Wednesday, August 17

School does not start officially until Monday, August 22, but if you would like to start this online class early, it is ready to go! All the first week assignments are available now if you want to get a head start. Even though there are no class meetings for this online course, you do have assignments that are DUE already on Tuesday of the first week of classes (August 23) - so if you can complete those assignments before the deadline, that will give you one less thing to worry about when your regular classroom-based classes get started.

Getting Started. All the information you need about the Week 1 Orientation assignments can be found at the course website; just click on the Week 1 Orientation link to get started. The assignments for Week 2 and for the following weeks are also ready to go, if you want to get a big head start.
As always, there are lots of little things I have to adjust at the beginning of each new semester, and if you find something that is not working or is not clear, it will be a big help if you can let me know.

Assignment Stack. For those of you who are already turning in the Proofreading Practice or some other assignment where you will be getting feedback from me, you might have to wait on my comments. In the meantime, you can check to make sure I received your assignment by looking at the Assignment Stack.

August 17: Davy Crockett
. Today marks the birthday in the year 1786 of Davy Crockett, "King of the Wild Frontier," a hero of both American history as well as American folklore and legend; he died at the Alamo in 1836. You can read about Davy Crockett's life and adventures in this detailed Wikipedia article, including a section on the tall tales that are told about him. Crockett himself promoted such tall tales - for example, he supposedly declared that "I'm that same David Crockett, fresh from the backwoods, half-horse, half-alligator, a little touched with the snapping turtle; can wade the Mississippi, leap the Ohio, ride upon a streak of lightning, and slip without a scratch down a honey locust tree." (image source)