Changes and updates for the second half of the term

After taking stock of how the first half of our summer session has gone, I wanted to announce that I'm making some changes to our class structure. Many students reported that the groups they were in had not been functioning very well; many had simply not heard from other group members, and no one had been using either the group discussion pages or the shared group folders (there were also, initially, some technical issues with the folders). Group work may be one of the hardest things to translate into an online-only class; I'm sorry that it hasn't worked out well, but wanted to let everyone know that I'm aware of the situation, and am making some changes to the second half of our class (those who joined me for the optional Zoom meetings earlier this week have already heard about these).

The most significant change is that we won't be doing any group work for the rest of the class. I know that some of you have, however, had good results from working with your writing partners, so please do continue to work with them; our second exercise will include many points at which the two of you can work together to give each other support and feedback. If, on the other hand, you weren't able to successfully reach your partner or exchange writing with them, don't worry -- just let me know, and I'll work as your writing partner at those stages in the process.

So for now: by the end of this week, please send me what you have. If you haven't been able to get feedback, don't worry, just send the parts of the exercise that you've completed. Since the "group" stage wasn't a part of this process, you should just go ahead and add a paragraph or two describing your own idea of what kind of museum you'd like to imagine your chosen object being displayed in. Think of the possibilities: a re-creation of the early 21st-century room that the object actually is in? A formal setting, like a glass case in a quiet room? A shrine? A pyramid? Be as imaginative as you like.

Then, once you've sent in that work, go forth and read -- or listen to -- J.R.R. Tolkien's story "Leaf by Niggle." The first step after that, Project Niggle part one, is already up on our blog's links; you can start in on it whenever you're ready. Our goal will be to have these ready by next Monday, so that they can be exchanged with your partner and we can begin the next cycle of writing.