Final Announcements: Spring 2013

First and foremost, THANK YOU for all the good work that you did in the class, especially on the Storybooks. Every semester I am amazed by the variety and excellence of the Storybooks that people create, and that was very true this semester! I had such a good time watching them evolve and reading all the stories. I even learned many new stories that I had never heard before, which is why I will never get bored teaching these classes: I get to learn new things all the time! So, thank you all for all the good work you did!

Grades: After the noon deadline on Friday, I will record the final grades in the Desire2Learn Gradebook, and those will be the final grades that I submit via Ozone. You will be contacted by the Admissions and Records office when the Ozone grades can be viewed; meanwhile, the grade you see in Desire2Learn is what I will be submitting.

Ning: Please take a last look at your comment wall at the Ning and at your blog to see if you got some comments in the last days of class. There might have been some people who left comments on your Storybook as late as this Friday morning for the Week 15 Internet assignment! Also, if you want to save any of the stories you wrote at the Ning, please make sure you do that. On August 1, I will need to clear out the Ning to make room for the new students (the Ning has a maximum number of users I can include).

Evaluations: If you have not filled out the course evaluation yet at eval.ou.edu, I hope you will do so! The deadline is Sunday, May 5. Your feedback is incredibly helpful to me in making improvements to these courses, and it is also a big help to the College in general as they continue to develop the online course program. Plus, you might win a free iPad just for participating!

Announcements: After noon on Friday, I will clear out the Announcements email list so you will not get announcements when classes start up again in the Fall. So, if you are going to be in one of these classes in the Fall, you'll need to sign up for that email list again.

I think that's it, but if you have any questions I have not answered here, let me know.  And now....

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!!!

Thursday, May 2

Today is Thursday of WEEK 15 of the class. Thursday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you forgot to do any of the assignments that were due on Wednesday. This is the LAST FULL DAY of class!

Storybook stack. If you turned in a Storybook assignment by Wednesday at 10PM, you should have comments back from me and points recorded in the Gradebook. If you turned something in later than that, it may still in the stack. As always, you can check the contents of the stack to make sure I have received your assignment!

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WEEK 15. Week 15 is different from other weeks, because it ends TOMORROW, FRIDAY, MAY 3, AT NOON. So, if you will be doing some Week 15 assignments to finish up the class, please be aware of this special schedule: all Week 15 assignments - including the Storybook assignment, Internet assignment, Blog Responding assignment, along with any extra credit you want to complete - must be completed by Friday, May 3, at noon.

Grading and points. (repeat announcement) As you now know from previous announcements, you need 410 points to get an A, 360 points to get a B, and 320 points to get a C. When you get the number of points you need, you are done! If you can let me know when you are done with the class, I will record the letter grade for you in the Gradebook so that you can be sure you are finished with everything for the class.

Thursday Events on Campus. OU's School of Musical Theatre presents On the Town at 8PM in the Reynolds Performing Arts Center (time-location-details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

May 2: Paolo Freire. Today marks the anniversary of the death of the great Brazilian educator Paolo Freire in 1997 (he was born in 1921). There are few educators of the 20th century whose vision and achievements rival those of Paolo Freire. You can read about his "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" in this detailed Wikpedia article, and Wikiquote also has a selection of quotes, e.g. "While no one liberates himself by his own efforts alone, neither is he liberated by others."

Wednesday, May 1

Today is Wednesday of WEEK 15 of the class. Wednesday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you forgot to do any of the assignments that were due on Tuesday.

Storybook stack. As of 7PM on Tuesday, I had gotten caught up with all the Storybooks that had been turned in, so I hope that will give everyone working on the Week 15 Storybook assignment time to get that done by Friday at noon. As always, you can check the contents of the stack to make sure I have received your assignment!

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WEEK 15. (repeat announcement) Week 15 is different from other weeks, because it ENDS ON FRIDAY, MAY 3, AT NOON. So, if you will be doing some Week 15 assignments to finish up the class, please be aware of this special schedule: all the final Week 15 assignments - including the Storybook assignment, Internet assignment, Blog Responding assignment, along with any extra credit you want to complete - must be completed by Friday, May 3, at noon. No late Week 15 Storybook assignment can be turned in for partial credit, and there is no weekend or Monday morning grace period because of finals next week.

Grading and points. (repeat announcement) As you now know from previous announcements, you need 410 points to get an A, 360 points to get a B, and 320 points to get a C. When you get the number of points you need, you are done! If you can let me know when you are done with the class, I will record the letter grade for you in the Gradebook so that you can be sure you are finished with everything for the class.

Wednesday Events on Campus. Celebrate "Dead Week Breakfast" from 8PM-10PM on Wednesday evening in the Union food court - free breakfast food to reduce finals stress (time-location-details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

May 1: May Day. May Day is a traditional spring holiday in many different countries. One of the many different May Day celebrations is the famous "May Pole" (read more at Wikipedia) - and below you can see students at Bryn Mawr College celebrating the holiday with May Poles!

Tuesday, April 30

Today is Tuesday of WEEK 15 of the class.... YES: it is the last week of the class! For those of you doing the assignments for class this week, it is Alice in Wonderland or the Wizard of Oz in Myth-Folklore, while it's the Mahabharata review week in Indian Epics. 

Storybook stack. I'm doing my best to keep up with all the Storybooks being turned in so that I can get those points recorded for you in the Gradebook; there are still a few Storybooks in there from Monday. You can check the contents of the stack to make sure I have received your assignment. Please try to get those turned in soon rather than waiting for the last minute.  

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WEEK 15: (repeat announcement) Week 15 is different from other weeks, because it ENDS ON FRIDAY, May 3, AT NOON. So, if you will be doing some Week 15 assignments to finish up the class, please be aware of this special schedule: all the final Week 15 assignments are due by NOON ON FRIDAY at the latest. No late Week 15 Storybook assignment can be turned in for partial credit. All Week 15 assignments - including the Storybook assignment, Internet assignment, blog responding assignment, along with any extra credit you want to complete - must be completed by Friday, May 3, at noon. All the assignments are available now with the exception of the blog responding assignment (that will be available on Thursday). 

Grading and points. (repeat announcement) As you now know from previous announcements, you need 410 points to get an A, 360 points to get a B, and 320 points to get a C. When you get the number of points you need, you are done! If you can let me know when you are done with the class, I will record the letter grade for you in the Gradebook so that you can be sure you are finished with everything for the class.  

Tuesday Events on Campus. Get a free lemon chill in the first floor lobby of the Union, 11:30AM - 12:30PM (time-location-details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online. 

April 30: Walpurgis Night. The night of April 30 is celebrated as Walpurgis Night in many countries of northern and central Europe, often with bonfires late into the night. Also known as "May Day's Eve," the holiday has many carnival-like aspects, and it is also associated with magic and witchcraft (it even shows up in the Harry Potter books, where the Death-Eaters are referred to as the "Knights of Walpurgis," which is a play on words with "Walpurgis Night"). You can read about the ways in which Walpurgis Night is celebrated in Germany, Finland, and other countries in this Wikipedia article, which is also the source for this image of a Walpurgis Night bonfire in Sweden:

Monday, April 29

Today is Monday. Week 14 of the class is now over. Monday morning, until noon, is the grace period if you forgot to do any of the assignments that were due on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, including the Week 14 Storybook assignment (see note below).

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WEEK 14 STORYBOOK: If you are turning in a Week 14 Storybook assignment, you need to do that on time - that is, by noon today, Monday. You cannot turn in a late Storybook assignment for Week 14. If you do not get your Storybook turned in by noon on Monday, you can turn it in instead as your Week 15 assignment - but if you want to turn in BOTH a Week 14 AND a Week 15 assignment, make sure you get the Week 14 assignment in on time, by noon Monday at the latest.

Storybook stack. On Monday morning, I will update the contents of the stack, and I will start working my way through the stack based on the order in which things were turned in. Meanwhile, you can check the contents of the stack to make sure I have received your assignment. If the points for your Storybook will give you the points you need to finish up the class, send me a separate email, and I will put your Storybook at the top of the stack.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WEEK 15: Week 15 is different from other weeks, because it ENDS ON FRIDAY, May 3, AT NOON. So, if you will be doing some Week 15 assignments to finish up the class, please be aware of this special schedule: all the final Week 15 assignments are due by NOON ON FRIDAY at the latest. No late Week 15 Storybook assignment can be turned in for partial credit. All Week 15 assignments - including the Storybook assignment, Internet assignment, Blog Responding assignment, along with any extra credit you want to complete - must be completed by Friday, May 3, at noon.

Grading and points. As you now know from previous announcements, you need 410 points to get an A, 360 points to get a B, and 320 points to get a C. When you get the number of points you need, you are done! If you can let me know when you are done with the class, I will record the letter grade for you in the Gradebook so that you can be sure you are finished with everything for the class.

Monday Events on Campus. Win free Union parking passes by playing Putt 4 Parking in the Union first floor lobby from 11:30AM - 12:30 PM (time/location/details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

Ancient Roman Floralia. We are in the midst of the ancient Roman festival called Floralia, which lasts from April 27 through May 3 - that is, from ante diem quartum Kalendas Maias in the old Roman Calendar, until ante diem quintum Nonas Maias (those Roman dates are for those of you who have studied Latin!). Flora was a goddess in ancient Rome, and she presided over flowers and all blossoming plants. You can read more about the Floralia here, and you can see the goddess in Botticelli's Primavera (Spring); the goddess Venus (Aphrodite) is in the center, while to the right the wind Zephyr is chasing the nymph Chloris, who is then transformed into the smiling goddess Flora, is all covered with flowers (detail view):