Friday, December 9: Class Is Done!

Here are some final announcements:

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: I have recorded 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 & 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! If you want to save any of the stories your wrote at the Ning, please make sure you do that; on January 7, 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).

Announcements: I have cleared out the Announcements email so you will not get announcements when classes start up again in the spring. So, if you are going to be in one of these classes in the spring, 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. Have a great winter break and if you are traveling, travel safely!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Thursday, December 8

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.

Storybook stack. If you turned in a Storybook assignment on Wednesday before noon, you should have comments back from me and points recorded in the Gradebook. If you turned something in on Wednesday afternoon, 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. (repeat announcement) 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. 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. No late Week 15 Storybook assignment can be turned in for partial credit; there is no weekend or Monday morning grace period because of finals week 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.

Thursday Events on Campus. In the Gothic Hall of Catlett Music Center there will be a Harp Studio holiday concert at 3:30 PM (time/location/details). Find out more about this event and other events happening on Thursday at the Campus Calendar online.

Evaluate.. and win an iPad. Today, Thursday, is the last day to complete the course evaluations available at eval.ou.edu. The evaluation will be available until 11:59PM on Thursday night. Plus, they are giving away iPads to some lucky students drawn at random from the people who completed the course evaluations! So, if you have not completed the evaluations for your classes, please take a few minutes to do that today. Your feedback is really valuable to me... and it might turn out to be valuable to you, too! :-)

Wednesday, December 7

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. If you turned in a Storybook assignment on Monday or on Tuesday morning, you should have comments back from me and points recorded in the Gradebook. If you turned something in on Tuesday afternoon, 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. (repeat announcement) 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. 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. No late Week 15 Storybook assignment can be turned in for partial credit; there is no weekend or Monday morning grace period because of finals week 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. You can see a new student photo exhibition, "Society Debut: A Media Arts Collection," in the Fred Jones Jr. Art Center's Lightwell Gallery this week, through December 9 (time/location/details). Find out more about this event and other events happening on Wednesday at the Campus Calendar online.

Pearl Harbor Day. Today, December 7, marks an important day in U.S. history: the attack on Pearl Harbor. I'm sure some of you have probably seen some movies about Pearl Harbor, perhaps even the great 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora! which provides a presentation of the events leading up to the attack from both the American and Japanese perspectives. A less well-known film that I watch every year is In Harm's Way, a 1965 film directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, along with the great Patricia Neal, plus a wonderful performance by Burgess Meredith. The action of the film begins on the night of December 6... Highly recommended.

Tuesday, December 6

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.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT WEEK 15. (repeat announcement) 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. 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. No late Week 15 Storybook assignment can be turned in for partial credit; there is no weekend or Monday morning grace period.

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.

Storybook stack. If you turned in a Storybook assignment on Sunday, you should have comments back from me and points recorded in the Gradebook. If you turned something in on Monday, it is probably still in the stack. As always, 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.

Tuesday Events on Campus. There will be a seminar on Financial Aid for 2012-2013 at 5PM in Wagner Hall 245 (time/location/details). Find out more about this event and other events happening on Tuesday at the Campus Calendar online.

December 6: Saint Nicholas Day. Although "Saint Nick" is sometimes associated in popular tradition with the Christmas Holiday, the actual day of Saint Nicholas in the church calendar is today, December 6. In some countries, the Eve of Saint Nicholas (December 5) and Saint Nicholas Day (December 6) is an occasion for gift-giving. You can read more about Saint Nicholas and the festivities associated with Saint Nicholas in this Wikipedia article. The image below shows "Sinter Claes" on a wall in Amsterdam; the Netherlands is one of the countries where gift-giving is associated with Saint Nicholas:

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: