Final Announcements for ... forever :-)

Well, people, here we are. The end of Spring semester. For many of you, the end of your OU undergraduate career: CONGRATULATIONS to all you graduating seniors! And, for me, retirement after a 22-year career at OU. I am hoping we are all going to have a beautiful summer, seeing what new adventures life brings next.

Some information about finishing up the class:

Check your blogs for comments. People have been leaving comments on blog posts and blog comment walls up until the last day of class, including Friday morning, so you might take a look at the comments on your blog to see if you find anything new.

Comments from me. I think I managed to comment on every Portfolio and Storybook story that people turned in, but last week was really hectic, so if you were expecting comments back from me and did not receive them, just let me know! (And my apologies if I did lose something in the last week shuffle; it was hectic for everybody, including me, ha ha.)

Reid's Survey. Some people have also been adding stories and other cool stuff to their projects here at the end, so if you had a favorite project, you might want to take a look and see if there is anything new (Myth-Folklore and Indian Epics). For example, Reid added this very cool survey to his Storybook site, so you can vote on which afterlife Atticus should choose! Here's a screenshot; if you read any of Atticus's afterlife adventures, maybe you will want to go vote:

Grades. I filed grades in the Banner System on Friday afternoon. Again, congratulations to everybody on your good work! I know this semester was a really hard one, and everybody can be proud of the work you did for this class.

Tiny Tales: contributions still open! I'm working on the microfiction anthology right now. On Saturday, I'll be adding in the story people gave me on Thursday and Friday, and I hope to finish editing on Sunday so I can publish the book on Monday (I'll send around an email to everybody when it's ready). That means if you want to send me your 100-word fiction(s) on Saturday, I can still include them! You might get some ideas from looking at the draft so far: book draft. Just send me an email with your contribution(s), plus the author credit you prefer: name, initials, pseudonym, or anonymous; all options are good.

Course Evaluations. The window is open at eval.ou.edu, and your feedback is really important, especially for the online course program. The only reason these online courses exist is because students find them valuable: your support for online courses matters! This is my last semester teaching at OU, but of course I hope the online course program will continue (I am a believer in the power of online courses), and if you want to see online courses offered in the future, this is a chance for you to share your thoughts about that.

And, last but not least, I want to express my appreciation to everybody for sticking with this class during yet another pandemic semester and doing such good work on all your projects and stories. I have had a wonderful last semester here, and it is all because of your generosity and creativity in your work: THANK YOU.

~ ~ ~

I thought you might enjoy this amazing video of Eric Whitacre's virtual choir, composed of thousands of voices singing together to tell a beautiful story of hope and change: Fly to Paradise.

And in the spirit of summer-coming-soon of course I have to share this Maati Baani - Vidya Vox video: Summer Love.

As always, see the

Online Myth India Twitter stream for more...

(I'll still be tweeting there even after I finish at OU)

Thursday, May 6

Today is Thursday of Week 15. It is the last full day of class, and I hope everybody will be able to finish up! (The class is over tomorrow, Friday, at noon.) Here is a link to all of this week's assignments, and if you have any questions about finishing, let me know!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Story Lab: Microfiction. There's a Story Lab option for this week, and if you have not looked at the microfiction options, it's not too late to give that a try; perhaps you will write something you want to include in the class anthology! Here is last semester's anthology

Friday noon. The class will be over on Friday at noon. When you have the points you need (410/A, 360/B, 320/C), you can fill out this form to let me know you are done. And remember, the Week 14 project feedback and blog comments items are available there in the Week 15 module too; it would be great if you want to do those so that people can get some comments on their stories even at this late moment in the semester.

Project stack. Yesterday I worked most of the day on the microfiction anthology; I'll be sharing that around with people today, hoping you will contribute. So that means the stack is still large; I still have a few new stories in there to read. As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. A cute gif from the check-in-and-connect Padlet about how the semester has FLOWN by:

Here's a fun video from Vox: Why knights fought snails in medieval art.

And a First Nations Literacy video: The Ojibway Creation Story.

This is an unusual word from mythology: SYRINGE. It comes from Greek syrinx, which refers to a tube or pipe, including a musical pipe, and that Greek word goes with a story about a nymph named Syrinx (Σύριγξ).

And musical fun from Maati Baani: Funky Pawa.

Choosing names is often an important part of telling a story, and here are some charts that show name popularity over time.

And if you're feeling overwhelmed with homework, maybe your dog can help.

These are some items from the announcements back in Week 9:

Something from Crash Course about trees:

Some advice for writing, specifically for scientific writing: keep it short! This could have been shorter.

Positive thoughts from Grant Snider: Optimism (larger view).

May 6. On this day in 1940, John Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, The Grapes of Wrath. You can find out more about Steinbeck, and more about the novel, at Wikipedia. You can listen to the novel at YouTube:

And if you want to learn more about the dustbowl and what it meant for Oklahoma and neighboring states, I highly recommend the Ken Burns documentary, Dustbowl.

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for the previous week's announcements.

Wednesday, May 5

Today is Wednesday of Dead Week (Week 15). Here is a link to this week's items. All the assignments are ready to go; no need to wait! I hope you will be able to finish the class today or tomorrow; the class is over on Friday at noon. If you have any questions about that, let me know!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Project Stack. Yesterday I read through all projects from people who are not done with the class yet, and today I'll start sending back comments to those of you who are already done with the class. As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email.

Course Evaluations.The window is open at eval.ou.edu, and your feedback is really important, especially for the online course program .The only reason these online courses exist is because students find them valuable: your support for online courses matters! This is my last semester teaching at OU, but of course I hope the online course program will continue (I am a believer in the power of online courses), and if you want to see online courses offered in the future, this is a chance for you to share your thoughts about that.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. A very cool Wikipedia Trail from Dalton: From Brahma to Mahavidya, which are the aspects of the goddess, Devi, as you can see here:

For some music, another beautiful Maati Baani video: Jao Priya.

And here's a story from India: Rahu-Ketu, the Eclipse Demon (you can click here for a transcription of the story).

This is a Cherokee storyteller, Robert Lewis, talking about The First Fire.

And here's a surprising English word from Greek mythology: MORPHINE, which takes its name from the god Morpheus.

Some inspiring thoughts by the great fantasy writer, Neil Gaiman.

Did you get a good night's sleep last night? Here's some information about sleep and the brain (and you can click here for a transcription of the infographic).

These are some items from the announcements back in Week 9:

Another lovely comic from Grant Snider (larger view):

Something about monsters from Crash Course:

And perhaps you have heard of Cerberus, the three-headed hound of hell in Greek mythology? Well, here is puppy Cerberus! :-)

Plus a cat to inspire your reading (via Sudesna Ghosh) if you are doing a reading item today:

May 5: Cinco de Mayo. In Mexico, the Cinco de Mayo holiday is not a national holiday (it is celebrated mainly in the state of Puebla, in east-central Mexico), but in other countries, especially the United States, Cinco de Mayo has become an important holiday to celebrate Hispanic cultural heritage and traditions. You can read more about the holiday in this Wikipedia article, which is also the source for this great image of a children's Cinco de Mayo parade in Minnesota:

Some chill music for a Cinco de Mayo celebration:

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

Tuesday, May 4

Today is Tuesday of Week 15; here's a link to all the Week 15 items. If you are doing the reading this week, you'll want to do the Reading A today per the usual schedule... and working ahead is definitely good too since this week is short, ending on Friday at noon.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Finishing the class. When you have the points you need (410-A, 360-B, 320-C), you can fill out the "Finished" form that you will see in Canvas: you're all done! 

Week 14 comments/feedback. The Week 14 blog comments and project feedback assignments are still available in Canvas; you'll see them at the top of Week 15, and they'll be available all week until Friday at noon. So, if you didn't get those done for Week 14, you can do them now if you want, and I'll be very grateful if you choose to do that: the commenting gets very ragged here at the end of the semester, and it's nice when people can get some comments on their work.

Project Stack. I'm focusing right now on the items where people need comments back from me to do the Week 15 final revisions. I hope to get through the rest of those today, and then I'll move on to the rest of the items in the stack. Thank you for your patience with that different approach this week! Meanwhile, you can check the stack to make sure I received your form.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Charley has a wild Wikipedia Trail that goes from "Animal Sacrifice in Hinduism" to "Brigitte Bardot," via the Gadhimai Temple of Kali in southern Nepal:

A video for today from Crash Course: I'm sure you know Maui is the name of an island, but did you know he was a hero too? Ma'ui, Oceania's Hero.

Plus here is some beautiful music from Maati Baani in India for some good feels during Dead Week: Tore Matware Naina.

And some beautiful thoughts from the philosopher Alan Watts, with music by Hans Zimmer (Interstellar):

This is an Estonian proverb with a photo of one of the famous dwarves of Wroclaw in Poland: The one who is not strong enough to lift the stone must roll it. This is good advice for the end of semester: just keep rolling that stone!

And if you find yourself in a negative space, here are some tips for managing negative thoughts.

For a visual illustration of some of these same ideas, check out Grant Snider on the trap of negative thinking (larger view). It all depends on how you look at it!

These are some items from the announcements back in Week 8:

A PSA from India featuring divine examples to promote helmet safety: What Gods wear before they ride.

Something cool for any fans of Outlander: Sam Heughan Wants to Tell You a Story.

And finally, some typo humor from Tom Gauld.

Star Wars Day. Yes, May the Fourth has arrived... so, without further ado: MAY THE FOURTH be with you! You can read more about this Star Wars holiday at Wikipedia.

And of course I have to share Tushar Lall's India-themed Star Wars music:

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

Monday, May 3

Today is Monday of Week 15 (a.k.a. Dead Week), the last week of the semester! Here is a link to this week's assignments.

Update: You will see that the Week 14 blog comments and project feedback assignments are still available in Canvas; I have moved them to the top of Week 15. I made those still available so that if you missed those items and want to do them, you still can. It's very helpful if you want to do those because the commenting gets very ragged here at the end, and it's nice when people can get some comments on their work even at the very end of the semester like this.

Class Procedures and Reminders

Dead Week. If you have not finished the class yet, you can use this week's assignments to get to your goal; the key thing is to make sure you complete all your work for the course by Friday at noon. As soon as you have the points you need (410-A, 360-B, 320-C), you are done. Just fill out the "Finished" form that you will find there in Canvas, and you are good to go!

Project Stack. As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email. I'm focusing first on the assignments from people who are not done with class yet, starting with the new stories people turned in for Week 14, and then moving on to the other Week 14 and Week 15 assignments. Thank you for your patience while I work through the stack this week, focusing first on people who need comments back for their Week 15 project.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Someone added this super-adorable gif to the check-in-and-connect Padlet: waving bye for the end of the semester!

This is a fascinating infographic about religion that shows the distinctive presence of Hinduism in India: World Map of Religions.

This is a Smithsonian video on Native American Ledger Art.

Plus some thoughts from Grant Snider about keeping A Writer's Notebook.

These are some items from the announcements back in Week 7:

Something very cool and weird from the British Library: an art form called nari-kunjara, an elephant (kunjara) made of women (nari):

Chris found this amazing statue of Bhima for his reading notes post. It's from Bali, in Indonesia, where the Mahabharata is extremely popular (both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are well known beyond the borders of India).

For your listening pleasure, talking drums of Africa:

And from Crash Course: African Pantheons and the Orishas.

Plus... dragons!

For fans of dragons and/or Latin: A serpent, unless it devours a serpent, will not become a dragon. And for those of you who have studied Latin: Serpens, ni edat serpentem, draco non fiet.

May 3: Pete Seeger. Almost one hundred years ago today, on May 3 of 1919, Pete Seeger was born, and he left this world just a few years ago, in 2014. You can read more about Pete Seeger's career in this Wikipedia article, and I've included two videos here: a concert performance by Peter Seeger and Arlo Guthrie (son of Woody Guthrie), and a recent video from Amnesty International with Peter Seeger performing the Dylan classic, Forever Young.

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

Final Announcements: Fall 2020

You have reached the end of Week 15... CONGRATULATIONS to everybody on finishing up this class during this long and hard semester! The class will be over today, Friday, at noon, and below is some important information about the end of the class:

Tiny Tales: contributions still open! I'm working on the microfiction anthology right now and I hope to finish editing on Sunday so I can publish on Monday (I'll send around an email to everybody when the book is ready). That means if you want to send me your 100-word story (or stories) today or on Saturday, that would be great. More information here: Anthology. You might get some ideas from looking at the draft so far: book draft. Just send me an email with your contribution(s), plus the author credit you prefer: name, initials, pseudonym, or anonymous; all options are good!

Check your blogs for comments. People have been leaving comments on blog posts and blog comment walls up until the last day of class, including Friday morning, so take a look at the comments on your blog to see if you find anything new.

Blogs and Websites. I hope very much that you will want to leave your Storybooks and Portfolios online so that future students can use them for ideas and inspiration; more information here: Storybook and Blog Options.

Class Announcements. If you are subscribed to the class announcements by email, you can decide if you want to stay on the list or unsubscribe (there is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email). Each semester the announcements are a mix of new and old items, so perhaps you would enjoy staying on the list just for fun.

Grades. I'll be filing the grades in the Banner System on Friday afternoon. Again, congratulations to everybody on your good work. I know this semester was a really hard one, and everybody can be proud of the work you did for this class!

Course Evaluation. If you have not filled out the course evaluation yet at eval.ou.edu, I hope you will take a minute to do that — more than ever before your feedback really matters. OU needs to find out what works well in online courses, and what does not work well... and you are now the experts since you have probably had multiple online classes this semester. So, if you have a minute to spare, please fill out the course evaluation. The return rate so far this semester has been lower than usual, which is totally understandable, but at the same time this is also the semester when your feedback is incredibly important. And think about it this way: when participation is lower, that just increases your chances of winning a prize in the raffle afterwards: maybe someone in this class will win a new iPad!

Advice Padlet. There is a Padlet to share advice with future students, and some of you may have already added some advice there back in Week 14 (thank you for that!). If you have other thoughts to add, please feel free to do that now: Advice Padlet. (This Padlet is the source for the advice you see popping up in the sidebar of the blog too.)

And, last but not least, a big THANK YOU to everybody for sticking with this class during this pandemic semester and doing such good work on all your projects and stories. I am really grateful for that, and I hope the new year ahead will hold better things for all of us: 2021 will be here VERY soon!

~ ~ ~

Finally, I thought you might enjoy this amazing video of Eric Whitacre's virtual choir, composed of thousands of voices singing together to tell a beautiful story of hope and change: Fly to Paradise.

As always, see the

Online Myth India Twitter stream for more...

Final Announcements for Spring 2019

HAPPY FRIDAY! You have reached the end of Week 15... and the end of the class! Today at NOON is the deadline for any remaining work you want to turn in. Below you will find some important information about the end of the class:

Check your blogs for comments. People have been leaving comments on blog posts and blog comment walls up until the last day of class, so take a look at the comments on your blog to see if there is anything new.

Blogs and Websites. I hope very much that you will want to leave your Storybooks and Portfolios online; more information here: Storybook and Blog Options.

Class Announcements. If you are subscribed to the class announcements by email, you can decide if you want to stay on the list or unsubscribe (there is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email). Each semester the announcements is a mix of new and old items, so perhaps you would enjoy staying on the list just for fun. :-)

Grades. You can see your total points in Canvas (410/A, 360/B, 320/C, 301/D), and I'll file the grades on Friday afternoon.

Course Evaluation. If you have not filled out the course evaluation yet at eval.ou.edu, I hope you will take a minute to do that — you might even win an iPad! Plus the course evaluations will now be used in an app for OU students, making them way more useful than before; read more about that at the OU Daily: OU Course Eval app.

Advice Padlet. There is a Padlet to share advice with future students, and some of you may have already added some advice there back in Week 14. Just click on the plus button in the lower right-hand corner if you want to add your thoughts: Advice Padlet.

And, last but not least, a big THANK YOU to everybody for all your great work in this class. I had a wonderful time this semester, and I hope you had fun too!

~ ~ ~

For a video today, I thought you might enjoy this amazing recording of Eric Whitacre's virtual choir, composed of thousands of voices singing together to tell a beautiful story: Fly to Paradise.

And here are Calvin and Hobbes
wishing you a summer full of adventure:

As always, see the Online Myth India Twitter stream for more...

Thursday, May 2

Today is Thursday of Week 15. It is the last full day of class, and I hope everybody will be able to finish up! Here is a link to all of this week's assignments, and if you have any questions about finishing, let me know!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Friday noon. The class will be over on Friday at noon. When you have the points you need (410/A, 360/B, 320/C), you can fill out this form to let me know you are done.

Project stack. Yesterday I replied to all the assignments in the stack of people who needed comments back from me to finish the class, and today I should be able to get through all the rest of the revision assignments in the stack. As always, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. Here's an encouraging graphic from Smith's blog: NOW: No Opportunity Wasted.

Free Book Online. Today's free book is Sacred Tales of India by D. N. Neogi .

Free Audiobook. Today's free audiobook is from New Zealand: Maoriland Fairy Tales by Edith Howes.

Featured Storybook. This lovely Storybook is made with Wix: Project Runway: Indian Epics Edition. You will see both beautiful clothes and beautiful stories here about Ulupi the Asura Princess, Noor Jahan the Mughal Queen, and Ganges the River Goddess. Which fashion designer do you think won this season's contest?

Myth Video. Here's a fun one from Vox: Why knights fought snails in medieval art.

Myth Video. And here's a First Nations Literacy video: The Ojibway Creation Story.

Myth Item. This is an unusual word from mythology: SYRINGE. It comes from Greek syrinx, which refers to a tube or pipe, including a musical pipe, and that Greek word goes with a story about a nymph named Syrinx (Σύριγξ).

India Video. Here's a fun one from Maati Baani for Friday: Funky Pawa.

Writing. Choosing names is often an important part of telling a story, and here are some charts that show name popularity over time.

And if you're feeling overwhelmed with homework, maybe your dog can help.

Growth Mindset Cats. Meanwhile, the growth cats are always curious: Confront the unknown with curiosity.

Plus some advice from learning expert Barbara Oakley: Turn Information into Intelligence.

Events on Campus.There will be a performancea at 7PM in Pitman Recital Hall of Selma Merbaum: Songs From A Life Cut Short, a multimedia performance for Yom Ha-Shoah celebrating the work of a Jewish-Romanian poet who died in the Holocaust at the age of 18 (details).

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

May 2: Yom Ha-Shoah. Today is Yom Ha-Shoah, the "Day of the Holocaust," in remembrance of the victims of the Nazis. You can read more about this memorial holiday in Wikipedia, and also learn about the term Shoah. This image below is the Hall of Names from Yad Vashem:

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for the previous week's announcements.