Monday, February 20

Today is Monday! Week 5 is now over... and Week 6 has begun. The new week's topic in the Myth-Folklore class is stories from Asia and Africa, and in Indian Epics you will be finishing the Mahabharata this week. You can find the new week's assignments at the Class Calendar.

Update: The Week 6 Project Feedback (Storybook) groups are ready to go.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Project Stack. As always on Monday, I will have a HUGE bunch of assignments in the Stack that were turned in over the weekend. I'll update the list of items in the Stack on Monday, and you'll be able to check the Stack to make sure I received your assignment. I will then start reading the assignments in the order they were turned in!

Project Commenting. In Week 6, you will start commenting on other people's Storybooks. After the grace period this morning, I'll be able to set up Project Feedback groups like the Portfolios last week; I'll say more about that in tomorrow's announcements.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Writing. Proofreading is not easy or fun, which is why we need all the proofreading humor we can get:

Reading. Reading is more fun than proofreading, but it can also be dangerous, as Grant Snider explains:

Spelling. This is an especially tricky pair: COMPLEMENT v. COMPLIMENT.

Featured Storybook. This project is from the Indian Epics class: Hanuman and the Naked Philosophers. Mark and his friends are in possession of an ancient Greek manuscript bearing the name Χάνουμαν — could this be a Greek account of Hanuman, the flying monkey god and most devoted follower of Rama?

Free Book Online: Today's free book is Japanese Demon Lore: Oni, From Ancient Times to the Present by Noriko T. Reider. See the Freebookapalooza blog for links and the table of contents. This is a recently published book, available for free online thanks to the generosity of the author and her publisher.

Words of Wisdom: Today's saying is When one door shuts, another opens (a Scottish proverb). Find out more at the Proverb Lab. I thought this would be a good proverb for the start of a new week!

Video: The video for today is Chinese Dynasties ("Vogue" by Madonna). There are more Amy Burvall videos at her History Teachers channel.

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset kitten is fearless: Every day new and larger dragons come along. You can find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Event on Campus: The OU Wind Symphony with OU Choirs present Eric Whitacre's Deep Field, which is inspired by the Hubble Telescope Deep Field images (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

February 20: World Day of Social Justice. The theme of the 2017 holiday is "Preventing conflict and sustaining peace through decent work." You can find out more at the United Nations website.

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for past announcements.