Hi everybody. My name is Dr. Laura Taalman and you can call me Dr. Taalman or Professor Taalman or Dr. Laura or even Laura if you want. I prefer not to be referred to by M-things like “Ms”, “Mrs”, or “Miss”, but I’ll make an exception for “Ma’am” if you’re particularly southern. My pronouns are she/her.
Survey: If you’re reading this while waiting for class to start on the first day, then please have a chat with your table neighbors and fill out the paper surveys that have been passed out.
Faces: I have trouble with names/faces so I’m going to hand around my phone(!) and ask each of you to put a selfie and your name into an app that I will use to help me remember you.
Roll Call: When class begins I’ll go through the class roll to get your preferred names and let you say hello to the class.
Feedback: In this class everyone is welcome. It is important to me that I can hear from all of you, not just those who are most outgoing or comfortable. To help in this effort, we’ll be trying something new called Mentimeter that collects anonymous cell phone feedback. Please get out your phones and go to www.menti.com, then use the code on the screen and let me know how you’re feeling and any questions or comments you want to share.
Canvas/WebAssign: Once you’re done with that, please log into Canvas and say hello in the Chat. Then go back to the Canvas home page for our class and click the “WebAssign” link to set up your Cengage account and access WebAssign. Check that you have access to the homework for this week: a MATH 231 review assignment that is due on Friday at the start of class.