Creative Writing 3/23/20 Class Session

Hello, dear students!

First of all, I hope everyone is taking care of themselves (both physically and emotionally). If you are feeling stressed out by these new challenges, know that you’re not alone–not that this improves the situation in the slightest, but sometimes it’s good to know that many, if not all, of us aren’t in an Instagram kind of mood. To be honest, I huddled in bed waaaay past my alarm this morning. The thought of getting up filled me with dread and a fervent wish for a magic potion to leap forward several months.

Second, since I’ve never taught an online course before, this will be new territory for me, so if you have taken online courses before, be warned that the class will not be as fancy and shiny as your previous online courses.  Also, since not all of us are computer savvy and/or have a computer/tablet/internet/tons of cell data at our disposal, I’m keeping the format as simple as possible.

For an explanation of homework and how the class will be run, keep on reading!

Here are the 3/23/20 Homework Assignments:

1. By Monday, 3/23, you should have a first draft of your short story ready. Some of you emailed me a copy already, and I thanked them for their diligence, but since the world has turned upside down, nothing was due this week. What you should do on Monday is email your story to your cohort members. I’m going to send an email with the cohort lists (in case you’ve forgotten) and the emails of your classmates is in the  “to” or “cc” section of the same email (also in case you’ve forgotten). Everyone should respond with a formal critique (like the ones you’ve done in the past–write the things you’ve enjoyed and the questions you have) by Wednesday. Email the critique to the author AND me at a NEW email: creativewritingspring2020@gmail.com. (More about that later.)
2. Don’t forget to do your Journal Assignment 5!
3. Please refer to the updated syllabus on OpenLab for other homework.
4. Also, post on this website a paragraph or two of how you are dealing with the current situation. The title is up to you. Answer one (or all) of these questions, and feel free to discuss something beyond these questions:
   1. How are you doing physically/mentally/emotionally?
   2. What is surprising about how you or others are reacting?
   3. What have you had to do because of/in spite of what’s going on?

This doesn’t have a due date. This is a way for you to connect with your peers and me in a personal way. I’m planning on posting something soon.

So, how’s this class going to run? Here’s a few constants on the class format:

1. A few students have asked if we are going to use Blackboard or Zoom for this class. I’m not planning to use either right now. That may change, but I’ll let you know far in advance via email. Instead, I’ll send you the day’s topic through PowerPoint presentations that I’ll give you a link for and/or questions through this website, which means we won’t “meet” online at a specific time. That said, you can meet with me over Google hangouts or a phone call during office hours or other times (if the office hour doesn’t work for you). Be sure to ask your other professors (if they haven’t contacted you yet) how their classes will be run.
2. Although the give-and-take of a face-to-face discussion is hard to reproduce, the fact that we’re experiencing something (for lack of a better word) unique should give everyone a little inspiration of the pen. I’m seriously going to miss seeing everyone in person, but if y’all keep up with the journal assignments, etc., it’ll be a bit easier. Hopefully, we can try to get together in person towards the end of the semester–perhaps do an impromptu reading???? Fingers crossed!
3. A new syllabus schedule has been posted on the “files” section of the OpenLab profile page. Deadlines have been changed. How I will be awarding some grades have changed and are listed at the end of the new schedule–particularly the “participation” points–so be sure to read the entire document.
4. You will be responsible for all homework mentioned on the syllabus and on this website. Email questions about either the syllabus or homework, but try to find the answer through research first.
5. Each “class” will have an online post like this on our usual class days. I plan on posting the message before our scheduled days/time. Make it a habit to check the website by that time on our usual class days.
6. Each web post will have a discussion question that you will need to respond to within 24 hours after the post in order to earn your “participation” points. Sometimes it will be a question that will require an email response, sometimes it’ll be an answer you can simply post as a comment on this website.
7. I will still be holding “office hours.” My office hours for this class will be Mondays and Wednesday from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM. I’ll be available during these times via email, Google hangout, or cell phone. If you have questions that can be answered briefly (for example, if a source is acceptable), email me at this address: creativewritingspring2020@gmail.com. I’ll try to answer those within the office hour or very soon after. If you need to talk about something in depth (for example, a further explanation of a topic or a review of a writing assignment), we can do a Google hangout session. If you don’t have access or technology fails us, we can arrange an old-fashioned phone call.
8. You’ll note that the above email address is different from my City Tech address. This is my way of keeping each of my three City Tech classes separate, since you’ll need to send me various items throughout the semester. I’ll still be checking my City Tech email, of course, but this means I’ll be able to keep everything organized!

This is a lot of information to  digest, which is why I’m posting this early. If you have questions or trouble connecting to any of the content I’ve linked, please comment on this site–others might have the same questions or problems–I’ll respond/correct as soon as possible. (If you comment late at night, know that I probably won’t respond immediately! LOL.)

Be safe and well during this time!