A few additional resources...

 Good day, everyone, 

I wanted to provide you a few additional resources that can help you as we continue through our journey this semester. And let me tell you, it has truly been a journey. Sometimes I feel like it's been an Amazing Race or an episode of Survivor. Who could have ever predicted our semester was going to be THIS eventful? When I moved to Illinois and accepted this position, I had no idea that we were going to have this many challenges! I can attest, there isn't anywhere that I would rather be. We are stronger together and when crisis occurs, it's amazing how our Heartland family pulls together to put students first. Thank you for your dedication and stead-fast approach at staying on course and creating quality learning opportunities for our students.Let me share a few resources with you. . . 

• If you have not met Cynthia Medrano, please email her - now - and introduce yourself. She is our new Digital Services Librarian and is A+ - she's passionate about student learning and helping your students find their electronic resources. I'm so glad we have her! There have been some questions about our library databases and yes, they are still not available however, we do have other resources that are available. Cynthia has put together a a very helpful guide called "Library Resources during the Systems Outage". I've used it and can say that it's been extremely helpful. I've been sharing it through help desk questions received however, it would be very beneficial to include this information in your courses. Access the Lib Guide

• 
   The Canvas Conference was AMAZING! Did you attend? The keynotes were some of the best
  presenters I have heard in the many years I have been attending. This would have been my 7th time to attend this year and I was pleased with the online format. One of my favorite keynotes was LeVar Burton, what an inspiration. He reminded us all that our imagination is our super power, literacy is our birthright, and our stories deserve to be told. You really need to watch this. In fact, you can watch them all on the CanvasCon network, just provide your email address to view. 

•  Learning Mastery Gradebook. Just a reminder that the the Learning Mastery Gradebook has been enabled for everyone. This will allow you to view your Canvas Outcome data which our assessment team has been working hard on! To switch your view, go to your Grades and then click Gradebook, Learning Mastery. To toggle back, look for the classic gradebook option on the far right. Attend a training if you need assistance!

• Continued workshop opportunities continue next week, don't miss out on the Grading session on the 27th at 1:00 and also, how to create engaging assessments in Canvas on Thursday, October 29th at 1:00. Hope to see you at those!

Last, I wanted to take a moment and recognize our fellow colleague, R. John Muench. Like you, I am mourning his loss and have reflected back on our recent conversations. He was a tremendous educator and I am so proud to have had the opportunity to work with him. My thoughts are with the HCC family as we remember John and his deep contributions he made on students lives. 

As always, please feel to contact me with questions, always glad to help. Please take care of yourselves and let me know how I help support you and your students. 

Take care, 

Anna