We are all professional educators and should treat each other as we would treat colleagues we see every day (actually, maybe better!). We hope through the learning community we build in this course to model behavior we believe is necessary in our present and future school environments. Because we are lacking the interpersonal contact due to the online factor, it is worth ironing out some basic understandings.

1. What we want to learn

• to gain as much insight as possible into organizational leadership, particularly in the areas of organizational learning and organizational development;
• to absorb, question and reflect upon real-world applications of the course content;
• to learn to manage the strengths and pitfalls of online courses;
• to hone a range of skills that will enhance our professional practice as school leaders, including self-evaluation, effective communication, and active listening;
• to work with others to forge an ambitious, active, inclusive and responsible learning community.

2. What we need in order to maximize our effectiveness in this learning mode:

• clear definitions of assignments, processes and deadlines listed and posted in chronological order;
• flexibility in procedures (i.e. the chance for all to rethink deadlines, accommodating professional obligations and other external constraints);
• explicit guidelines for evaluation;
• feedback on the work of the whole class, the small groups and the individual student;
• student engagement to be proportional to the time one would spend in an on campus class.
• to be heard by and responded to with open and constructive minds.
• guidance;
• patience - 360 degrees.

3. Member's responsibilities:

• to attempt to build on each member's strengths, and help each other improve areas in need of further development;
• to seek to work as part of a team in all aspects of the class;
• to take responsibility for individual assignments and share helpful information with others;
• to foster insightful, non-threatening discussion of ideas and experiences;
• to work ahead of deadlines, if possible, to facilitate group work, while being sensitive to time zones and varying work hours;
• to notify each other if we are unable to meet a deadline;
• to be respectful and use appropriate language;
• to listen and respond to each other with open and constructive minds;
• to abide by the agreement we all accepted before embarking on this course;
• to be patient with all - 360 degrees.

Whenever someone strays from our guidelines, any one of us should feel free to offer a private and then, if still needed, a public reminder of these ground rules, as well as a clear explanation of how he or she might have transgressed them; in addition, regular reflection on how we're doing and what might need changing.

What to do with these ground rules? Recommend posting them above your computer or in the front of your binder and referring to them often. It will help keep the focus of why we are engaged in this course and how we are going to do it. The trick is to actually use them. Many a time a group has painstakingly developed a mission statement, team agreements, honor code, etc., even going so far as to have it bronzed and mounted ... yet they go ignored in the "real" workings of the organization. Now that's a waste of time, if ever there was one.