Thursday, November 26, 2009 3:49 AM,

Several items have come up over the last few days, and I thought I would write 
to you while you are at home enjoying Thanksgiving.
Unfortunately, this ended up being a little longer than I intended.  
But there are four important items that I want to talk about. 
I do apologize for the length.

I assume you were in class today (Wednesday) in spirit.  You don't want to 
know how many showed up in person.

I hope you are getting some rest this weekend.  I know you have been working 
hard all semester.  It is a good idea to stop for a bit, recharge your 
batteries and get ready for the last lap.

First, the second midterm.  Several of my TAs have told me that a lot of you 
are worried about your grade because you did not do well on the second 
midterm.  They tell me that pretty much everyone agrees they learned a lot 
from the second midterm, they just wish their grade was a lot higher.

As I have told you more than once this semester, I am interested in what you 
know and understand at the end of the semester, not in the middle.  So, you 
still have two programs and a final exam to demonstrate that.  If you learned 
a lot from the second exam, that should serve you well on the final exam.  

The point is to NOT obsess about your grade on the midterm, but focus on 
understanding the material of the course between now and December 15.  
Over the years, many students have pulled it together between the second 
midterm and the final, and I am hoping you will do that, also.  The TAs and I 
are here to help you make it.

Second, I have discovered that some of the grading corrections for Problem 1, 
part c were not made before we handed back the exam.  So, if you feel you were 
graded incorrectly on that problem or any other problem, please bring it to 
the attention of one of the TAs, who will give it to me for regrading if 
he/she agrees.  It is not necessary to do it on Monday, but please do it 
sometime next week.  Please do not use this as an invitation to whimsically 
grub for points.  It won't work and will only waste your time and mine.  
But, if there was a legitimate error in grading, I do not want you to suffer 
because of it.  I will correct it. 

Third, the 5th programming lab.  I hope to have it posted by sometime on 
Friday.  It should not take you more than a few hours to do if you understand 
how interrupts work.  It is due at the end of next week.

Finally, a comment about next semester.  It turns out I misled you in class on 
Monday when I suggested you should take 319K.  It is true that the faculty has 
decided that a better sequence through the curriculum is
306 -> 319K -> 312.  I wrongly assumed that since this is the case, you 
would be free to take 319K next semester.

What I failed to realize was that this change in sequence will require a lot 
of effort on the part of both 312 and 319K instructors in order to make both 
courses better for students enrolled in the new sequence.  For example, right 
now, 319K instructors can assume you have had 312.  That makes a big 
difference in how they teach 319K stuff.  AND, 319K will not be ready for the 
change until next year.  Therefore, this year: 306 -> 312 -> 319K.
I am sorry I misled you.

Again, enjoy the Thanksgiving Day break, and come back to school on Monday 
ready to pour it on over the next few weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Yale Patt