Some of you may be at home with time on your hands, while some of you may be facing serious emergencies. Whatever is going on, I don't want this class to add to your stress. If you are facing problems or have questions not answered here, get in touch with me, and I'll do what I can to help!
SPECIAL COVID-RELATED ANNOUNCEMENTS
Here are the changes I've made to the class for everybody, along with an important OU announcement that affects every class (P/NP grading option).
Flex Week. Before Break I had added something I called Flex Week to the Gradebook where I gave everybody a week's worth of credit (30 points). This is basically a week for you to take to cope with life. Maybe you need that week off right now; maybe you will need it later. Anyway, it's a week off from this class just to cope with all the chaos that is going on; I put those points in before Break, back on March 12.
Memorial Week. The "Memorial Week" is something I set up on Friday (March 20), thinking about how hard it is to not be coming back to classes, and even more so for those of you who are graduating. So, this is a week to take, now or later, to think about what that means for you and to honor the Class of 2020 and all your friends and family. More about that here: Making a Memorial Week.
With both Flex Week and Memorial Week, the points are already in Canvas, so you probably noticed the points bump. You'll see those "extra" weeks at the very bottom of the Gradebook with the regular weekly totals; they are labeled "Assignments" right before Week 1. You can decide when you need the time off and also when you want to take some time to reflect on this very unexpected semester...
OU's P/NP Policy. I was so glad to see that OU has adopted a P/NP policy, and it's a really good one. You will receive final grades in all your Spring courses as usual, but then after you see your final grade, you will be able to opt for P/NP if you want, and P classes will still count towards graduation requirements, including major courses. (For those of you who have friends at other schools without a P/NP policy yet, share this list with them of P/NP policies so they can advocate for a good P/NP policy at their school: Alternate Grading.)
P/NP in this class. They have told us to keep the grading the same as usual, so that means: 410 for an A, 360 for a B, 320 for a C, 301 for a D. In the new P/NP policy, "all grades of D or better in a course will convert to P (Pass)." So, that means you can opt to finish this class with 301 points, which you can then convert to a grade of P. in other words, I will turn in the letter grades as usual, and you will then choose to convert it to the P grade if you want, or you can keep your letter grade. That is going to be entirely up to you, which I think is really good.
Update (March 22): There is now a detailed FAQ about the new P/NP policy. If you have a question not answered there, let me know and I will relay that to Mark Morvant who is organizing this effort for OU.
Extra Flex. Some of you are probably dealing with heavy-duty stuff right now: housing, work, family, finances, so much stuff. If you need some more flexibility with the class, contact me about that: Extra Flex. Plus you might find some help from Sooners Helping Sooners, which is an OU effort to help with emergency needs.
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Okay, I think those are all the special announcements. I'll start back with regular announcements on Monday, but if there is anything important I need to add to this list of special announcements, let me know!
........... and now: SOME MUSIC. I don't know about you, but I've been listening to a lot of music to get through these days. I set up a Padlet inside Canvas where you can click and add a YouTube music video link. Do you have a song that is really helping you get through what's going on? Something powerful, or just a song to feel good and happy? Click and share your favorite music videos; we need all the music we can get! You'll see that Music link in the Canvas menu:
