march 31

for our MOM: close your eyes, breathe deeply, and open your mind

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Interview" by Carly Simon; "On the Beach" by Neil Young] Why do people interview each other? What do you think is interesting about this? Who would you like to see interviewed, or even interview yourself if you had the chance?

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Our MOM
2. Journal
3. Interviews

DELIVERABLE:
Interview a colleague and - whatever else you discuss - please ask 3 questions: 1) Who is your role mentor and how do they influence your work? 2) How do you guard your safety and security online? and 3) What did you learn yesterday? [title: INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE]

march 30

for our MOM: close your eyes and let everything pass you by.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Watching the Wheels" by John Lennon; "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall]
How would your life be different if you didn't have to worry about keeping up with others, and you could live at your own pace?

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Our MOM
2. Journal
3. Let us know your plan for the day

DELIVERABLE:
Publish a post on your blog (title: HOW I MADE TODAY MY MASTERPIECE) in which you describe what you chose to do with your day (conference? which talks? something else? what?) and what you learned from the experience.

open source 101 conference

This is exciting - I've never attended a virtual conference with virtual learners before! Once you've registered and reviewed the schedule, please comment to this post and let us know which one/s you plan to attend. I look forward to learning with and from you!

march 29

for our MOM: breathe.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats; "Safety Joe" by John Prine]
What makes you feel safe? What makes you feel safe online?

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Our MOM
2. Journal
3. Safety in life and online: discussion
4. The weekend posts

DELIVERABLE:

Please publish a post on your blog in which you use your notes from today's conversation to discuss safety. What makes you feel safe in life? How do you know you're safe online? What strategies and tools make a difference? [title: SAFETY IN NUMBERS]

march 26

for our MOM: close your eyes, breathe in, breathe out, and keep doing that...

JOURNAL TOPIC:
Today, in the spirit of Open-Source Learning, you have the floor. What music are you listening to? What ideas do you want to write about? ***Please comment to this post with your choices, so we can learn from you!***

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Please: 1) Make sure your mental and physical fitness entries are current; 2) Post your journal entries for the week; 3) Research and write the post that's due Sunday - 10 paragraphs isn't a lot, but it's going to seem like more if you procrastinate... :)

march 25

for our MOM: when you breathe in, feel the energy from your breath travel all the way from your head to your toes. when you breathe out, feel the energy travel all the way from your toes to your head.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Queen of the Night" aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute, performed by Diana Damrau; "O Mio Babbino Caro" aria from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, performed by Maria Callas; "Deh vieni, non tardar" aria from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, performed by Lucia Popp] 

What makes an expert? Is it natural talent? Practice? Opportunity? Please explain your answer, and provide an example or two to illustrate your points.

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. Expertise and how we're gonna git us some

DELIVERABLE: 

In no fewer than TEN paragraphs, explain how one of your role mentors (or someone else worthy of our respect) shows mastery of the concepts or skills you intend to demonstrate by the end of the semester. Somewhere in those paragraphs, in any order you choose, please answer the following questions (MASTER PLAN):

• To what extent is this person's understanding or skill the product of natural talent, motivation, practice, and/or opportunity?
• How long did it take this person to demonstrate proficiency?
• What knowledge helped this person develop? (*I will also give you some ideas about this from your Previously Programmed Courses)
  
• How can you imitate this person's path toward success over the next two months?
• What outcomes do you expect to be able to demonstrate as a result?
• [PLEASE CITE YOUR SOURCES]
• Please publish this post on your blog by Sunday (3/28) evening at 7:00 PM PDT
  

march 24

for our MOM: as you close your eyes, settle in, and take 3 deep breaths, consider another acronym for MOM. Make. Our. Masterpiece.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "The Masterpiece" by Johnny Cash; "Masterpiece" by The Temptations]
Reflect on your Key Interests. What do you want to be able to understand or do by the end of the semester? How will you demonstrate that you've learned new concepts or skills? Look to your role mentors for inspiration - how do you know they know what they're doing? How will we know that YOU know what you're doing? We will discuss this topic and take a bit longer than usual on our journals today, so please feel free to brainstorm ideas, ask questions, or request a breakout room to dive deeper.

AGENDA:
1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Designing our Masterpiece: Step 1

' DELIVERABLES:
Publish a post on your blog in which you explain your thought process from today and your initial design. (title: MASTERPIECE STEP ONE)

march 23

for our MOM: breathe in your best self, and breathe out everything else.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon; "My Hero" by Paul Simon] When I was growing up, NBA player Charles Barkley made a commercial for Nike in which he said, "I am not a role model." What was he saying to parents? How should we live in ways that set examples for others? How do you serve as a role model for friends, siblings, and others? What qualities about role models inspire you?

AGENDA:
1. Our MOM
2. Journal
3. Role models and "(re)inventing the wheel"
4. Our KI role models

DELIVERABLES:
1. Please publish a post to your blog in which you describe three qualities of your Role MENTOR/S and explain how you can adopt their strategies and/or develop similar skills. (title: MY ROLE MENTORS)

March 22

for our MOM: dream

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Moonage Daydream" by David Bowie; "I Dreamed a Dream" by Claude-Michel Schönberg, John Cameron, Herbert Kretzmer, Alain Boublil, and Jean-Marc Natel] Describe a dream you had (or still have). This may be something that occurred to you when you were awake or asleep. It may seem surreal or a hope/ vision for the future. Explain in as much detail as you can.

AGENDA: 1. Our MOM
2. Journal
*. A word about agreements
3. Dreams and Reality: Discussion
4. Perspectives of Poets: Poe & Hughes on dreams
5. Making our dreams reality

DELIVERABLES
1. In a post entitled I HAVE A DREAM, please provide an honest accounting of the time you spent last week learning about your key interest/s. Then, outline your goal for this week - and explain what exactly will take you 1-2 hours each day.

march 19

for our MOM: Close your eyes, take three slow, deep breaths, and take a moment to watch your thoughts flare up like the grand finale of a fireworks show. When the sparkles fade, and the smoke clears, the night sky is quiet. Stay in that space.

JOURNAL TOPIC: today's tunes: ["(What's So Funny Bout) Peace Love & Understanding" by Elvis Costello & The Attractions; "Strength Courage & Wisdom" by India.Arie; “Amassakoul ‘n’ Tenere” by Tinariwen]
Describe what you think it means to be wise.  Is it the same thing as well-informed, or knowledgeable, or educated, or is it different? (Look up the words to see what others think.)  Has your past experience in school helped you become any of these things?  How? How your learning helping you now?

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
[MOM]
1. Journal
2. Ratifying and signing our Declaration

DELIVERABLES:
1. Update your mental and fitness entries
2. Post your journals for the week
3. Write an essay in which you answer this question: What have you learned so far this semester? (title: LEARNING LOOKS DIFFERENT/ please publish on your blog no later than 5:00 PM PDT on Sunday, March 21)

march 18

for our MOM: this morning will feature a guided tour

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "We Will Rock You" "Under Pressure" and "We Are The Champions" by Queen]
Describe a time you took on something challenging or difficult and just crushed it.

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. Time to rock the doc

DELIVERABLES:
1. When you receive the doc, declare yourself!

march 17

for our MOM: breathe - with your eyes, your ears, your elbows ... all of you.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "The Rocky Road to Dublin" by The Dubliners; "The Rocky Road to Dublin" by The Dropkick Murphys]
What's the deal with St. Patrick's Day? In America, it's often celebrated the same way as Cinco de Mayo - at the bars. Describe a holiday from your family's cultural history that has a special meaning. How do you celebrate or observe the occasion?

AGENDA:
1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. Revisiting our Declaration/process
4. Planning the rest of our week

march 16

for our MOM: See how still you can become.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "One of These Things First" by Nick Drake; "Rehearsals for Retirement" by Phil Ochs; "Get Out of the Ghetto Blues" by Gil Scott-Heron]
According to the research of the Quote Investigator, a 1910 biography of Thomas Edison featured this anecdote: "I found him at a bench about three feet wide and twelve to fifteen feet long, on which there were hundreds of little test cells that had been made up by his corps of chemists and experimenters. He was seated at this bench testing, figuring, and planning. I then learned that he had thus made over nine thousand experiments in trying to devise this new type of storage battery, but had not produced a single thing that promised to solve the question. In view of this immense amount of thought and labor, my sympathy got the better of my judgment, and I said: ‘Isn’t it a shame that with the tremendous amount of work you have done you haven’t been able to get any results?’ Edison turned on me like a flash, and with a smile replied: ‘Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that won’t work.’"

Describe a time when you felt like there was a mistake, or a failure, or an obstacle that actually helped you clarify your work process, create a new strategy, and improve your results.

AGENDA:

1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. Another approach to our Declaration of Digital Interdependence 

DELIVERABLES:

1. Please bring your blog up to date - what are you doing for your mental and physical fitness today?
2. Please reflect on today's approach to the Declaration, and the resources (and link) that Martin shared, and publish your thoughts on your blog in a post entitled OPEN SOURCE THINKING.

march 15

for our MOM: When you breathe, close your throat a little and listen to the difference in the sound your breath makes.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [ today's tunes: "Metal" by Gary Newman; "Computer Love" by Kraftwerk; "Computer Blue" by Prince]

Take a moment to read a little about the Turing test, and then consider this question: What is the difference between a human mind and a computer? Please be ready to discuss your main point/s.

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. Our MOM
2. Journal
3. Discussion: technology & humanity
4. Our Declaration of Digital Interdependence

march 12

for your MOM: [take 2 minutes, close your eyes, sit still, and just ... breathe.]

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["Hotel California" by The Eagles; "California Dreaming" by The Mamas and The Papas; "California Love" by 2Pac]

Why do you think California is so legendary for so many people around the world?

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. MOM
2. Journal
3. Write a post about your understanding of the word transient - what you think it means in the Declaration of Independence, how the post about hanami (below) made you think about it differently, and how you can apply it in a thought of your own [title: TRANSIENT THINKING/ suggested first sentence: "Recently I ran across a word I didn't know..."]
4. Make 5 changes to the "Declaration of Digital Interdependence" that I wrote and publish on your blog [title: MY DECLARATION HACK/ suggested first sentences: "Usually, when I see a contract or an agreement, I don't have a choice about what it says. This time is different..."]

DELIVERABLES: 1. Please remember to update your mental fitness and physical entries, and post your 3 journals for the week
2. I will update the Deliverables page this afternoon - in the meantime, please publish today's posts on your blog
3. Have a great day!

transient thoughts

Sometimes when I run across a word I haven't seen for a while, I suddenly notice it everywhere. Earlier in the week, we read the word transient in the Declaration of Independence. The word means fleeting, or temporary, and the founders used it because they wanted to make the point that people don't do something as serious as change governments just because things change.

Today I ran across the word transient in a completely different context. Reading this article also taught me a new word in Japanese - hanami. Learning that word made me feel a little better about human beings and the world we live in. I'm going to find a flower and stare at it for a while.

declaration of digital interdependence

Based on the work we've done with the original Declaration of Independence, here is a first draft / template of our Declaration of Digital Interdependence. Please comment to this post with your first impressions, thoughts, questions, and suggestions for what we might add, delete, or change.

___________________________________

When in the course of innovation, it becomes necessary for people to break down the barriers of social, economic, and political division, and to connect with each other via the most powerful communication tools in the history of humankind, a decent respect for the opinions of all requires that they should declare the reasons which impel them to assert their interdependence.

 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are equally entitled to certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

 

– That to secure these rights, Understandings are established between individuals, communities, and organizations, deriving their just powers from the informed consent of all participants.

 

– That whenever any Form of Understanding becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the Participants to alter it or abolish it, and institute new Understanding, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Understandings long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown, that people are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

 

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Understanding, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

 

–Such as been the patient sufferance of Digital Citizens; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Understandings. The history of the present tyranny of the internet is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over the use of communication technologies and associated dialogues about government and civic life. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

 

The dominant internet companies (referred to herein as Big Tech) have refused Assent to Laws, most wholesome and necessary for the public good, as they relate to business practices and both protected and unprotected forms of speech.

 

Big Tech has acted to oppose the Government passing laws of immediate and pressing importance, that would create new Understandings, unless suspended in their operation till Big Tech’s Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, Big Tech has utterly neglected to attend to them.

 

Big Tech has refused to create Understandings that would provide transparency, clarity, sovereign identity, and agency for the People to provide informed consent when engaging with Big Tech.

 

Big Tech has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing to Assent to Understandings that support Self-Sovereign Identity, the Democratic Dialogue, and Data Integrity that is supported by transparency and accountability.

 

Big Tech has combined with corporations and governments to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving Assent to private sector Acts of pretended Legislation:

 

For betraying our trust and using our data against us in ways that hijack our attention and adversely affect our ability to make informed decisions about politics, the economy, and the world around us:

 

For requiring that we submit to Learning Management Systems, Social Media, and Software as a Service terms of use that profit on our creative content and metadata without our consent:

 

For subjecting our systems of Government to the cynical, self-serving manipulations of wealthy Big Tech executives and shareholders:

 

For replacing the public squares and the commons with corporate lobbies in which there can be no free speech:

 

Big Tech has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of its Protection and waging War against us.

 

Big Tech has polluted and distorted our understanding of reality, and all but destroyed our ability to collaborate with our fellow citizens.

 

Big Tech is at this time moving to take over the institutions of education and health care, and further concentrating informational wealth in ways that impoverish our nation and our world.

 

Big Tech in its current form has been used to excite domestic insurrections among us and turn friends and family members against one another in unreasonable conflicts.

 

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.  Any entrepreneurial technology startup whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrannical Multinational Conglomerate, is unfit to be an arbiter of a free internet.

 

We have been willing, enthusiastic participants in the success of Big Tech, and we have also made them aware from time to time of attempts by their policies and actions to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of their rise, and our need for digital affordances and services. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity – “Do No Harm” comes to mind – and we have entreated them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They have not answered our emails, or our questions in Congressional hearings, and they have proven themselves deaf to the voice of justice and the connected destiny we all share. We must, therefore, acknowledge the need for Separation, and hold them, as we hold the whole of Humanity, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

 

We, therefore, the Representatives of a Free Public Internet, in Digital Connection, Assembled, appealing to the Judgement of the World for the integrity of our intentions, do in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of the Internet, solemnly publish and declare, that the Internet is, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent; all People on the Internet are Absolved from all Allegiance to Big Tech; and that as Free and Independent Digital Participants they have full Power to establish and maintain their own identities, create, save, share, publish, and destroy their data with integrity as they alone see fit, and to do all other Acts and Things which Free and Independent Digital Participants may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of that Sense we may yet hold in Common, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

 

 

Now that we’ve declared our independence, what are we going to do with it?

 

Here are some suggestions about how we can level the playing field when we use software and online services. Please feel free to edit and add your own:

 

·      Create identities that are:

o   Ours

o   Permanent

o   Fragmentable

·       

march 11

for our MOM: Breathe easy. We (OSLA) are not going back to campus this semester.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Ice Cream Man" by Van Halen; "'S Wonderful" by George Gershwin/performed by Ella Fitzgerald]

I just wrote a draft of an article that got me thinking about ice cream cones.  Describe in detail your most memorable ice cream cone moment.

- OR - 

Choose your own.

AGENDA:
1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. Contributing our verses (did anyone look that up yesterday? Who was Walt Whitman?)
4. The Declaration of Digital Interdependence (template)
5. OUR Declaration of Digital Interdependence (shared doc)

DELIVERABLES:
Will be announced in this space tomorrow (Friday, March 12)

memes

Since the pandemic began, everyone's been learning new vocabulary: epidemiology, coronavirus, COVID-19. Familiar words have taken on new meanings: social distancing, superspreader event, mask. There are even acronyms, like PPE.

As we all learn our way through this, it's useful to remember that ideas can spread much faster than viruses. To communicate this concept, Richard Dawkins coined the word meme in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene.

When you understand how memes and viruses work, you can protect your loved ones and use your powers for persuasive good. Stay well.

This week, a friend of mine returned to the classroom in England and promptly had to break up a fight.

I made this for her.

march 10

for our MOM: Be.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Step Right Up" by Tom Waits; "Bloody Well Right" by Supertramp] Terms such as values and common sense can take on different meanings - how can something you define as common sense confuse me--isn't common sense the sense we share in common? Cultural anthropologists and social psychologists describe values as, "learned, enduring, epistemologically grounded moral conceptualizations that assist us in making judgments and in preparing us to act." What values do you see in the Declaration of Independence? In online/contemporary American culture? 

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. P2P feedback/ best of/ greatest hits
4. Contribute your verse

march 9

for our MOM: feel smart.

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["The Dope Show" by Marilyn Manson; "Little Know It All" by Iggy Pop] How do you know someone is smart/intelligent/mentally capable? When is being smart a good thing and when does it put a person at risk socially?

- OR -

Choose your own.

AGENDA: 1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. We Declare: P2P Feedback
4. Digital Declarations

i should be asleep

Check the time stamp. After I read your blogs I'm going back to bed. But, for now: Is your blog complete and up to date? See you in 5.5 hours. dp

march 8

for our MOM: Be thoughtless.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "The Declaration of Independence" by The Fifth Dimension; "Get Up Stand Up" by Bob Marley]
What do you know about the Declaration of Independence? You can write about the historical context or significance. You can write about what it means to you. If your memory or your understanding needs some help, feel free to do some research online. We're going to discuss this today, so please come up with some kind of answer.

- OR -

Choose your own.

AGENDA:
1. Our MOM
2. Journal
3. The Declaration of Independence
4. *REMIX*
5. OUR Declaration of Independence

DELIVERABLES:
1. Please publish MY DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE on your blog

march 5

for our MOM: Be in a happy place. Think of a place you relax and like to be, like the beach, and pretend you're there.

JOURNAL TOPIC: ["]

Once upon a time, there was a group of adventurers heading to the fearful forest. They found a tiger in the forest. Gabby was able to fight off the tiger. But Zoe wanted to keep it as a pet. Jesus drove up in his 442 and scared everyone with the straight pipes and loud music. Gabby, Zoe, and Jesus gathered up for a campfire and discussed the tiger situation. Then they fell asleep and when they woke up, they were surrounded by coyotes. The coyotes were all around them and among them. The coyotes started closing the group in. Then the group heard a big roar. There were a lot of holes on the ground left by gophers. Jesus tripped and accidentally fell. Before he fell, Jesus caught himself with his right leg. A gopher limped up on a cane and said, “Yeah, bro, I know just how you feel, that happened to me too.”

 

And the moral of the story is: Don’t go into forests with bad friends. Also, make sure to look out for tigers, coyotes, and obstacles in the ground. And lastly, don’t keep tigers as pets. 

 

How does this story represent agreement? Was it your experience of writing? Was it the way the characters interacted? Or, does it represent agreement at all? Please explain.

AGENDA:

1. Choices
2. MOM (?)
2. Journal (?)
3. About agreement
4. GTD

about your second question

When you read your second email from me:

1. Please identify EVERY word, phrase, idea, or (?) that you think might be useful to understand more clearly.

2. Please research everything you listed for #1.

3. In a post titled, I'M GETTING GOOD AT THIS, please document your thought process, your research process, and anything remarkable you found.

4. Please make some connections between what you learn in this process and your Key Interest. Post about this on your Key Interest page/s. To make this easier to read, include the date [example: 04MAR2021] and provide a little context for your readers [example: "Today I read an email from Dr. Preston that... so I... and I learned..."]

5. Please identify elements of what you learn that fit with your Previously Programmed Courses, and post about what you learn on the appropriate page. You can use the same format for this as you did in #4.

march 4

for our MOM: See if you can relax so much that your body falls asleep while your mind stays awake.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop; "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd]
During the pandemic, many people have complained about having to stay home and not travel or go out in general. Why? I mean this as a curious, serious question: What's the big deal? Is it not being able to work, or the feeling of being trapped by forces we can't control and not having a choice, or something else? Before the pandemic, I didn't hear everyone celebrating about running errands. More often than not, even when people talked to me about restaurants it was to complain: "We waited too long, the food was cold, traffic was bad, [blah blah blah]..." But now that we've had to adjust because of the coronavirus, people are nostalgic. Why do you think this is the case? Do you think that when it's safe to return to school and being with other people in public spaces, people will be happier, or will they continue being discontented about other things? Might they even miss the time they spent at home during the pandemic? What do you think?

- OR - 

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:
1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. About your questions
4. Data: backing up your blog into a shape and space you control

DELIVERABLES:
1. Please back up the xml file onto your hard drive.
2. Please practice hybrid storage by emailing the xml file as an attachment to me.
3. Please describe what you've done - and your reasons why - in a post on your blog entitled MY WORK, MY STORAGE

March 3

for our MOM: Take a moment to consider how you feel, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Now: how do you WANT to feel in 60 seconds? Breathe.

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "The Ocean" by U2; "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2; "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2

Writing a song, a book, or a blog is a way of putting our ideas out into the world, of sharing something of ourselves in the hope that it will move others.  Often, new ideas carry the potential of conflict as they represent a departure from the familiar and cause people to question their own assumptions.  Sometimes new ideas--especially those, in a cruel twist of irony, that emphasize freedom, thoughtfulness, or love-- have even cost lives (think Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon, Socrates, Jesus Christ, and Crispus Attucks, for example).  Describe a powerful "new idea" that carries personal meaning for you.  This doesn't have to be well-known or modern, although it certainly can be, but it does have to represent a break in artistic, social, scientific, or political tradition that required some sort of sacrifice to achieve deeper understanding.

- OR -

Choose your own topic.
AGENDA:
1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. Data: Looking back & looking forward
4. Working on our questions

March 2

for our MOM: close your eyes and really feel the moment. Test yourself. How intensely can you feel this moment, right now?

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "(What a) Wonderful World" by Sam Cooke; "Education" by Pearl Jam] What is it about tests? They can motivate us and help us prove our knowledge and skills, or they can fill us with anxiety and seem pointless or even insulting. However we feel about tests per se, ultimately practitioners of every sort are rightly expected to be able to demonstrate what they've learned. What sort of "test" do you need to pass to prove your worthiness in your Masterpiece field? How have others in the field proven themselves?

march 1

for our MOM: take a deep breath, settle in, and make yourself right at home

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "Home" by The Talking Heads; "Home by The Foo Fighters] I love traveling, but I love coming home even more. Which do you prefer? What do you think of when you feel 'at home'-- and why do you feel more at home in some places than others?

- OR -

Choose your own topic.

AGENDA:

1. our MOM
2. Journal
3. Introduction to digital data



DELIVERABLES:

1. Publish your notes from today in a post entitled INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL DATA
2. Now that you all
Have answered the call
This little rhyme
Is to remind you it's time
To be the clever fox
Who checks their inbox

3. When you receive your next message, research every part of it and document your process and your findings in a post entitled I'M GETTING GOOD AT THIS