Monday, Mar 16

Hey folks,

Given Gov. Bullock's direction to close schools statewide, I hope you and your families have a safe and healthy two weeks.  Remember, while the disease may not effect you severely as you are young, healthy, intelligent, and good-looking people, keeping yourself free of contagion helps those around you who aren't so lucky (like parents, grandparents, younger siblings, or those with challenged immune systems). So now's a great time to avoid crowds and practice good hygiene. Stay home and catch up on homework. Read a book. Hell, binge watch all the Netflix. All of it. Just be safe! Make good choices.

Online Class:
Personally, I'd love to try and continue instruction in our English classes through Google Classroom and this blog, but we're waiting on direction from the administration as to the appropriateness and possibility of that. For now, class is on hold.

Some things to think about:
Given the current topic of the novel corona virus and the wide-spread information surrounding it, I encourage you to look at some digital literary skills. From government and news reports, social media posts, rumors, and flat out ignorance, it's important we learn how to evaluate the information that bombards us in times like these.

• Check out this video on fact-checking by John Green. Take notes on what steps are helpful in fact-checking something you come across on the internet or social media.
• Then, to help cut through all of the political and medical shenanigans that goes on on the internet, click through  the Corona-virus fact checking pages by Politifact.com and  Snopes.com. Both are credible and non-partisan (meaning not-political) websites that are a great resource for fact-checking.
• And probably most importantly, follow these directions from the CDC (Center For Disease Control) and WHO (World Health Organization). Remember, these are governmental reports and while information about the novel corona virus is still new and may be changing, these are your best, most reliable sources for credible information.