If you completed the Considerations for Online Learning Survey, I have attempted to take your concerns and suggestions into account in planning for our second week. Thus, here are some reminders, the agenda for our class tomorrow, and a suggested workflow for your week:

Week 1 Reminders

If you’re still adjusting to the workflow and due dates for our class, here’s a recap of what’s due today (Friday 1/29) by 5pm, taken from the Calendar on D2L:

  • Annotations of the Syllabus, Calendar, and Grading Contract—you don’t need to “submit” annotations to me, as I will automatically see your comments in the Google Docs as soon as you enter them (D2L)
  • Considerations for Online Learning Survey (D2L)
  • Introduce Yourself! (Slack #general)
  • HW 1 – Subreddit Shortlist (Slack #homework)

All writing assignments, including peer review forms, essay drafts, and Slack posts, are due Fridays at 5pm unless indicated otherwise.

When I go through the Syllabus, Calendar, and Grading Contract this weekend, I’ll record your assignment completion and will resolve your comments; and, based on those comments, make whatever changes I can as I go, which we will then discuss on Tuesday.

Because this was our first week, I’m not penalizing anyone for late or missed work, but I require that you submit the work you missed as soon as possible. It’s harder for me to offer feedback on late work, so if you submit late you may only receive a “check” for complete, not comments. Nevertheless, I will accept it as complete.

Finally, I encourage you to practice peer review by replying to your peers. Engaging with each other constructively–which is more than just “I agree/disagree” or “I like this comment”–demonstrates labor for the purposes of our class.

Week 2 Schedule of Work

I’ve opened the Week 2 module on D2L so you can begin at least the “Review” work for next week. This agenda is in the course calendar, but as a reminder, this week you are responsible for the following by our live Zoom session on Tuesday:

  • Week 1 work you didn’t complete
  • Read: Lamott, “Shitty First Drafts”
  • Watch:
    • Unit 1 Introduction
    • Critical Thinking and Pulp Fiction
  • Read: Formulating Controlling Ideas

I try to upload and caption any video lectures by Saturday night at the latest. If you don’t see the links there right away, just be patient!

It might make sense to do the above in the order I’ve listed. Try to stick to the class schedule, as doing work too far ahead of time usually leads to mistakes, revisions, complete do-overs, and frustration. We do some work sequentially or together in real-time for a reason.

So, in our live session on Tuesday 9/1, we will:

  • Discuss Lamott’s essay
  • Review Essay 1 Phase 1
  • Talk about reassessing and finalizing your subreddit selection
  • Begin completing the Community Features handout on D2L as a breakout rooms activity
  • Review how to formulate controlling ideas
  • Work with “exploitable” templates of controlling ideas, which are much like “exploitable” memes:
Left Exit 12 Off Ramp exploitable meme: A car veers left off the highway, with the highway and exit signs blank.
Left Exit 12 Off Ramp Meme: The highway sign reads, "A new year filled with new opportunities to better myself and make a difference," while Exit 12 reads "My BS." The car veers left off Exit 12.
Left off exit 12, anyone?

Office Hours

Office hours begin next week! If you don’t know what office hours are, Dr. Andrew Ishak at Santa Clara University has a dad-jokes-level funny video about it:

I will not be physically present on campus, as we are a fully online class, but I am available to you virtually by appointment during my scheduled office hours on Mondays (12pm-3pm) and Wednesdays (1pm-3pm), listed on the Syllabus and Calendar. The Calendar on D2L includes a link to schedule an appointment with me. Follow the prompts to set up an appointment, and you’ll receive an email with the time and Zoom information. I am also synchronously available on Slack on Thursdays when we don’t meet, and asynchronously outside of our scheduled class time.

If you were late with your Week 1 assignments and didn’t receive feedback, it might be a good idea to check in with in real-time and discuss what you need to do to keep moving forward.