and signed up for zen mind.
not sure what to expect, but i'm hoping it give me the motivation I need to stop using the "I have a job and don't have the time" excuse.
not that i expect anyone to reply to this thread, but i'm hoping i get a shiny badge on my profile for creating it.
You'll like it.
I only have fond memories of my Zen workshop. Enjoy! I hope you get a good group taking it with you, but the workshop itself rocks!
you'll like it. you'll leave feeling confident and cocky as shit about your ability to make a story happen. i know, cause that's how i left the clevenger class i took earlier in the year. you'll probably learn some shit too. shit you never even thought about before.
Well, congratulations on taking the plunge--and on badging up like mad! I double checked on some things since your profile says you're a federal employee. Mr. Obama just told me this LitReactor stuff is cool and all, but it had better not be happening on company time. He lightened up, though, after we'd downed six or eight longnecks from an assortment of his favorite microbreweries. So it's all chill. And the class will be off to a fun start incredibly soon.
Ah yes the class starts tommorow. I can't wait. I think i'll just start fresh and write all new short stories instead of trying to brush up any old material.
Forgive me if this question makes me sound like a complete idiot, I've never been a part of an online class before. Do we need to login at a certain time, or anything similar to that? I'm really looking forward to the class and wouldn't want to crap out on the first day.
@rae: no. if its like the one i did with clevenger, you write a piece a week at your leisure, and you do reviews for the people in your class/groups pieces at your leisure during that week. there may also be a teleconference with the class and mark, which is the only thing thats really time based.
A teleconference? Thats pretty cool, I didn't know about that. Is that how he does his lectures for the class?
no... in my experience it happened at the end or before the last week, and it involved people just talking about things, and just having this chance to ask the instructor candid questions. it makes the experience a little more personable.
18 possible people on a teleconference...sounds messy.
@Raelyn: Charles summed it up. Fixed meeting times would always present a schedule conflict for someone. Since we gather students from every conceivable time zone and since we cater to adult learners who often have full-time responsibilities, it only makes sense to take advantage of the flexibility an online format allows. There will be deadlines for written assignments to keep the class together, but always with the understanding that an individual student may not even see a newly posted assignment for the first six or eight hours after it's live.
@jacks_username: Lecture content will be presented in written essay form for you to read, comment on or post questions, copy to your notebook, etc. I'll arrange some phone conference time for the expanded personal dimension that allows, but it will be less formal than a lecture and more of a bonus, since some of your peers may have schedule conflicts that make live conferencing impractical.
Have fun with the class! Give us the highlights!
It looks like a great group, so far. Brilliant short bios in the introductions section, clear goals. And a couple to three or four seats remain if you want to pass word along to anyone who'd be the right fit.
As per my Twitter feed:
Don't Miss Zen Mind Last Minute Seats - http://eepurl.com/gldHn
Thanks, all.
Mark
Update: The enrollment tightened right up after yesterday's newsletter, fulfilling the cap we set before day one had expired. It's exciting to see this much demand in the very earliest days of the new site.
So far I feel the power of the class working. I've struggled with trying to carry through with my habit changes. Having the site be there, lectures posted, discussions brewing and an assignment marked with a deadline, takes out the stress and gets my mind focused.
I was freaking out for a second, thinking we really got a number grade. I sure didn't do the extra credit...not all of it, and my assignments were turned in late. Seems too much like high school. The only difference is that I actually learned something in Mark's class opposed to high school. Congrats litreactors.