Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Learning Challenge: Reading While Watching and Listening
I decided to choose this reading and watching/listening challenge to do because I have some experience with it already that I thought was interesting. I have a friend who always puts subtitles on when he watches TV or movies, and I always thought it was so annoying. I just thought the subtitles got in the way of the show and also distracted me. One interesting thing about subtitles is that they sometimes appear on the screen before the actual words of the character or narrator are said, which can sometimes ruin punchlines or surprises in the show or movie. That being said, after spending a lot of time with him I started to enjoy the subtitles and I started missing them when they weren't there. They made it easier for me to understand what was going on in the show without having to strain to listen, and I found that I could easily listen, read and watch at the same time. Now that I think about it, that is some serious multitasking! I think I'd have to choose watching a movie or TV over reading a book because I feel that watching something is something you can enjoy with another person, while reading is more of a solo task. I do enjoy reading though.
Tech Tip: Weather Widget
Hi there! I added a weather widget to the upper right hand corner of my screen. I really like this tech tip because I love knowing what the weather is like and now I have it right here on my blog! Super cool. Here's a link if you want to do this tech tip or if you want to just do it for fun!
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Reading Notes Part A: American Indian Fairy Tales
As with the part B reading, I notice here that they give emotions and personifications to seasons. How fun would it be to write a story where summer and winter interact? It gives a meaning behind why there are seasons and why they change. I could take that idea and write a whole new story from it, just taking the idea of seasons having emotions and being real entities. I enjoy this idea a lot.
I could even tie in some ideas from the readings in part B to the readings here. For example, maybe someone curses at summer for being so hot, and then summer goes away leaving only the freezing cold. Now people learn to appreciate summer and the warmth that it brings. I could write a story about how life would be without summer, or winter, any season really.
I also really like the idea of the storyteller here. He basically tells the children different stories that show why something is the way it is. For example, he tells a story called The Boy and Girl in the Clouds where he explains why a certain tall hill exists. Using this idea, I could choose some kind of landmark we know well here in Oklahoma or even in America, and explain with a neat fictional story why it exists or how it got there. That would be very fun and I would have a lot of freedom to write my own story while still taking ideas that I got from these stories.
I could even tie in some ideas from the readings in part B to the readings here. For example, maybe someone curses at summer for being so hot, and then summer goes away leaving only the freezing cold. Now people learn to appreciate summer and the warmth that it brings. I could write a story about how life would be without summer, or winter, any season really.
I also really like the idea of the storyteller here. He basically tells the children different stories that show why something is the way it is. For example, he tells a story called The Boy and Girl in the Clouds where he explains why a certain tall hill exists. Using this idea, I could choose some kind of landmark we know well here in Oklahoma or even in America, and explain with a neat fictional story why it exists or how it got there. That would be very fun and I would have a lot of freedom to write my own story while still taking ideas that I got from these stories.
Reading Notes Part B: American Indian Fairy Tales
It seems like anytime there is a new reading, I always enjoy the fairy tales the most. Fairy tales of different cultures are so interesting to me and so fun to read. It's nice to see other ways of telling fairy tales and how they are enjoyable for all people no matter what culture.
As soon as I started reading "The Boy Who Snared the Sun" I immediately got a feel of how valued nature is to Native Americans. That is something that I probably wouldn't want to change in my retelling. In fact, as the story begins I can think of a few ways that I could even enhance that moral rather than take it away. I think that would make for a good story.
In the story, the sun shrinks his coat made of birds and he is angry at the sun. The next day the sun doesn't rise and he realizes life is hard without the sun. I could make this into modern day, change the characters but keep the same moral and story. It would be cool to do for Halloween time, with the sun not coming up and people realizing they really need it,
I noticed the other story is also about weather and seasons. It's interesting how important the elements are to Native Americans and how everything has an emotion. It would be fun to write a totally new story in which the seasons have emotions and are almost like real people. There would be a lot of freedom there, because you could give life to anything, even animals. That would be something fun to write.
As soon as I started reading "The Boy Who Snared the Sun" I immediately got a feel of how valued nature is to Native Americans. That is something that I probably wouldn't want to change in my retelling. In fact, as the story begins I can think of a few ways that I could even enhance that moral rather than take it away. I think that would make for a good story.
In the story, the sun shrinks his coat made of birds and he is angry at the sun. The next day the sun doesn't rise and he realizes life is hard without the sun. I could make this into modern day, change the characters but keep the same moral and story. It would be cool to do for Halloween time, with the sun not coming up and people realizing they really need it,
I noticed the other story is also about weather and seasons. It's interesting how important the elements are to Native Americans and how everything has an emotion. It would be fun to write a totally new story in which the seasons have emotions and are almost like real people. There would be a lot of freedom there, because you could give life to anything, even animals. That would be something fun to write.
American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Learning Challenge: Attention
When I saw the attention graphic below on the announcement page, it got me curious about other attention graphics or memes. I decided to browse around and see what other ones there were. The one that caught my attention the most was the one that said "the light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion. The tunnel is." I think this can mean a lot of different things to different people. To me, it means that holding onto something hopeful in a sea of sadness or struggles isn't what you should be doing, but instead paying attention to all the good things that are around you now. I know many of us tend to look past the good things in our life towards some reward at the end. Life will pass you by doing this, and you'll never be happy but always wishing for more. I really enjoyed this post.
Week 8 Review
My favorite post for the week was Sunday's post about interior life. I think mental health it very important, so I really liked the idea of this. It's always good to keep your mind and brain healthy, but a lot of people have trouble grasping this. This was a fun way to explain how you can basically clear out your mind. It's relaxing and uplifting just to look at and read this illustration.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Famous Last Words: Class Progress
Well, it seems that my hard work of doing extra credit has finally paid off and I am officially less than 100 points away from finishing this class. I plan to be done by week 10 which is 2 weeks away. I'm happy to be almost done because the workload is pretty rough along with all my other classes, but at the same time I'm a little bit sad to be leaving all the readings and assignments behind. The thing I'm most sad about is my storybook. In fact, I don't think I will be able to just leave it behind. I've sort of fallen in love with the idea and the stories that I'm writing. I think I will continue to submit my storybook assignments even after I have achieved my A, even if those are the only assignments I submit for the class. I never thought I would want to keep working and writing when I didn't have to, but I feel an obligation to bring the storybook to life because I enjoy the idea so much. I know that no one will probably ever read it besides the teacher and other classmates that are assigned to it, but I still can't leave it behind. Anyways, I know that doing about 100 points of work in two weeks might seem like a lot, but I think it's very doable. In reality, it's only working about 1 week ahead to get there. Unfortunately I haven't been able to work ahead all semester, I've just been doing the extra credit. I've been doing all of the assignments pretty much on their deadlines. It seems to have worked out, however, and I'm going to be able to finish the class a little bit earlier than I even anticipated. I'll definitely be taking the Indian Epics class later on, though!
Monday, October 10, 2016
Tech Tip: Editing Pins
Edited pin 1
Here are the pins I edited. I added more to their description, describing what exactly it was. These pins are ones I did for my PR Publications class while doing a competitor analysis, my client is Coca-Cola.
Week 8 Growth Mindset
In this class, I think that I have grown in certain areas and also have areas to grow in others. This applies to my other classes as well. I think that in this class and others, I normally don't do the minimum. I have learned to push myself because I don't like feeling like I only did the minimum. I want to be proud of what I did and show others what I can do and not cut myself short. That being said, I tend to stay in my comfort zone. During this class, I have pushed out of that comfort zone a lot but I still have a ways to go. I never thought I could do creative writing at all, and writing stories isn't something I ever used to do. I have gotten comfortable with it and I feel I have grown a lot in that area. I definitely have focused more on learning and less on grades since I started this class. Since I'm almost done with college, grades matter very little in the grand scheme of things. Grades won't matter once I am out in the real world, but rather what I have learned. I love that I can be free to learn in my own way without pressure of being graded harshly.
Although I push myself in ways, I also tend to do what's easy. When I pick my stories, or even projects for other classes, I usually choose what looks easy. I should try to choose more difficult things so that I can get the most out of it and learn. Again, I think one reason why I do this is because I don't want to do something hard and then make a bad grades. But if I focus on learning and not grades, I will be able to do more difficult things. Another place I have room to grow in is wanting to get things right the first time. I hate editing and I hate redoing things. When I write essays, I tend to do them and then just turn them in. I need to learn that the first time is never the best time. You can't always get it right the first time, and it takes a lot of practice to become good at things. Knowing that I have room to grow here is key in accomplishing my goals.
Although I push myself in ways, I also tend to do what's easy. When I pick my stories, or even projects for other classes, I usually choose what looks easy. I should try to choose more difficult things so that I can get the most out of it and learn. Again, I think one reason why I do this is because I don't want to do something hard and then make a bad grades. But if I focus on learning and not grades, I will be able to do more difficult things. Another place I have room to grow in is wanting to get things right the first time. I hate editing and I hate redoing things. When I write essays, I tend to do them and then just turn them in. I need to learn that the first time is never the best time. You can't always get it right the first time, and it takes a lot of practice to become good at things. Knowing that I have room to grow here is key in accomplishing my goals.
Week 8 Reflections
It's hard to believe we are already halfway through the semester. It has definitely been an interesting one. I have gotten this class down and I now know what is expected of me in this class. For my readings, I feel that I should explore more and find something I'm more interested in. There were a couple of stories that I just clicked on and started reading just to get the assignment done, but I found myself bored and it was very difficult to do my reading notes. I think that there are an endless amount of options and that I should try to find something that suits me.
The same goes for my storytelling. Some of my stories suffered because I was not as interested in my reading. I did go out of my comfort zone several times, changing my style and letting myself have fun with it. In that sense, I feel like I grew a lot in my writing. I would like to try to work even harder at that and push myself farther. I enjoy it more if I make it completely my own. I never knew how creative I could be, and when I allow myself to not hold back on that creativity I end up coming up with some great stories. I'm most happy with where my storybook is heading. I think since I am most interested in it, it has turned out to be the best thing I have done.
I get a lot out of reading other people's stories. Many people are so creative and have great ideas. It gives me ideas to do things that I haven't yet. One thing that I have yet to really do is take an old story and put it in current times. I kind of have done it, but not in the same way that I see my fellow classmates doing it. I admire their writing a lot. One thing that I see some people do that I try to avoid is putting too much or too little dialogue. It is the critique I give and see given most often. It is a very tricky thing in writing. Too much and there isn't enough description, and too little and it just gets boring. I try to give good feedback, but I know that I am often too nice. I always say that I loved their story even if maybe I didn't. All the stories are good in their own way, but if the story needs work I should probably just find a nice way to tell them that instead of saying it was perfect.
The same goes for my storytelling. Some of my stories suffered because I was not as interested in my reading. I did go out of my comfort zone several times, changing my style and letting myself have fun with it. In that sense, I feel like I grew a lot in my writing. I would like to try to work even harder at that and push myself farther. I enjoy it more if I make it completely my own. I never knew how creative I could be, and when I allow myself to not hold back on that creativity I end up coming up with some great stories. I'm most happy with where my storybook is heading. I think since I am most interested in it, it has turned out to be the best thing I have done.
I get a lot out of reading other people's stories. Many people are so creative and have great ideas. It gives me ideas to do things that I haven't yet. One thing that I have yet to really do is take an old story and put it in current times. I kind of have done it, but not in the same way that I see my fellow classmates doing it. I admire their writing a lot. One thing that I see some people do that I try to avoid is putting too much or too little dialogue. It is the critique I give and see given most often. It is a very tricky thing in writing. Too much and there isn't enough description, and too little and it just gets boring. I try to give good feedback, but I know that I am often too nice. I always say that I loved their story even if maybe I didn't. All the stories are good in their own way, but if the story needs work I should probably just find a nice way to tell them that instead of saying it was perfect.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Story: Why the Cat Hates the Dog
A long time ago, before dogs and cats were enemies, they were great friends. The dog and the cat did everything together and helped each other in one another's time of need. They had no reason to hate each other, for they were both loved by their masters and they both helped each other hunt. When the dog would catch a bigger meal, he would share with the cat. When the cat would catch many mice, he would share his treats with the dog. They were the best of friends.
One day, the cat decided to go hunting for a mouse. He found many mice, but the dog was not satisfied.
"Thank you for the mice," the dog said. "But I am feeling very hungry today and the master hasn't let me out to hunt.. is there any way you can catch something bigger?"
The cat was not as big as the dog, but he was still a good hunter. He had sharp claws and teeth and was able to climb to tall places that the dog could not reach.
"Hmmm.. Okay, I will find something bigger for you. Don't worry." the cat replied.
It was then that the cat began to look around the house. He was an inside hunter, and he had cleaned the house of all the mice so there were none left. Suddenly, he noticed high on a shelf there was a big fish. It was much larger than a mouse and was just sitting there in a bowl ready to be hunted. So he jumped up, and grabbed the fish with his claws. He felt very victorious and took the fish back to the dog. The dog was incredibly happy and ate the whole fish very quickly.
"I'm very full now. Thank you cat." he said.
The next day, the cat heard a shout from his master. "WHAT HAS THAT CAT DONE!?"
The cat was very confused. The master came up, grabbed the cat and threw him out into the cold. "How dare you kill my fish! I was going to give that as a gift to me nephew! I paid a lot of money for that! You are a stupid cat, my smart dog knows not to kill my pet fish!"
The cat was very angry. He had been thrown out all because the dog wasn't satisfied with the mice. From that day on, cats no longer listened to humans and insisted that humans treat them with the utmost respect. They also hated dogs and would scratch and hurt them, and eventually dogs learned to hunt the cat. This is why the dog and the cat are enemies and why the cat does not take orders from humans.
Author's note: I retold the story Why the Dog and the Cat Are Enemies from the Chinese Fairy Book by Wilhelm. In the original story. the dog comes up with an idea on how to get a ring back to the owner but needs the cats help. They work together, but the cat is the one able to climb and get the ring to the owner, so the cat is praised and the dog is beaten for not returning the ring. In my story, I wanted to just retell why they are enemies in my own way, and I also wanted to add why cats don't do tricks or listen to humans like dogs do.
One day, the cat decided to go hunting for a mouse. He found many mice, but the dog was not satisfied.
"Thank you for the mice," the dog said. "But I am feeling very hungry today and the master hasn't let me out to hunt.. is there any way you can catch something bigger?"
The cat was not as big as the dog, but he was still a good hunter. He had sharp claws and teeth and was able to climb to tall places that the dog could not reach.
"Hmmm.. Okay, I will find something bigger for you. Don't worry." the cat replied.
It was then that the cat began to look around the house. He was an inside hunter, and he had cleaned the house of all the mice so there were none left. Suddenly, he noticed high on a shelf there was a big fish. It was much larger than a mouse and was just sitting there in a bowl ready to be hunted. So he jumped up, and grabbed the fish with his claws. He felt very victorious and took the fish back to the dog. The dog was incredibly happy and ate the whole fish very quickly.
"I'm very full now. Thank you cat." he said.
The next day, the cat heard a shout from his master. "WHAT HAS THAT CAT DONE!?"
The cat was very confused. The master came up, grabbed the cat and threw him out into the cold. "How dare you kill my fish! I was going to give that as a gift to me nephew! I paid a lot of money for that! You are a stupid cat, my smart dog knows not to kill my pet fish!"
The cat was very angry. He had been thrown out all because the dog wasn't satisfied with the mice. From that day on, cats no longer listened to humans and insisted that humans treat them with the utmost respect. They also hated dogs and would scratch and hurt them, and eventually dogs learned to hunt the cat. This is why the dog and the cat are enemies and why the cat does not take orders from humans.
Author's note: I retold the story Why the Dog and the Cat Are Enemies from the Chinese Fairy Book by Wilhelm. In the original story. the dog comes up with an idea on how to get a ring back to the owner but needs the cats help. They work together, but the cat is the one able to climb and get the ring to the owner, so the cat is praised and the dog is beaten for not returning the ring. In my story, I wanted to just retell why they are enemies in my own way, and I also wanted to add why cats don't do tricks or listen to humans like dogs do.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Tech Tip: Google Timer
I had no idea that you could set up a timer on google! This is actually very helpful for me because I use timers all the time, for all kinds of things school and non-school related. I can already tell that I will be using this in the future. I have always just used the timer on my phone, but that can be inconvenient if I want to take a phone call or anything like that. Having the timer right there where I can switch tabs to see it is really great. I do think that timers are great for time management, both marking how much time you relax and how much time you work. Overworking isn't good either, so if I've gone 3 hours without getting up for a drink of water I like to let myself know that too. Usually when I get distracted it's on my phone, so having the phone timer there is really good for me as well. Timers are a great way to make sure you stay on task and manage your time well.
Tech Tip: Reverse Image Search
I read Ramayana, so I understand what this photo means. It is representing how Sita was kidnapped by Ravana in the story, so she had to be rescued.
Reading Part B: Chinese Fairy Book
These reading notes are from the Chinese Fairy Book by Wilhelm. I really enjoyed part A and I think there are a couple of stories that are good contenders for my storytelling. Part B was also very enjoyable, however. My favorite stories were the two involving the ogres, and all of the other stories were good as well. I will use one of these stories or one from my last post for my storytelling.
I thought that The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away was a very interesting story that, again, had an ending that I didn't really agree with. It seemed like a Shrek kind of story, and I think that combining this story with that movie would be very fun. Perhaps the ogre was a nice guy and it all was out of context.
The Flying Ogre is also an interesting story. I feel that it is very short and has potential to be elaborated on. Where did the ogre come from? Was she really bad? What had she done to other places? Could she be redeemed? I think that there are a lot of unanswered questions here. Making a love story out of her and someone else might be fun as well. Again, I see Shrek here, with people hunting her but maybe she is just misunderstood.
I thought that The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away was a very interesting story that, again, had an ending that I didn't really agree with. It seemed like a Shrek kind of story, and I think that combining this story with that movie would be very fun. Perhaps the ogre was a nice guy and it all was out of context.
The Flying Ogre is also an interesting story. I feel that it is very short and has potential to be elaborated on. Where did the ogre come from? Was she really bad? What had she done to other places? Could she be redeemed? I think that there are a lot of unanswered questions here. Making a love story out of her and someone else might be fun as well. Again, I see Shrek here, with people hunting her but maybe she is just misunderstood.
Reading Part A: Chinese Fairy Book
This week I chose readings from the Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhelm. A few of these readings looked familiar to me as I glanced over them, and I think they might have been included in some practice exercises we have done over the semester. There are many stories and ways to go with this reading and I feel like I have more freedom than with my last reading. My last reading I felt slightly restricted. I like collections of stories more than one long story because I can choose what I like best and go from there.
The first story that interested me was The Cave of the Beasts. It is a strange little story of a father who at first wants to send his daughters out to their deaths, then wants them back, and the family becomes happy and wealthy in the end. This doesn't seem how this story should end. The father should definitely be punished for his actions, so I think there are some things I can change here.
I also liked Why the Dog and the Cat are Enemies. This is a story that I read as a practice for this class earlier, so I already knew I would like it. It is a fun way of telling why dogs and cats hate each other, and I think telling this story in my own way would be fun and interesting, and also gives me a lot of freedom.
The first story that interested me was The Cave of the Beasts. It is a strange little story of a father who at first wants to send his daughters out to their deaths, then wants them back, and the family becomes happy and wealthy in the end. This doesn't seem how this story should end. The father should definitely be punished for his actions, so I think there are some things I can change here.
I also liked Why the Dog and the Cat are Enemies. This is a story that I read as a practice for this class earlier, so I already knew I would like it. It is a fun way of telling why dogs and cats hate each other, and I think telling this story in my own way would be fun and interesting, and also gives me a lot of freedom.
I also really liked the King of the Ants. I think there is a lot of really fun ways I could do this, and the title reminds me of some animated movies I've seen like A Bug's Life.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Week 6 Review
My favorite post for this week was the one about ruthless editing. I am a Public Relations major, and one thing that we take very seriously is not using unnecessary words that make your writing 10x longer than it needs to be. I really liked the image shown below that showed that you need to get rid of unnecessary words, which people tend to use a lot. Editing is something I need to work on and something that I tend to not do. Writing can always be better, so I really enjoyed this post. Here's the link to the announcements.
Famous Last Words: Time for Midterms
Well, it is finally that time of the semester again. Midterms are on there way and I am feeling the full stress of it all. I am taking a lot of online classes and am also a Junior, so at this point I feel like midterms are less tests and more just a bunch of big projects. Personally, I prefer the tests. The stress of projects really gets to me and makes it difficult for me to keep my calm. This week, I have a presentation to do as well as a design due for a business card and letterhead in my PR Pubs class. I'm not good at design, not to mention my Indesign gave me four hours of trouble this week. It simply would not work for me so I had to create a new windows account, uninstall and then reinstall the app. It was so stressful and took so much time that I simply couldn't put my all into the project once I had the problem fixed. Gosh! So, I definitely need to work on that this week. I also have about 5 assignments due this week for my PR Writing class. Fun! It's a lot, but after that it's OU Texas weekend and that should be a lot of fun. Last year I went to Dallas, but this year I think I will just chill here and watch the game from the comfort of my own home. It'll be a really good time with friends and I certainly hope it turns out better than last year. We did win this weekend though! I was overjoyed to see that. Maybe we are getting back in this thing. The Dallas Cowboys also won and are doing great, so it was a good weekend for football. I'm hoping the same for next weekend.
Tech Tip: Hashtags and Retweets
One of the tweets I decided to retweet was Caraviggio's birth and a painting. I think history is very interesting and knowing a day that someone was born who was born so so long ago is something that I think is very cool. Plus, I really enjoyed the painting. You can find the tweet here.
A hashtag that I found interesting was #ttog. I never knew this hashtag existed but I think it is important. It relates to growth mindset and to the fact that teachers should give feedback, not grades. Very cool!
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