December Monthly Check-in

Textbook Success Program May 2020 Cohort
#1

Hi @may20-cohort, I hope those of you in the US are having a restful Thanksgiving holiday, and that others are also doing well as we reach the end of a tough year. Our last check-in for 2020 is next Tuesday, December 1st, at 3:30pm ET, on Zoom.

Since I haven’t heard any requests for specific topics to cover, I will request that you all come prepared, as usual, with a small update about your project. I will encourage you to screenshare any of your work in progress — be it author guides, drafts in progress, formatted sections of your books, outlines, covers, etc.

We’ll also spend some time discussing project work that you might have planned to tackle after this semester, and whether the list you’ve prepared is manageable. I look forward to seeing you all next week!

#2

Hi Arpurva,

I am starting to work on the course in which i will use the book next term, and would like the opportunity to pass by the introductory verbiage about the student contributions to the book to the group (its short) to see what else i should include from the get go.

i don’t know how to screen share. can i put this link in the chat section so folks can look at the google dox?

thank you
Robin Armstron

#3

Hi Robin, thanks for a link to this file. Yes, you can certainly drop a link to this file in the chat during our call today. I can also share my screen to highlight the verbiage that you’ve prepared! It’s an excellent start so far, and I’m looking forward to digging into this in more detail today.

#4

@may20-cohort thanks to all who joined our check-in last week! @geripalmer, @wernerwestermannj, we missed hearing from you both, so if you have an update that you’d like to share with the cohort, please post it here.

Some important notes from our discussion:

  • This was our last session this year. We’ll continue in 2021 with a check-in on January 5th at 3:30pm ET. I’d imagine it might be easier to meet before you all get caught up in the start of semester rush, but if anyone has a conflict with this date, please me know
  • November was a big month for open education conferences, and there were a few presentations by cohort members that I want to highlight: K-12 Open Textbooks: Time Has Come by Werner at OE Global 2020.
  • The Maryland Open Source Textbook Initiative is coordinating with Rebus to host a series of webinars on open education. I’ll get in touch with @RobinArmstrong, @mbranson & @zmtownsend so you all can get a chance to speak about your projects during some of these sessions. Stay tuned!
  • For those of you who are planning to turn to your projects during your break, please make sure to build in time for some self-care! This way, you can come back refreshed and reenergized in the new year.

Chat Transcript and Resources

As usual, I’ve saved our chat transcript which you can review. Here’s a roundup of resources shared:

Lastly, let’s take a moment to pause and notice that we’ve passed the halfway mark in our year together! I’m very pleased at how far we’ve come as a group, and how your individual projects are progressing. I look forward to continuing the journey in the new year. Happy holidays, and wish you all a happy new year!

#5

Hi Apurva!
Interestingly, I just got this email. I thought just the other day that maybe we weren’t meeting this month because of the holidays! I’m not sure what happened! I’ll put January’s date on my calendar.
Geri

#6

Sorry we missed you Geri! If there’s anything you’d like to share with the cohort now, we are all ears. :slight_smile: We’ll definitely see you in January!