First class, sniff, cancelled.

January 26, 2015

Hello everyone--
Due to the impending blizzard, the UMass Boston campus will close at 3pm, and as a result, our class will be cancelled.  We'll do a virtual version of the first class and pick up next week with the second class as scheduled on the syllabus.  The only differences between this syllabus and the draft syllabus I circulated over the break are: 1. the model class you will teach will be 30 minutes long instead of 40, and 2. The first poet we will tackle is Emily Dickinson.
Here's what you need to do in lieu of our class meeting:
1. Freewrite/Introductions. As you watch the snow fall, write (by hand) for 15-20 minutes in response to this prompt: what’s the best literature lesson—not a literature course, but an individual day in class—you can remember? What made it so good? How can you make that happen for somebody else? If you are not familiar with freewriting, it's exactly what it sounds like. Just write without worrying about sentence structure, spelling, or your internal editor. After you're done, set it aside for at least a day, then edit it for coherence, correct the presentation errors and email it to me at betsy.klimasmith@umb.edu. I will post the highlights from these on the class blog with your name attached in lieu of going around the seminar table and introducing ourselves as we would have done tonight.  As a reminder, our class blog address is http://engl611s15.blogspot.com/
2. Syllabus. Read the syllabus. Write down any questions you have. Email them to me (betsy.klimasmith@umb.edu) by 11pm tonight. I will post a syllabus FAQ page on the blog.  To answer your first question, YES, you will do your Feed minilessons next week.
3. Sign up for your model class. Please let me know your top three choices for the night you will teach your model class. Please note that if you are teaching the poetry class on April 27th, you may choose your own poet(s) for the class.  If you are sending questions about the syllabus, you can add your model class preferences at the ed of that email.
4. Feed discussion: If anyone's interested in doing an online chat this evening at 8:30, send an email to me and, if enough people are interested, I (in my supersecret guise as prof.klimasmith@gmail.com) will invite you to join a google chat. I have never tried this before, but since we don't all have our feeds implanted yet, it might be worth trying.
I think that's all. Stay warm, enjoy the storm, and I'll see you when it's all over--
Betsy