Sunday, March 3

Today is Sunday of Week 7, so that means you need to finish up the Week 7 assignments today if you have not done that already, along with any extra credit you want/need to do. Here is a link to Week 7, and here is a link to Week 8, which is a Review Week; I hope you will enjoy the change of pace!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Half-way done! The end of Week 7 marks the end of the first half of the semester (14 weeks total, plus Dead Week). You can check your class progress, and on Monday afternoon I'm supposed to enter mid-term progress grades. To be passing the class at the end of Week 7, you should have around 150 points; if your goal is to get an A in the class, you should have around 200 points.

Project Stack. I'll update the stack periodically as people turn in those assignments today, and you can always check the stack to make sure I received your email. The sooner you turn in your project, the sooner you'll get comments back from me next week!

Special Request. (repeat announcement) A student from this class last semester, Muneeb Ata, is doing a survey and would like your input. He is looking at post-undergraduate labor mobility and job opportunities in Oklahoma. Here is the link: SURVEY.

From Muneeb: Students who take this survey will not only be helping in creating more niche job/internship growth in Oklahoma, but will also enter a drawing to win $50, and it takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. I noticed this delightful storytelling style in Daara's blog: A Letter to the Author. It's a letter to R. K. Narayan about the deer in his books! And it's signed "yours deerly," as you can see:

Free Book Online. Today's free book is The Long Grass Whispers by Geraldine Elliot. These are stories of the Ngoni people who live in southeast-central Africa.

Free Audiobook. Today's free audiobook is The White Elephant and Other Tales from India by Georgene Faulkner, with illustrations by Frederick Richardson.

Featured Storybook. This Storybook is about the Hindu creation myth known as the "Churning of the Ocean of Milk," or Samudra Manthan.

India Video. There are other creation stories from India too: Hindu Creation Stories.

Myth Video. Here's a Crash Course video about creation myths: Social Orders and Creation Stories.

Writing. There's active voice, and passive voice... and passive-aggressive voice.

And here's something to ponder as you ponder the second half of the semester: Constant Change.

Growth Mindset Cats. Today's growth mindset cat bounces back from defeat: Sometimes you win, sometimes you . . . learn.

And here are some profound thoughts about time for the end of the week: The Secret Powers of Time.

Event on Campus. The OU Iranian Student Association presents a concert by Iranian singer-songwriter Mohsen Namjoo in Meacham; doors open at 5PM for the 6PM concert:

Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.

March 3: Hinamatsuri. Today, March 3, is the Hinamatsuri holiday in Japan, the "Doll Festival," which is a festival of good luck for young girls. You can read more about the holiday in this Wikipedia article. This image shows a Hinamatsuri doll displayed at the festival in 2005 in the city of Kounos, near Tokyo:


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