Skip to main content

Snow Days

The university just canceled classes for Monday, January 26, so we can all hide out, drink hot chocolate, and try to figure out the rest of our lives. I have no idea how much longer the snow emergency will last (and some news outlets think we might be looking at several days), so I am using this somewhat more human way to communicate. Better than email.

Academic stuff

As I said Friday, college class schedules are tight enough that we cannot simply take a day off. (I have been grading your in-class papers this weekend, so I know what it’s like to do a working vacation.) You have two main tasks for our course:

  1. Pull your “Life Changing Experience” rough draft together for Wednesday. If we are in session that day, we will be exchanging papers so your fellow students can read them and write comments. (By the way, I asked for two paper printouts of your draft, but if you cannot get to a printer, I have a “Plan B” in mind.)
  2. Keep up with your daily Blackboard reading.

You would be really wise to pace yourself—and keep up with all your reading for your other courses as well. Perhaps you could simply follow your usual daily schedule of classes, but do it in your bedroom with your computer.

Non-academic stuff

I just looked out the back door (4 PM) and there's about a foot of snow on the ground. I think Rule #1 should be “Stay Safe.” At the moment, it is not quite illegal to drive anywhere, but you should have a very good reason to do so, and you should remember that if you get in trouble, emergency vehicles will have a difficult time getting to you. Snowball fights sound like fun, but it is going to be really cold (like minus 3°), so frostbite is a real issue. Stay wrapped up. Come in to warm up.

Cabin fever and brain rot are problems on days like this. There must be something more stimulating than yet another YouTube video or social media thing on your phone. (The term “Doom Scrolling” is really appropriate—just mindlessly clicking to fill the time without really reading anything.) See if you can find something interesting to read. (I am working my way, again, through Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship is just about to pack up and leave Lothlórien.)

Deep breaths. We can get through this one too.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 14 Announcement

As I look at the end-of-semester assignments, there’s a lot of stuff coming in quick succession—and from my perspective a lot of grading that I must do very quickly (according to the syllabus plan, 156 assignments for 102 plus 34 for 101). We both could use a little relief, so here’s what I’m going to do: The Research Paper and Final Portfolio/REI assignments will be unchanged. They are pieces of the course which must stay put. The Abstract is out. It is a very difficult, specialized kind of writing that we have not discussed, and it would take more time than we have available. It’s also very difficult to grade. The In-Class Final goes back to the original plan: something you can write with pen and paper and no outside resources. By the way, as I said previously, if you must be out of town on University business during our Final Exam time, I expect you to schedule a time to write it at the Ashland University...
Post a Comment
Read more

Getting the most from Library Day

  Monday, March 30, will be Library Day. We will meet in the Archer Library, and a member of the library staff will conduct the class. I wanted this to be earlier, but we had schedule conflicts, so now this is showing up pretty late in the research process. To get the most from the day, I am going to encourage you to arrive with specific questions about doing the research for this paper. If you think of a question earlier, so much the better. If you email the question to me, I will forward it to the library staff person.
Post a Comment
Read more