Saturday, April 7

Today is Saturday of Week 11. I hope you are enjoying the weekend despite the winter weather!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Success Tip: Learn new words. Keep an eye out for words you don't know, and look them up! If you read Chelsea's story about turtles, for example, you will learn that a lot of turtles is called... a bale (like a herd of cattle or a flock of sheep). More about bales of turtles.

Project Stack. On Friday, I replied to all the assignments that had been turned in earlier during the week; if you turned in something on Friday, you'll be at the top of the stack when I get back to work on Monday. During the weekend, I'll update the stack periodically so that you can check to make sure that I received your email.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. We need more dinosaur stories in this class! Here's one from Stephan this week, inspired by a jataka story: Cretaceous Kindness.

And hey, if you missed this wonderful video in the announcements earlier this week, check out Samuel Jackson as T Rex: Tyrannosaurus Funk.

India Item. You can learn about Rabindranath Tagore, one of the greatest writers in modern India, in this BBC radio show: Tagore: Unlocking Cages.

Myth Video: Some of you may have read Lauren's story, Dish and Spoon, which was inspired by the Platonic legend of the soulmates. Here are two videos about that legend: The Myth of the Missing Half and The Origin of Love (from the amazing film Hedwig and the Angry Inch).

India Comic Book: Today's comic book is The Churning of the Ocean. See the Amar Chitra Katha blog for the Bizzell Reserve call number and more information.

Proverb of the Day: Today's proverb is inspired by a fable about a monkey and a cat: Be not made a cat's paw. Find out more at the Proverb Laboratory.

Writing: Yet more proof that punctuation saves lives.

H.E.A.R.T.: If you are thinking about the "light at the end of the tunnel" as the semester comes to an end, ponder the tunnel.

Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is inspired: Creativity allows you to express yourself. You can find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Video: Here's another video from the Sprouts YouTube channel: Focused and Diffused Thinking: The Ping Pong Technique.

Event on Campus: The Medieval Fair is this weekend in Reaves Park, 10AM-7PM (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

April 7: Ravi Shankar. Today is the birthday of the amazing Indian musician, Ravi Shankar, one of the modern masters of the sitar. He was born in 1920, and he died in 2012. You can read about Ravi Shankar's life and career at his official website and in this Wikipedia article, which is the source for this photo of Ravi Shankar with George Harrison of the Beatles, back in 1967. You can also find some great Ravi Shankar videos at YouTube.com - such as this wonderful video of Shankar's appearance on the Dick Cavett show. He left us with much beautiful music!

Last year's Google Doodle was in honor of Ravi Shankar's birthday:

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