After many years of teaching thousands of students, we know that one of the most important parts of our classes is the structure we provide. When working online from home, this structure is just as important as in-person, maybe even more so! That's why while you are a remote student at Epicodus, you are expected to pair remotely, spend your day coding, take part in all standups, and participate in communication on the Discord server for your class as needed.
Your attendance is based on the following:
Here's how Epicodus will evaluate your attendance:
As long you sign in and out on time, pair program, and participate in class, attendance will not be an issue. Your teacher may adjust your attendance at their discretion. Based on sign in and sign out time, your pair feedback at the end of the day, and other expectations, you may be marked On Time, Absent, Tardy, or Left Early. A quick reminder: an absence counts as a full missed day while a tardy or left early counts as half of a day. Your goal is to be On Time every day - though please note that Epicodus provides a generous and flexible attendance policy.
At the end of every class day (Monday through Thursday), you will fill out a pair feedback form for the other student(s) you paired with that day.
Information on how to leave pair feedback and the attendance procedure is in the next section.
Only Epicodus staff will see your feedback. Epicodus staff will never directly share this feedback with other students.
If (and only if) a student's pairs consistently share challenges working with that person, we will share the aggregate, common themes of the feedback with the student. There will never be any specific individual feedback or anything that could be tied to the person giving the feedback.
The primary way your attendance is evaluated is through the Epicenter attendance system. Each morning before standup you will need to login to your epicenter account and follow these sign-in steps:
Solo sign in: Once you have found your pair for the day, go to Epicenter and update your attendance immediately to add your pair. Instructions on updating your pair are listed below. Your teachers will be notified if you still haven't selected a pair on Epicenter by 10 AM PST.
Seeing the above screen means your attendance sign in is complete. You may log out of Epicenter but do not sign out of your attendance until the end of the day.
If you need to add your pair later in the day or update them for any reason, simply click the change pair link as shown in the image above.
From here, you can update your pair information. Your pair feedback form at the end of the day is based on your selected pair so make sure this is accurate.
At the end of the school day, use the Sign out button in your attendance section to begin the end of day feedback. This must be done between 4:45 pm and 5:30 pm to be marked on time.
On Fridays, you will not use the Epicenter attendance feature. Instead, your attendance will be based on your independent project for the day. General information on Friday projects can be found here. In your first week of class, you will learn about git commits and your Friday attendance will be based on your commit history.
It is also required to attend all standups. Crucial information is often shared during standup and we don't want you to miss any of it! However, we are aware that some students may have issues with their technology that make it more difficult to take part in video standup. In order to take part in video standup each day, we recommend the following:
Best option: Your computer has a working camera and access to consistent internet. If your internet is inconsistent, try using a wired ethernet connection or move your computer closer to the router.
Backup option: If you are having issues with connectivity or don't have a camera, you can use your phone instead. Download the Google Hangouts application on your phone and connect to video standups via the application.
If neither of the above work: Please contact your instructor as soon as possible.
Students are responsible for making sure they are marked on time for the day. However, we are aware that extenuating circumstances can come up. Each student can request teachers to fix a late sign in or a late/early sign-out twice through their Epicodus program. This means teachers will update attendance twice in the entire 20 weeks, not twice per language section.
If you fail to see the sign in and sign out confirmations for attendance, let your teacher know immediately. You are responsible for your attendance. Letting a teacher know there was an error an hour after the fact will still require you to use one of your two free attendance corrections.
We care about your well being and do not want you to worry about attendance if you are at risk. If there is a fire, natural disaster, or any reason you need to leave your location to protect yourself, please do so immediately. Your attendance will not be affected! Once you are in a safe place, contact your teachers to let them know about your situation. All staff can be emailed using their first name followed by @epicodus.com.
Epicodus has a very generous attendance policy. Students are generally allowed ten absences throughout the program. If you are on a deferred payment program, you will have a different agreement with the school. If you are unsure of which payment program or agreement you have with Epicodus, please reach out to your teacher and advisor.
If you need to miss class for a planned or unplanned reason, please reach out to your teachers as soon as possible. You can find information here on the ways to contact your teachers remotely. Once again, all staff can be emailed using their first name followed by @epicodus.com.
Lesson 8 of 13
Last updated January 20, 2021