College (and Life) Resources
The Writing and Language Development Center (WLDC) is a great place to get help and feedback on your essays. They can help you at any stage of the writing process, from generating ideas to preparing a paper for submission. (Note that are not a proofreading or editing service, so please don’t expect them to “look at your paper and fix it.” ) They also have workshops and access to computers. In addition to the Marysville center, they usually have a limited presence at the Sutter Center. They also have online tutoring available.
In fact, here is a welcome video that they’ve created, which might give you a good idea of what they offer (and how welcoming and supportive they are):
Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) offers support for students with learning and other disabilities. If you know (or suspect) you have a learning disability, be sure to contact them. There are resources available to support you.
The Yuba College Library has great staff. Since COVID, they’ve developed a strong online presence. (I’ll talk a bit more about the library during the course, especially as we approach the research portion.)
The Yuba College Counseling Department has both in-person and online counselors to help. They can help with a lot of different needs, from academic questions (what classes should I take if I want to go to Chico?) to personal questions (I’m hungry and don’t have any money. Where can I get food?)
Canvas Help
I’ve been creating short videos explaining how Canvas works in my course. (Every teacher uses Canvas a little differently.) Generally, I’ll introduce the videos in the modules, when the information would be useful. But they’ll be collected on a How To Page, which you’ll have access to once the course is open.
Yuba College’s eLearning page offers an orientation to Canvas, as well as video tutorials, general student guides, and guides specifically for mobile phones and tablets.
Canvas also has a Student Guide, which is pretty complete.
And if you need more help, you can contact one of the Help Desks:
- Any time, you can email College’s Help Desk at helpdesk@yccd.edu;
- During working hours (Mon – Fri 8:00 am – 5:00 pm), you can reach Yuba College’s Help Desk at (530) 741-6981;
- After hours (Mon – Fri 5:00 pm – 8:00 am, and weekends), you can reach Canvas’s Help Desk at (844) 303-8279.
Closing Thoughts
Online classes can be challenging; they require an high level of self-discipline, organization, and “self-starting.” It’s easy to get behind — and that can lead to feeling overwhelmed, which can lead to procrastination that gets you even further behind, and so on. It’s a nasty cycle. (I speak from experience.)
So: if you find yourself struggling, I hope you will reach out — to me, at least, or to some of the resources listed above. Please don’t think that I’ll be upset, or that I won’t care, or that I won’t want to help.
I want you to succeed. Of course, I can’t do it for you — I don’t give grades; you earn them. But I’ll support you however I can.
See you around.