Class Procedures and Reminders:
STORYBOOK VOTING: Polls close at 5PM today. Today, Thursday, is your last chance to vote for your favorite Storybooks. Just like every semester, because all the Storybooks are so good, the votes are VERY close - so, yes, a single vote can indeed make a difference in this very local micro-election. You can see the nominees here for both classes. The voting will go until 5PM today, Thursday, and I'll share the results in Friday's announcements.
My schedule today. I will be out of the office for a chunk of time today, so I won't be as prompt to respond to emails, although I know people might have questions about finishing up the class, the Thanksgiving schedule, etc. etc. So, definitely send me an email, and I will get back to you by the end of the day for sure, even if I might not be able to reply right away.
Storybook stack. If you turned in a Storybook on Sunday, you should have comments back from me, but if you turned something in on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, it might still be in the stack.You can check the contents of the stack to make sure I have received your assignment. If the points for the Storybook will give you the points you need to finish the class, send me a separate email to let me know, and I'll put your Storybook at the top of the stack.
Grading and points. (repeat announcement) When you finish up with the class I record a "FINAL GRADE" in the D2L Gradebook so you can be sure you are done. So, just let me know when you have completed the number of points you need: 410 for an A, 360 for a B, 320 for a C. It's entirely up to you what grade you want to finish with in the class. There is no need to apologize for stopping out with a grade of B or C (many people are taking this class just for Gen. Ed. credit, and I know that means it is often not a top priority). Whatever grade you decide to stop with is fine with me; just let me know when you are done, and I'll record the grade!
The following items are for fun and exploration:
Featured Resource: KGOU Tornado Reporting. As I mentioned in a previous announcement, Kate Carlton (Indian Epics) is now a reporter for KGOU working on their continuing coverage of the tornadoes that hit Oklahoma City and the Metro area six months ago. You can follow the coverage at the tornado.kgou.org website, and for those of you who are not already fans of KGOU, it is of course a fantastic resource for all kinds of community news and events, every day of the year.
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is Paddle your own canoe (an English proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. Although I have never paddled a canoe, I am definitely a believer in the self-reliance advocated by this proverb!
Mahabharata Image: Today's Mahabharata image is The Death of Bhishma. As you can see, he is lying on the bed of arrows, sharing his life's wisdom as he awaits death.
Thursday Event on Campus: There will be a candlelight vigil hosted by Sooners Against Sweatshops (SAS) at 6:30PM in the South Oval to honor garment factory workers around the world who have been harmed or who have lost their lives as a result of poor factory working conditions (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
Featured Resource: Bizzell Library Labyrinth. The Meditation Labyrinth in Bizzell opened on November 17, and it will be available through finals week. The image below shows some of the patterns that are available, and I've also included a video clip as well. You can read more in this OU Daily article, and you can also learn more at the SparqLabyrinth website.
Note: You can page back through older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed.
