Guidelines for posting to sounderWorld Study Groups

1. Stay on topic. The general topic includes all that is relevant to our Home-Study Program as it unfolds, with special emphasis on the current assignment's techniques and study materials. The main topics for discussion in the group are: 1) your own personal observations and experiences as you practice the assigned techniques; 2) your questions or comments on the assigned practice and readings; 3) your reports on the teaching experiments given in Assignment 10 and following.

2. Stay up to date. As much as possible, try to stay up-to-date with the current assignment, and direct your comments to the discussion of that assignment.

If you do fall behind, you may post comments or questions on previous assignments, one at a time. However, please do NOT post long "catch-up" messages with comments on multiple subjects or multiple assignments. They are hard for us all to read, and difficult for me to reply to.

3. Be clear and concise. When you write, keep in mind the other group members who are going to read your message. Write in clear, direct language, so they can understand what you mean without difficulty.

4. Edit your messages. (Very important.) That means, when you are replying to a previous message, do not quote that entire message along with your reply. Quote only the portions you need to make your reply meaningful to other group members.

Unedited, overly long messages create clutter and undermine the effectiveness of our communications. They also create more work for me. That wastes time I would otherwise use to teach the course.

Note: Some email systems automatically quote the full text of the message you're replying to, so you need to delete that text yourself each time you post a message. You need to look at your entire message before you send it, scrolling down if necessary, to see if it is properly edited.

5. Do not post personal messages to me or anyone else on sounderWorld. Post only messages that are of interest to the entire group. Remember, this is a professional study group, not a public chat room.

If you have a private message for me, send it to michael@soundersleep.com, not the sounderWorld Study Group. This is easy to remember—my personal email address has my name on it!

Personal messages to Michael: michael@soundersleep.com
Message to your sounderWorld group: [group's name]@yahoogroups.com
For example, to send a message to sounderWorld4, email sounderWorld5@yahoogroups.com.

6. Do not forward mass mailings to the group. This includes chain letters, advertisements, family newsletters, holiday greetings, etc. Again, this is a professional study group. Keep it professional.

7. Neatness counts! Try to organize your messages so they look neat on the page and are easy to read. Do not use colored text, unusual fonts or font sizes, and the like, as they may appear in unpredictable ways on different email systems. Smileys are okay if need to clarify the intent of your words. Please use sparingly. :-)

Please do divide your message into fairly short paragraphs, and allow a single line-space between paragraphs as I have done throughout this document. Use appropriate periods, commas, capitalization, and other punctuation. This greatly improves the readability of your messages!

8. Be convivial. The word "convivial" comes from the Latin for "living together." It means that we cultivate a friendly, lively, enjoyable atmosphere in the group. We are all here to learn. If there is a difference of opinion, that is simply part of the learning process. We strive for conviviality; we avoid criticism and confrontation.

9. Post freely. Even as you observe the guidelines I have stated here, you should be able to say whatever is on your mind. Your observations, ideas, and experiences are the key to a vigorous discussion and learning in the group. We welcome your contributions!

10. This is a moderated group. That means, I will review all messages before they are distributed to the group. That may sometimes create a delay before your message appears—shorter when I'm at my desk, longer when I'm on the road. Once in a great while, I will delete a message that I think is either off-topic, too long, unedited, or otherwise inappropriate. In that case, I will try to inform you—but sometimes I may not get around to it. I may occasionally change the Subject line of your message when it first apears, for clarity or other reasons.

11. "Has my message been received by the group?" Once you send a message to your sounderWorld Group, the best way to check whether it has been received by the group is to go to the group's home page and view the most recent messages listed there. In order to do that, you must first enroll in Yahoo.com and get a Yahoo ID. That will enable you to log-in to the group's home page. Though Yahoo membership is not required, I highly recommend it for all of you!

Here's the home page for sounderWorld5. (You must be a member of the group to access this page.)

Having trouble getting enrolled in Yahoo.com? Here are some Tips for Accessing Your sounderWorld Group on Yahoo. R

That's all for now. I will add to this list as needed. If you have any questions about these guidelines, you are welcome to post them to the group. If any of this is unclear, we will all benefit from clarification.