Class Procedures and Reminders
Project Stack. As usual I will have a HUGE stack of assignments that people turned in over the weekend. As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your assignment.
5 More Weeks! Yes, Week 11 begins today, so there are just five more weeks of school: Weeks 11-12-13-14-15. I hope you will make a plan for finishing up the class, choosing what assignments you want to work on, deciding on how many stories you want to include in your Portfolio or Storybook, etc. There are 150 points of regular assignments, plus extra credit, with more extra credit in Week 11 and Week 12 than in the last weeks of the semester, so definitely make your plan now! This week and next week are the last weeks when there will be extra credit blog comments and project feedback; you can scan down the list of assignments in D2L to see how that works, and if you have questions about any of that, let me know.
The following items are for fun and exploration:
History of the English Language. Click here for a full-sized version. I really like how there is a section of English words from from Hindi, Persian, Arabia, and Turkish sources.
Mythology Words in English: Today's mythology word in English is venereal, as in the name of the Roman goddess of love, Venus (Greek Aphrodite). For details, see this blog post.
Featured Storybook: Celtic Creature Criminal Court: Fairy Vice. 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 Book Online: House Of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde. This blog post provides additional information about this book. Did you know that Oscar Wilde wrote fairy tales? He did, and they are really lovely!
India Featured Book: The Story of the Great War: Some Lessons from the Mahabharata by Annie Besant. This blog post provides additional information about this reading option for Indian Epics. Annie Besant was a leading member of the Theosophy movement and also a supporter of Indian independence.
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is Behind the cloud is the sun still shining (words from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). Details at the Proverb Lab. It's literally true... and has great metaphorical implications too!
Today's Video: Beowulf ("99 Luftballons" by Nena). This is another one of Amy Burvall's wonderful mash-up videos.
Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is being brave: Confront your fears. Details at the blog.
Event on Campus: Free Massages from 9AM to 1PM in the Graduate Student Life Center in 304 Robertson Hall (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
April 4: Muddy Waters. Today marks the birthday in 1913 of McKinley Morganfield - better known as Muddy Waters! He is famous as the "father of the Chicago blues" although he was born in Missisippi; he moved to Chicago in 1940. You can read more about his life and career in this Wikipedia article; he died in 1983. The YouTube video below shows Muddy Waters and his band performing Got My Mojo Workin' in 1966.
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.
