Class Procedures and Reminders
Deadlines and Reminders. I learned a lot from reading the Reflection posts last week (thank you for all the good ideas!), and the main thing that surprised me was how many people are doing the work for this class without a schedule, just "catch as catch can" based on the grace period reminders. Given that the class requires around 6-8 hours of work per week, to do the work without a schedule really sounds stressful, and I am hoping I can urge more of you to make your own schedule. So, I revised this page to try to make it more helpful: How to Design Your Own Schedule. In addition, I will try sending out due date reminders in addition to the grace period reminders. Perhaps that will help people do the work on the due date. Even better: just to save yourself from the emails, you might start working a day or two ahead of the due dates, and then you won't get any of those reminder emails at all!
Project Progress. Please make sure you check the Project Progress item at the top of the D2L Gradebook to find out what project assignment you have due for Week 8, especially if you did not turn in a project last week. If you have any questions about that, let me know!
Assignment Stack. As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your Project assignment; I'll be updating the stack periodically over the weekend. To get comments back sooner rather than later, turn in your assignment in the morning or afternoon today — if you wait until Sunday evening, you'll have a longer wait for comments back from me.
Indian Epics Reading Options. (repeat announcement) During Weeks 9-14, there is a huge range of reading options for Indian Epics, and I will also be adding new options based on specific interests of specific students, like the videos by Devdutt Pattanai below. To keep up with the new options I am adding check the latest entries in the Reading Guides blog. Whenever I add something new to the list of options, I'll be sure to feature that new content with a new blog post. I'm excited to see what you think of the different reading options!
Update: The IT Sunday maintenance window is complete; you should not have any trouble accessing your OU email or D2L.
The following items are for fun and exploration:
The Great Language Game. I know some of you are also keen students of foreign languages, so here's a fun game to play: listen to the audio, and see if you can identity the language being spoken!
Featured Storybook: Legends of Fire. Deep in the woods is a tavern, and sitting around a table in that tavern are four wild-looking men: dragon-hunters! Listen to the stories of what happened when they confronted mighty dragons all over the world, from Scotland to Turkey to India.
Free Book Online: The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This blog post provides additional information about this book (including a free audiobook version). This classic of American poetry is one of the reading options this coming week in Myth-Folklore!
India Feature: Videos by Devdutt Pattanaik. This blog post provides additional information about this "reading" (viewing/listening) option for Indian Epics: these are the "Seven Secrets" videos which I've been sharing in the announcements here, along with a lecture by Pattanaik on Karna, Kumbhakarna, and Kamsa. At 4 hours of video, that is good for one or two weeks of reading. I've embedded the playlist here:
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is A penny saved is a penny earned (an English proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. So, increase your income: save your pennies!
Today's Video: Tore Matware Naina. This is one of my favorite Maati Baani videos, this time featuring the French singer Joy Shanti.
Growth Mindset: I made a compilation of people's growth mindset blog posts during Week 6 and Week 7, and this wonderful graphic comes from that post:
Note: You can page back through the older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed, and you can check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day.
