28th to confirm class participation or will be dropped from the class to allow another student to add. Class meets in room 510. The syllabus will be posted in Blackboard so you may download it from there, before class, if you would like a hard copy.

Online Orientation for Cabrillo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Zjqk-fsrE

Waitlist/Add

All waitlisted students MUST email by the first day of class to communicate their interest in an add code. I will not be able to release add codes until I have an idea of how many enrolled students will be dropping. Please note that I am required to add all waitlisted students prior to other adds but I need that request by the first day of school. It is highly advised that any student interested in adding the class keep trying to get on the waitlist, up until the day class starts. (Once classes begin, you can no longer register for the class without an add code.) The process is such that if a student drops from the roster, before the first day of school, the person 1st on the waitlist will be offered that spot (via email, so check email daily). Whether that person accepts the position or not, they will move off of the waitlist, making a new position open on the waitlist. Because of this, spots open up on the waitlist frequently, so it is important to keep checking. Once classes begin and the first day is complete, I can then assess if I have room for students NOT on the waitlist. If a waitlisted student does not attend class/orientation (Cabrillo) or email me (West Valley) on the first day, they no longer have priority. I will assign add codes based on availability.

Explanation: Although it does seem that an online class should have "room" for all students, every class has a capacity based on state funding. Over-enrolling in a class can cause the college to go over on its total student capacity. Since the college doesn't get reimbursed for students who are enrolled over the allowed capacity, there is then a limit on the amount of "room" available in all classes, online or face-to-face.

Textbook: Please see the sidebar for information about the textbook.