Monday, December 5

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 on 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.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WEEK 15: Week 15 is different from other weeks, because it ENDS ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 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, December 9, 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.

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 always 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.

Dead Week Events on Campus. There are special extended hours in Wagner Hall for Dead Week: the the Student Learning Center computer lab is open Mon-Thurs 8am-1am and you can reserve study rooms and classrooms for study groups (time/location/details). Find out more about this event and other events happening during Dead Week at the Campus Calendar online.

December 5: Krampus. In our "Santa Claus" tradition, there is the vague sense that naughty children might get punished, but in other countries, that part of the Christmas tradition is much more specific: Santa Claus may have a sinister companion whose job is to punish bad children. In Austria and other Alpine regions, that dark companion of Saint Nicholas is called Krampus, and he spends the first two weeks of December going around at night, rattling chains and ringing a bell to warn the naughty children of his presence. On December 5, it is traditional for people to dress up as the Krampus! You can see pictures of people dressed as the Krampus in this Wikipedia article, and below is a Krampus holiday postcard: