The Plan

Matt FarmerUncategorized

Hi everyone. Here’s my plan for our shift to an online format. Officially, this will only be for the next few weeks, but between you and me, I think it is very unlikely that the college will resume in-person classes this semester, so we should plan to make this work for the rest of the term.

UPDATE: NEW FINAL PROJECT AND PORTFOLIO INSTRUCTIONS; WEEKLY READING DIARY POSTS REDUCED TO 3; READINGS NOW LABELED REQUIRED VS OPTIONAL

Major Takeaways

  • You will still earn credit.
    • I know there will be scheduling complications and technical difficulties. This is all new to me too: I’ve never taught online before.
    • BUT I guarantee that everyone who makes a good faith effort to participate in the rest of the semester will earn a good grade and receive credit for this course.
  • Health and safety are the most important things right now.
    • Rabelais has waited 500 years for you to read his work. He’s not going anywhere.
    • I want this transition to be as low pressure as possible.
    • I’ll do everything I can to make sure the course continues smoothly, but if life gets in our way, we’ll handle it together.
    • Practice self-care: prioritize your health and follow official recommendations. If you’ve found good pop culture distractions, share them on this thread; if you’re looking for distractions, see what other people have shared!.
  • Take care of each other.
    • This is a stressful time for everyone. Everyone will face their own set of challenges. Some things may be easier or harder for you than for other people; don’t assume you know what others are going through, or judge them if they are struggling.
    • I’m going to be doing everything I can to make all this work, but there are going to be issues; please be understanding with me and with your fellow students, and do what you can to support each other.

Key Changes

  • Delayed semester schedule
    • I’ve pushed our schedule back one week, to give us time to adjust to the new format. This will mean dropping Comedy of Errors, but we’ll still get to read (and hopefully watch) The Merry Wives of Windsor.
    • I plan to assign fewer readings; we’ll keep our focus on primary material for now.
    • If we decide we need a slower pace in this new format, we’ll decide together what that should look like.
  • Asynchronous work
    • From now on, we will only attempt to meet “live” once per week, on Thursdays, from 1-2pm eastern, on Zoom (see below)
    • We’ll be shifting the rest of our work into discussions on the course website, including Appetizer presentations.
    • My goal here is to make things as flexible as possible; if even one Zoom meeting per week turns out to be too difficult, we’ll make further adjustments together.
  • Book
    • For those of you who don’t have your textbook with you, here is a scan of Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel, in the assigned translation, lovingly produced for us by librarian Dawn Heckert.
  • Zoom Meetings
    • We’ll meet over Zoom (the BiCo video meeting platform) instead of in person.
    • You can also use Zoom to meet with me privately or with other students.
    • To set up Zoom:
  • Indulgences and the Contribution Diary…
    • are dead.
    • Instead, I’m simply asking that everyone make a good faith effort to participate as fully as possible for the rest of the semester.
    • Nearly all contributions will now be on the course webpage, so you don’t need to track things independently
    • If you’re not able to do assigned work or attend meetings, just keep me informed.
  • Reading Diary
    • We’ll be moving much of our conversation into the Reading Diary.
    • I’ll now ask you to post by 5pm three times per week: on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
  • Appetizers
    • Instead of live presentations, Appetizer presenters will now host their own conversation as a discussion on the website, similar to the Reading Diary
    • See the new Appetizer Instructions for presenter details: you’ll post your prompt by 5pm Sunday, reply to students in your group by 5pm Tuesday, and post a reflection comment by 5pm Friday
    • During weeks when you’re not presenting, you’ll be assigned to respond to one Appetizer prompt: you’ll post your initial response on Monday, the presenter will respond on Tuesday, and then you’ll post on Wednesday and Thursday.
  • Final Project & Portfolio
  • Grades
    • These changes will entail some major changes to our specification grading setup.
    • I’m still thinking through that, but the bottom line is, everyone who makes a good faith effort will earn a good grade: I promise that the shift to online learning will not impact anyone’s grade.

An Online Week

Here is what a typical online week will look like.

During weeks when you are NOT presenting an Appetizer:

  • Monday
    • Begin the reading for the week
    • Post a comment in your assigned Appetizer group by 5pm
    • Post a comment in the Reading Diary by 5pm
  • Tuesday
    • Complete the first half of the week’s reading
    • Post a comment in the Reading Diary by 5pm
  • Wednesday
    • Begin the second half of the week’s reading
    • Post a comment in your assigned Appetizer group by 5pm
    • Post a comment in the Reading Diary by 5pm
  • Thursday
    • Zoom class meeting begins at 1pm eastern time
    • Before class, complete the week’s reading
    • Before class, post a comment in your assigned Appetizer group
    • If you’re presenting an Appetizer next week, email me your idea

During weeks when you ARE presenting an Appetizer

  • Sunday
    • By 5pm, post your Appetizer prompt
  • Monday
    • Begin the reading for the week
  • Tuesday
    • Complete the first half of the week’s reading
    • By 5pm, post an Intervention / Redirection comment in your Appetizer discussion
  • Wednesday
    • Begin the second half of the week’s reading
  • Thursday
    • Zoom class meeting begins at 1pm eastern time
    • Before class, complete the week’s reading
    • Before class, read over the discussion in your Appetizer discussion, and be prepared to share a few comments during the class meeting.
    • If you’re presenting an Appetizer next week, email me your idea
  • Friday
    • by 5pm, post a Reflection comment in your Appetizer discussion.