Class Procedures and Reminders:
Storybook stack. As always on Monday, I will have a HUGE bunch of assignments in the Storybook stack that were turned in over the weekend or on Monday morning. The first thing I will do on Monday morning when I get to work is to update the list of items in the Storybook stack. So, after 8AM or so on Monday, you will be able to check the contents of the stack to make sure I received your assignment. I will then start reading the assignments in the order they were turned in. Please do not go on to the Week 3 Storybook assignment until you get Week 2 comments back from me (and the same is true for those of you who have turned in Week 3 or Week 4 assignments - please do not go on to the next Storybook assignment until you get my comments). I'll be updating the stack as I make my way through the assignments!
Late Storybooks. Each week, the Storybook assignment is the only assignment that can be turned in late for partial credit. Since I cannot get all the Storybooks graded and returned immediately, you can turn in the Storybook late for partial credit. If you want full credit (10 points) you must turn the Storybook in over the weekend or during the grace period on Monday morning. If you turn it in late, you can receive partial credit, as follows: on Monday after noon for 8 points; on Tuesday, 7 points; on Wednesday, 6 points. If you turn the Storybook assignment in on Thursday before noon, you can receive up to 5 points. No late Storybook assignments will be accepted after noon on Thursday.
Monday: Your chance to get ahead. Although being able to set your own schedule is one of the biggest benefits of an online class, most students in these classes do the assignments on the same day that they are due. Yet we all know that life is full of surprises, both good and bad. So, please try to work ahead and that way you are ready for any surprises that might come up! If you can take advantage of Monday to get ahead on the Week 3 assignments, that will give you a lot more freedom and flexibility, making the class a lot easier to manage.
The following items are for fun and exploration:
Writing Resource: GrammarCatz. Last summer, my grandson and I came up with the "GrammarCatz," LOLCats with corrected spelling and punctuation. You might enjoy it as a fun grammar review!
Featured Storybook: Celtic Creature Criminal Court. Even mischief-making fairies have rules that must be obeyed, and in this Storybook you will read about those fairy tale criminals who have broken the laws of fairyland. What will the courts decree as punishment for wicked fairies such as Willowflitter, Grumgottels, Rainwasp and Moonsplatter?
FREE Kindle eBook: Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg. Here is a link to the book at Amazon, and this blog post provides additional information about the contents of the book, along with links to the other volumes of this 4-volume series. This amazing book is a must-read in my opinion for anyone interested in the history of the Bible and its stories, and it is the source of several stories that I included in the Noah-Babel unit for Myth-Folklore this week.
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is A watched pot never boils (an English proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. This is one of those proverbs that is not literally true, but it still has some great metaphorical applications!
Ramayana Image: Today's Ramayana image is Forest Life, as Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana pass their years of exile, far from the royal court of Ayodhya.
Monday Event on Campus: There will be a Rice Krispie giveway in the Union first floor lobby from 11:30AM until 12:30PM (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
January 27: Holocaust Remembrance Day. January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, has been designated by the United Nations and many other countries as a day in remembrance of those who died in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II. The person I hold in my special remembrance for this day is Janusz Korczak (Wikipedia), a visionary educator who organized the Jewish orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1942, the Nazis raided Korczak's orphanage and sent the children to the death camp at Treblinka. Although Korczak's Polish friends begged him to escape and hide with them for the rest of the war (Korczak had been a famous teacher and radio celebrity in Poland before the war), he would not leave the children, and so he died together with them at Treblinka. This image below shows the Yad Vashem Memorial for Korczak and his children:
Note: You can page back through older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed.
