Monday, November 13, 2017
famous last words: visitor
This weekend was an eventful one to say the least. After a stressful week, my older brother came in town for the OU vs TCU game. I think this was my first time having a full game-day experience outside of being a cheerleader. It was a blast!
We got up around 10am and headed to campus corner for breakfast and then went home to change and headed right back to campus corner. It was fun, yet exhausting. Just being in a large crowd for hours is exhausting to me, but I was still a blast.
As for the game itself, it was great! I am not sure if I will go to the last home game and, if I don't, I am content with this game being my last game to attend as a student at OU.
Since my brother was here, I didn't do as much homework as planned, but I don't regret it. I got ahead in this class enough so I just have 6 points left after this assignment and then I will have completed the course. I am very thankful that all of the extra credit was available since it motivated me to work ahead to stay on top of my work despite all of the times I have been sick this semester.
We got up around 10am and headed to campus corner for breakfast and then went home to change and headed right back to campus corner. It was fun, yet exhausting. Just being in a large crowd for hours is exhausting to me, but I was still a blast.
As for the game itself, it was great! I am not sure if I will go to the last home game and, if I don't, I am content with this game being my last game to attend as a student at OU.
Photo from Flickr.
Since my brother was here, I didn't do as much homework as planned, but I don't regret it. I got ahead in this class enough so I just have 6 points left after this assignment and then I will have completed the course. I am very thankful that all of the extra credit was available since it motivated me to work ahead to stay on top of my work despite all of the times I have been sick this semester.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
reading notes: the faithful house-dog, part b
I had a hart time picking my second story this week since both wolves and dogs were in the options. I decided to go with dogs since my whole project is over wolves and I found a great one! The title of the story is The Faithful House-Dog which immediately caught my eye. It reminded me of my first dog that I have from the time I was 3 until I was 18. He was most definitely our faithful house-dog.
I really enjoyed this story as it was written different than previous stories I have read. This story was set up in the form of a poem. Maybe I will try to make a poem this week. It all depends on how much time I have though because I do not think I exactly a natural at coming up with poems on the fly. We will see!
The story starts out by saying that the dog is a man that is always generous and that some may mistake the generosity for stupidity. But, the dog knows what he is doing and doesn't give attention to those that snare.
Late at night, a fellow came to his home and tried to bribe him with food. He asks the man if he is really attempting to distract his mouth from its' real job of being on guard. He tells the man that he is mistaken and that he recognizes the strange act of kindness and knows that he is not actually doing it out of generosity.
I can tell you that you must have a VERY faithful house-dog for them to not give in to a food bribery. My dogs right now would have dropped any task for an extra treat, but I still love them. They just would never be given the task of guarding our home, haha!
Aesop's Fables (English) unit. The Faithful House-Dog by Christopher Smart.
I really enjoyed this story as it was written different than previous stories I have read. This story was set up in the form of a poem. Maybe I will try to make a poem this week. It all depends on how much time I have though because I do not think I exactly a natural at coming up with poems on the fly. We will see!
The story starts out by saying that the dog is a man that is always generous and that some may mistake the generosity for stupidity. But, the dog knows what he is doing and doesn't give attention to those that snare.
Late at night, a fellow came to his home and tried to bribe him with food. He asks the man if he is really attempting to distract his mouth from its' real job of being on guard. He tells the man that he is mistaken and that he recognizes the strange act of kindness and knows that he is not actually doing it out of generosity.
(Photo from Flickr.)
I can tell you that you must have a VERY faithful house-dog for them to not give in to a food bribery. My dogs right now would have dropped any task for an extra treat, but I still love them. They just would never be given the task of guarding our home, haha!
Aesop's Fables (English) unit. The Faithful House-Dog by Christopher Smart.
reading notes: an ape and a fox, part a
This week we are reading British and Celtic stories. I chose to read a story from Aesop's Fables which is from the English unit. The story I picked is called An Ape and a Fox.
The story starts out with a lion that has passed away. The beasts then all meet in the council to choose a king. I am not sure who all is included in this group of beasts, but I am hoping to find out as I continue to read.
As they try to choose a king, no one seems fit. Everyone has something else that they are better at like strength, brains, ect.
The ending of the first paragraph did not make much sense to me. It seems as though there were some translation errors that make the sentence unclear. Hopefully, I will still be able to get something out of the story at the end.
From what I am understanding, the fox is a pretender and has to go against the choice from the beasts. The fox tries to give him some information to maybe throw him off. He tells the choice that there is a hidden treasure that is from royalty and belongs to the choice. He tells him that he has nothing to do with it.
At this point, you find out that the choice from the beast was the ape. The ape follows the fox to the "hidden treasure," but it's not treasure after all. Instead, it was bait in a ditch. The ape laid his hands on the treasure and the trap sprung up and caught his fingers.
The story ends with the fox saying that governors should be men of business and not pleasure.
I think this story can apply to our last election series. It ends with this thought of who should be a ruler. But, what happens when one is both business oriented and in it for pleasure? Maybe I can make a modern version of this for my story this week!
Aesop's Fables (English) unit. Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists: An Ape and a Fox by Roger L'Estrange.
The story starts out with a lion that has passed away. The beasts then all meet in the council to choose a king. I am not sure who all is included in this group of beasts, but I am hoping to find out as I continue to read.
As they try to choose a king, no one seems fit. Everyone has something else that they are better at like strength, brains, ect.
The ending of the first paragraph did not make much sense to me. It seems as though there were some translation errors that make the sentence unclear. Hopefully, I will still be able to get something out of the story at the end.
From what I am understanding, the fox is a pretender and has to go against the choice from the beasts. The fox tries to give him some information to maybe throw him off. He tells the choice that there is a hidden treasure that is from royalty and belongs to the choice. He tells him that he has nothing to do with it.
At this point, you find out that the choice from the beast was the ape. The ape follows the fox to the "hidden treasure," but it's not treasure after all. Instead, it was bait in a ditch. The ape laid his hands on the treasure and the trap sprung up and caught his fingers.
The story ends with the fox saying that governors should be men of business and not pleasure.
(Photo from WikiMedia.)
I think this story can apply to our last election series. It ends with this thought of who should be a ruler. But, what happens when one is both business oriented and in it for pleasure? Maybe I can make a modern version of this for my story this week!
Aesop's Fables (English) unit. Fables of Aesop and Other Eminent Mythologists: An Ape and a Fox by Roger L'Estrange.
Sunday, November 5, 2017
learning by heart: happiness challenge
This week I decided to do a happiness challenge. I read an article titled "The 9 Principles That People Who Feel Successful Say They Live By." This caught my eye because of the word "feel" in the title. In today's age, we are taught that success is many things, but rarely are the person's feelings about their live included in the definition.
The article starts out with exactly the reason that I clicked on the article in the first place. They explain that success is an abstract concept that is extremely difficult to truly define AND achieve.
I did not think about the fact that companies and such still base their thoughts and rewards on the traditional standard of what success is. This de-values the personal journey it takes for the individual to actually feel successful.
There were many ways to live in order to feel successful, but the 2 that stood out to me the most were to suspend judgments and to develop resilience. I like the bit about suspending judgements because it is so very true. Spending time judging yourself or others for mistakes drains valuable energy that you can be using to push beyond in your life. Also, I loved that they said you must develop resilience. I loved this because a lot of people this this is a set that you must adopt when you fail at something. Instead, this is key to feeling successful in the final steps as well. You must surround yourself with a great support system so you know you can get through those rough patches and still feel successful.
(Photo from Fickr.)
growth mindset: cats
I chose this meme to use as I feel like I constantly need to remind myself of this in college. It's hard to think in this way when you are just starting out college, but now, as a senior, I am always trying to get the most out of my classes. It takes time to really realize just how much money is being put into each minute you have with a professor and it's so important to really learn from them so you don't just waste your money and time.
(cheezburger.)
I chose this meme because I think it reigns true for all of us and is sometimes hard to remember. Although we all come from different backgrounds and are going through different things in our lives, we must think positively. We must always remember that we are moving forward from the lowest of lows and that the worst things are just the beginning of something better.
more reading notes: friday
I decided to do some extra reading in the units that we will cover during the final weeks of the class since I am on track to finish early and don't want to miss out. For this week, I am reading a story from the European Unit. It is a part of the Russian Folktales unit and is called Friday.
The story starts out by introducing you to a woman that did not pay her due reverence to Mother Friday. It says that instead she set to work on a distaff-ful of flax. I am not sure exactly what that means and tried to look it up but found nothing. I am hoping it will fall into place as I read on.
The woman worked until dinner-time when she fell into a deep sleep. When she fell asleep, Mother Friday paid her a visit. She was clothed in a white dress and was angry. She went straight up to the woman who had been working, picked up a handful of the dust that had fallen out of the flax, and began stuffing the woman's eyes full of it.
I found that to be quite harsh. I was expecting her to just throw the dust at her, but it quickly escalated past that as she stuffed it into the woman's eyeballs. Somehow, as she did this, the woman did not wake up. I found that to be quite strange as well.
When the woman woke up, she began to yell at the top of her lungs as she did not know what was wrong with her eyes. Finally, someone in the room that was watching told her that she brought this upon herself for upsetting Mother Friday. They filled her in on all that happened while the woman was off in her dreams taking a little nap.
Once she found out what happened to her, she cried out apologies to Mother Friday and promises to never dishonor her again. So, during the night, Mother Friday came back and was able to remove the dust from the woman's eyes.
The story starts out by introducing you to a woman that did not pay her due reverence to Mother Friday. It says that instead she set to work on a distaff-ful of flax. I am not sure exactly what that means and tried to look it up but found nothing. I am hoping it will fall into place as I read on.
The woman worked until dinner-time when she fell into a deep sleep. When she fell asleep, Mother Friday paid her a visit. She was clothed in a white dress and was angry. She went straight up to the woman who had been working, picked up a handful of the dust that had fallen out of the flax, and began stuffing the woman's eyes full of it.
I found that to be quite harsh. I was expecting her to just throw the dust at her, but it quickly escalated past that as she stuffed it into the woman's eyeballs. Somehow, as she did this, the woman did not wake up. I found that to be quite strange as well.
When the woman woke up, she began to yell at the top of her lungs as she did not know what was wrong with her eyes. Finally, someone in the room that was watching told her that she brought this upon herself for upsetting Mother Friday. They filled her in on all that happened while the woman was off in her dreams taking a little nap.
Once she found out what happened to her, she cried out apologies to Mother Friday and promises to never dishonor her again. So, during the night, Mother Friday came back and was able to remove the dust from the woman's eyes.
(Photo from WikiMedia.)
Russian Folktales unit. Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S Ralston: Friday.
famous last words: coming to a close
This week has been like my previous few weeks. I had to take two trips to the doctor's office and still no complete answers as to why my body is giving me issues. But, I am overall feeling a lot better. I don't have fever and can eat and all that jazz, so it's a start!
I am really proud of myself for staying on top of this class and my other classes this past week. I tried to picture all of my due dates being a few days earlier than they really are just to make some wiggle-room in case I end up getting sick. With that in my mind, I think I may complete this course by next week which is pretty exciting!
On the bright side, there were lots of exciting moments that happened over the last week. I got to dress up as a grandpa while TAing Human Anatomy lab which was very entertaining. Our whole team made up members from The Princess Bride, but I actually have never seen the movie. Regardless, it was fun getting to dress up for Halloween at work. Most importantly, the Houston Astros WON the World Series for the first time ever which is freaking AMAZING! It still has not sunk in for me. My family got to go to the parade on Friday and the picture were unreal. I am so happy for my city! Also, OU beat OSU (even though it was a very stressful game)!
I am really proud of myself for staying on top of this class and my other classes this past week. I tried to picture all of my due dates being a few days earlier than they really are just to make some wiggle-room in case I end up getting sick. With that in my mind, I think I may complete this course by next week which is pretty exciting!
On the bright side, there were lots of exciting moments that happened over the last week. I got to dress up as a grandpa while TAing Human Anatomy lab which was very entertaining. Our whole team made up members from The Princess Bride, but I actually have never seen the movie. Regardless, it was fun getting to dress up for Halloween at work. Most importantly, the Houston Astros WON the World Series for the first time ever which is freaking AMAZING! It still has not sunk in for me. My family got to go to the parade on Friday and the picture were unreal. I am so happy for my city! Also, OU beat OSU (even though it was a very stressful game)!
Here is a photo of the anatomy lab crew dressed up as The Princess Bride for Halloween.
tech tip: online typing test
I used KeyHero.com to test my typing skills for this week's tech tip. I did not like that some paragraphs were exponentially longer than others. I also did not like that many of the paragraphs I tried had grammar mistakes in them. It made it harder for me to type with ease. I did, however, realize that I need to practice my typing accuracy. I typed fast, but I never realized how many times I have to backspace. I actually had to work on typing through a program for every student in my elementary school that went all the way through middle school. But, even with that training, I know that I don't use proper typing technique. I am going to work on it as it is crucial in this day and age. If you are a poor typer, homework can be much more difficult and frustrating that it needs to be.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
reading notes: coyote and the dragon, part b
This story takes place in Willamette Valley long ago. I looked up the location of the Willamette Valley and it is in the Pacific Northwest which makes sense as this story is from the Northwest Pacific unit.
In the Willamette Valley in a monster in a cave that scares all of the people. He scared them because at night he would go and hunt people until the morning when he would return to his cave.
Coyote heard about the issues the people were having with this monster and wanted to help out. He is much more skilled for the task than the people are and was hoping his skills could save them from some agony.
It turns out that the monster only came out of his cave to hunt the people during the night because he could not endure daylight. The coyote waited for a sunny day to put his plan to take the monster down into action.
On a bright day, the coyote got his bows and arrows and went to a mountain top and shot an arrow into the sun. Just like the previous story, this one happens to include shooting an arrow into the sky to make a chain of arrows.
Once the chain of arrows was created, the coyote pulled the sun until it came down so he could hide it in the Willamette River. So, unlike the first story I read, he did not climb the chain of arrows and used them as a rope instead.
When night came around, the monster came back out to attack the people. At that time, the coyote broke the chain of arrows which made the sun fly back up into the sky. This blinded the monster giving the coyote the opportunity to kill him.
The story ends by the Indians warning the people that something evil would come of it.
I will definitely add the arrow element in my story as that is a recurring theme in the Pacific Northwest unit stories.
Pacific Northwest unit. Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest: Coyote and the Dragon by New Perce.
In the Willamette Valley in a monster in a cave that scares all of the people. He scared them because at night he would go and hunt people until the morning when he would return to his cave.
Coyote heard about the issues the people were having with this monster and wanted to help out. He is much more skilled for the task than the people are and was hoping his skills could save them from some agony.
It turns out that the monster only came out of his cave to hunt the people during the night because he could not endure daylight. The coyote waited for a sunny day to put his plan to take the monster down into action.
On a bright day, the coyote got his bows and arrows and went to a mountain top and shot an arrow into the sun. Just like the previous story, this one happens to include shooting an arrow into the sky to make a chain of arrows.
Once the chain of arrows was created, the coyote pulled the sun until it came down so he could hide it in the Willamette River. So, unlike the first story I read, he did not climb the chain of arrows and used them as a rope instead.
When night came around, the monster came back out to attack the people. At that time, the coyote broke the chain of arrows which made the sun fly back up into the sky. This blinded the monster giving the coyote the opportunity to kill him.
The story ends by the Indians warning the people that something evil would come of it.
(Photo by WikiMedia.)
I will definitely add the arrow element in my story as that is a recurring theme in the Pacific Northwest unit stories.
Pacific Northwest unit. Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest: Coyote and the Dragon by New Perce.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
reading notes: why there are no snakes on takhoma, part a
This week our readings are from the Native American Unit again. I chose to do a story from the Pacific Northwest category titled Why There Are No Snakes on Takhoma.
This story starts out with Tyhee Sahale getting angry. He then ordered a medicine man to take his bow and arrow and shoot into the cloud that hung low over Takhoma. At first, I did not understand why Sahale didn't shoot the could himself. After doing some research I realize that it's because the medicine men are thought of as having magical healing powers. This makes sense as you later read that the arrow stuck in the cloud. He kept shooting arrows until he made a chain of arrows that went all the way down to the earth.
Then, the medicine man told his klootchman and children to climb up the arrow trail. I looked up what klootchman means and it's his wife. He also had the good animals to climb up and then he climbed up.
After they were all up the chain of arrows, the medicine man broke the chain of arrows so no bad animals could come up. Once the chain broke, it began to rain until the land flooded. Once all of the bad animals were drowned, it stopped raining.
Once the waters drained, they medicine man and his family went out of the cloud and back to the earth. Now there are no snakes or bad animals on Takhoma.
I am a little confused as to why they got rid of all of the bad animal just because someone was mad as the people. I am sure I am missing a piece of something that relates to the culture, but I could not find anything online.
I think this would be a good thing to do my story over because I really like the flow of the story.
Native American Unit: Pacific Northwest. Why There Are No Snakes on Takhoma by Cowlitz.
This story starts out with Tyhee Sahale getting angry. He then ordered a medicine man to take his bow and arrow and shoot into the cloud that hung low over Takhoma. At first, I did not understand why Sahale didn't shoot the could himself. After doing some research I realize that it's because the medicine men are thought of as having magical healing powers. This makes sense as you later read that the arrow stuck in the cloud. He kept shooting arrows until he made a chain of arrows that went all the way down to the earth.
Then, the medicine man told his klootchman and children to climb up the arrow trail. I looked up what klootchman means and it's his wife. He also had the good animals to climb up and then he climbed up.
After they were all up the chain of arrows, the medicine man broke the chain of arrows so no bad animals could come up. Once the chain broke, it began to rain until the land flooded. Once all of the bad animals were drowned, it stopped raining.
Once the waters drained, they medicine man and his family went out of the cloud and back to the earth. Now there are no snakes or bad animals on Takhoma.
I am a little confused as to why they got rid of all of the bad animal just because someone was mad as the people. I am sure I am missing a piece of something that relates to the culture, but I could not find anything online.
I think this would be a good thing to do my story over because I really like the flow of the story.
(Photo from WikiMedia.)
Native American Unit: Pacific Northwest. Why There Are No Snakes on Takhoma by Cowlitz.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
famous last words: can't catch a break
After being sick for a whole week, I decided to workout on Monday of this week and, to say the least, it was not a good idea. Working out on top of the weather change led me to have a fever and cold symptoms Wednesday night. Of course, my family was coming up for homecoming on Thursday night which made me want to get better ASAP.
Friday, I woke up with an ear ache so I went to a urgent care clinic and found out that I actually have ear infections in both ears as well as a sinus infection. This scared me because I actually just got tubes in my ears after my first semester of freshman year and a sinus procedure which were supposed to prevent both of these things from happening.
Now, I am having to take 6 different pills to get my body healthy again that make me very loopy and tired. It's making it very difficult to finish pending assignments and study for my exam on Halloween.
On the bright side, my mom made some delicious homemade chicken noodle soup and they were fine with just hanging out and watching the Astros all weekend.
I'm just hoping that this settles down so I can complete all of my assignments in this class this week as I am so close to the finish line!
(Photo by me from the OU Ring Ceremony)
We went to the ring ceremony which was awesome! It was the biggest one yet and President Boren and Bob Stoops were both there which was also awesome. Besides not feeling 100% and holding back coughs the whole time, it was a great ceremony.Friday, I woke up with an ear ache so I went to a urgent care clinic and found out that I actually have ear infections in both ears as well as a sinus infection. This scared me because I actually just got tubes in my ears after my first semester of freshman year and a sinus procedure which were supposed to prevent both of these things from happening.
Now, I am having to take 6 different pills to get my body healthy again that make me very loopy and tired. It's making it very difficult to finish pending assignments and study for my exam on Halloween.
On the bright side, my mom made some delicious homemade chicken noodle soup and they were fine with just hanging out and watching the Astros all weekend.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
week 10 story: when a rabbit and a possum search for wives
In the early stages of life, a possum bumped into a rabbit on a stroll outside and ended up they becoming lifelong friends. They did everything together even though the rabbit became irritated with the possum every now and then due to the fact that he could quite keep up. Besides the times of irritation, the two seemed to be inseparable.
As time passed, the two saw others getting married and moving onto the next stage in their lives. They began to wonder what their futures are going look like and, to say the least, they weren't pleased with what they were imagining.
"We need wives like our friends," explained the rabbit. The possum agreed as that seemed to be all of the village animals' main source of happiness during this chapter in their lives.
Immediately, the rabbit and possum sat down to start exploring their options.
"Tammy?!" shouted the rabbit with excitement.
"Taken," the possum sighed.
"Lola?" the rabbit continued.
"Keep trying," the possum mumbled.
They went back and forth for nearly an hour as they listed every woman in town. There seemed to be no hope.
"Oh, oh! I know! How about I go to the next village over and tell the chief of town that they must all marry immediately?" the rabbit shouted.
Although hesitant, the possum was not completely opposed to the idea. They sat in that same spot for the rest of the afternoon creating a script and timeline for the events to take place. The plan was set to begin the next morning.
The next morning came along and it was time to get going. The rabbit was so excited when the began their journey that he didn't even realize that he had left the possum in his dust. By the time he arrived at the door of the courthouse, he noticed his friend was no where to be found, but it was too late. The townsmen saw him and asked him what his quest was.
With little time to think, he continued on with the plan and announced that everyone must marry immediately. He was beyond nervous as he didn't think they would buy into his plan.
A minute of silence passed and the rabbit snapped, "well, what are you waiting for?!"
The whole town stirred up in chaos as everyone paired up. Luckily, there was one woman left over and she was linked up with the rabbit. The rabbit was trying desperately not to expose the ear-to-ear grin trying to surface.
As the rabbit got back on the stand to announce his goodbye, rattling was heard from the bushes.
"Who is hiding in that bush?" asked the rabbit.
Slowly, a girl possum crept out of the bush in tears. Almost at the same time, his possum friend arrived exhausted.
"Don't cry, sweet girl! Look at this handsome gentleman that just arrived. This must be destiny!"
From then on, the possum couple were the happiest in the village!
Immediately, everyone, including the rabbit, found a mate. By the time the possum got to the village, there were to wives left for him. So, the rabbit traveled on to the next village. This time, he told the chief that there must be peace at once. The animals all began to fight, but the rabbit got away quickly. The possum reached the lodge and all the animals began to gang up on him and they hit him so hard that he just decided to play dead.
This is the reasoning behind why possums play dead.
To me, this story did not flow very well. For that reason, I took out the whole possum playing dead theme and just expanded on the animals finding wives.
Great Plains unit: Why the Possum Plays Dead by Katharine Berry Judson.
As time passed, the two saw others getting married and moving onto the next stage in their lives. They began to wonder what their futures are going look like and, to say the least, they weren't pleased with what they were imagining.
"We need wives like our friends," explained the rabbit. The possum agreed as that seemed to be all of the village animals' main source of happiness during this chapter in their lives.
Immediately, the rabbit and possum sat down to start exploring their options.
"Tammy?!" shouted the rabbit with excitement.
"Taken," the possum sighed.
"Lola?" the rabbit continued.
"Keep trying," the possum mumbled.
They went back and forth for nearly an hour as they listed every woman in town. There seemed to be no hope.
"Oh, oh! I know! How about I go to the next village over and tell the chief of town that they must all marry immediately?" the rabbit shouted.
Although hesitant, the possum was not completely opposed to the idea. They sat in that same spot for the rest of the afternoon creating a script and timeline for the events to take place. The plan was set to begin the next morning.
The next morning came along and it was time to get going. The rabbit was so excited when the began their journey that he didn't even realize that he had left the possum in his dust. By the time he arrived at the door of the courthouse, he noticed his friend was no where to be found, but it was too late. The townsmen saw him and asked him what his quest was.
With little time to think, he continued on with the plan and announced that everyone must marry immediately. He was beyond nervous as he didn't think they would buy into his plan.
A minute of silence passed and the rabbit snapped, "well, what are you waiting for?!"
The whole town stirred up in chaos as everyone paired up. Luckily, there was one woman left over and she was linked up with the rabbit. The rabbit was trying desperately not to expose the ear-to-ear grin trying to surface.
As the rabbit got back on the stand to announce his goodbye, rattling was heard from the bushes.
"Who is hiding in that bush?" asked the rabbit.
Slowly, a girl possum crept out of the bush in tears. Almost at the same time, his possum friend arrived exhausted.
"Don't cry, sweet girl! Look at this handsome gentleman that just arrived. This must be destiny!"
From then on, the possum couple were the happiest in the village!
(Photo from WikiMedia.)
Author's Note: The original story was about a rabbit and a possum that each want a wife, but can't seem to find one. They decided that their best bet was to go to the village over and pretend to be on a council. They were going to tell them that they all must marry at once in a hope that they themselves will become married.
As they traveled to the next town together, the rabbit moved much quicker and outran the possum. He tried to wait, but the people in the village noticed him and took him to the council lodge. The rabbit went on to deliver his news to the chief and he passed the message along to the people.Immediately, everyone, including the rabbit, found a mate. By the time the possum got to the village, there were to wives left for him. So, the rabbit traveled on to the next village. This time, he told the chief that there must be peace at once. The animals all began to fight, but the rabbit got away quickly. The possum reached the lodge and all the animals began to gang up on him and they hit him so hard that he just decided to play dead.
This is the reasoning behind why possums play dead.
To me, this story did not flow very well. For that reason, I took out the whole possum playing dead theme and just expanded on the animals finding wives.
Great Plains unit: Why the Possum Plays Dead by Katharine Berry Judson.
Monday, October 23, 2017
more reading notes: the monkey and the girl, part a
This week, I decided to read for extra credit as the end of the semester is approaching. I want to rack up extra credit as well as explore some additional readings as I really enjoy this part of class.
I read The Monkey and the Girl from Folklore of the Santal Parganas. This story starts out by introducing some background info. There are kids that used to watch crops growing by a river, and a Hanuman monkey used to come because he wanted to eat the crops. Each time her came, the kids drove him off to protect the crops.
Wanting to eat the crops, the monkey started to put together a plan that would allow him to have his wish. He decided to make a garland of flowers to leave behind the next time the children drive him away from the crops. He was hoping this would make them like him. It ended up working and the children started to like him. One girl specifically liked him so much that she wanted to marry him.
Later on, the news spread to this young girl's family and they were very angry. The father went out and shot the monkey and burned the corpse. As the girl arrived, she wanted to see the burning monkey. Her father let her and she distracted all that were gathered by pointing their attention to the sky. At that moment, she took sand and threw it in the air so it would land in their eyes and blind them as she jumped to the pyre and burned alongside the monkey.
The family just brushed it off like it was no big deal and said that she must have had the monkey's soul.
I was shocked at how the ending of this story was so casual. The father's daughter just burned herself to death and he just claimed that she must have had the monkey's soul and moved on with his daily activities.
Santal Folklore unit: The Monkey and the Girl from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas.
I read The Monkey and the Girl from Folklore of the Santal Parganas. This story starts out by introducing some background info. There are kids that used to watch crops growing by a river, and a Hanuman monkey used to come because he wanted to eat the crops. Each time her came, the kids drove him off to protect the crops.
Wanting to eat the crops, the monkey started to put together a plan that would allow him to have his wish. He decided to make a garland of flowers to leave behind the next time the children drive him away from the crops. He was hoping this would make them like him. It ended up working and the children started to like him. One girl specifically liked him so much that she wanted to marry him.
Later on, the news spread to this young girl's family and they were very angry. The father went out and shot the monkey and burned the corpse. As the girl arrived, she wanted to see the burning monkey. Her father let her and she distracted all that were gathered by pointing their attention to the sky. At that moment, she took sand and threw it in the air so it would land in their eyes and blind them as she jumped to the pyre and burned alongside the monkey.
The family just brushed it off like it was no big deal and said that she must have had the monkey's soul.
(Photo from PixaBay.)
I was shocked at how the ending of this story was so casual. The father's daughter just burned herself to death and he just claimed that she must have had the monkey's soul and moved on with his daily activities.
Santal Folklore unit: The Monkey and the Girl from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas.
learning challenge: reading out loud
I read this week's stories out loud and it made me realize how quickly I normal skim through things. There actually have been a couple of weeks that I was so mentally exhausted, I chose to use an audiobook. I did not even think twice about it, but it really does help to have the words out loud as I go. I think this truly allowed me to build up the characters with my own tone while really focusing on the details. This also made stories just come timing as I read and ways that I cold change up the characters. I think that I am going to do this more often as I really don't see any disadvantages since I am home alone each time I work on my assignments.
(Photo from Pexels.)
reading notes: why the possum plays dead, part b
For my second story of the week, I decided to read Why the Possum Plays Dead.
This story is about a rabbit and a possum that each want a wife, but can't seem to find one. They decided that their best bet was to go to the village over and pretend to be on a council. They were going to tell them that they all must marry at once in a hope that they themselves will become married.
As they traveled to the next town together, the rabbit moved much quicker and outran the possum. He tried to wait, but the people in the village noticed him and took him to the council lodge. The rabbit went on to deliver his news to the chief and he passed the message along to the people.
Immediately, everyone, including the rabbit, found a mate. By the time the possum got to the village, there were to wives left for him. So, the rabbit traveled on to the next village. This time, he told the chief that there must be peace at once. The animals all began to fight, but the rabbit got away quickly. The possum reached the lodge and all the animals began to gang up on him and they hit him so hard that he just decided to play dead.
This is the reasoning behind why possums play dead.
I found this story to not flow very well. I think I might use it to create my own so that I can make it how I was imagining. I was imagining the possum to show up to the lodge in the first village to find out that all the wives were taken, At that point, I thought he was going to play dead and maybe one lone animal was going to come out of hiding to try and save him and then end up getting married.
Great Plains unit: Why the Possum Plays Dead by Katharine Berry Judson.
This story is about a rabbit and a possum that each want a wife, but can't seem to find one. They decided that their best bet was to go to the village over and pretend to be on a council. They were going to tell them that they all must marry at once in a hope that they themselves will become married.
As they traveled to the next town together, the rabbit moved much quicker and outran the possum. He tried to wait, but the people in the village noticed him and took him to the council lodge. The rabbit went on to deliver his news to the chief and he passed the message along to the people.
Immediately, everyone, including the rabbit, found a mate. By the time the possum got to the village, there were to wives left for him. So, the rabbit traveled on to the next village. This time, he told the chief that there must be peace at once. The animals all began to fight, but the rabbit got away quickly. The possum reached the lodge and all the animals began to gang up on him and they hit him so hard that he just decided to play dead.
This is the reasoning behind why possums play dead.
I found this story to not flow very well. I think I might use it to create my own so that I can make it how I was imagining. I was imagining the possum to show up to the lodge in the first village to find out that all the wives were taken, At that point, I thought he was going to play dead and maybe one lone animal was going to come out of hiding to try and save him and then end up getting married.
(Photo by Flickr.)
Great Plains unit: Why the Possum Plays Dead by Katharine Berry Judson.
reading notes: old woman who never dies, part a
This week, we are reading Native American stories. I chose to read Old Woman Who Never Dies from the Great Plains unit.
This story was nothing as I expected it to be when I read the title. This "woman" lives in the moon and has children that live in the sky. Her children are Day, Sun, Night, the Morning Star, a star which circles around the polar star, and the Evening Star.
Every spring, the old woman who never dies sends the wild geese, the swans, and the ducks. When the wild geese arrive, the Indians plant their corn and she makes it grow. There are certain signs from the number of geese that tell the Indians how large their crops will be. If swans or ducks arrive, it means that they must plant something different.
In order to call out for the wild birds, the Indians create a scaffold decorated with meat. They perform rituals around this scaffold which are followed by the old women in the village eating the dried meat.
In the fall, they have a corn feast so the old woman that never dies may send herds of buffalo to them. This season, they ask for the cold not to come early as they will not be prepared.
I think that I can make this into my own story by having the Indians not perform the ritual and end up going through a rough season of crops. I can also have it happen in the fall and make the cold come early or more intense than normal. I also could make the Indians start a new tradition such as throwing something in the river or something along those lines that causes damage to the earth. This can then result in less geese and less corn for them until they figure out what has made the old woman that never dies upset.
This story was nothing as I expected it to be when I read the title. This "woman" lives in the moon and has children that live in the sky. Her children are Day, Sun, Night, the Morning Star, a star which circles around the polar star, and the Evening Star.
Every spring, the old woman who never dies sends the wild geese, the swans, and the ducks. When the wild geese arrive, the Indians plant their corn and she makes it grow. There are certain signs from the number of geese that tell the Indians how large their crops will be. If swans or ducks arrive, it means that they must plant something different.
In order to call out for the wild birds, the Indians create a scaffold decorated with meat. They perform rituals around this scaffold which are followed by the old women in the village eating the dried meat.
In the fall, they have a corn feast so the old woman that never dies may send herds of buffalo to them. This season, they ask for the cold not to come early as they will not be prepared.
I think that I can make this into my own story by having the Indians not perform the ritual and end up going through a rough season of crops. I can also have it happen in the fall and make the cold come early or more intense than normal. I also could make the Indians start a new tradition such as throwing something in the river or something along those lines that causes damage to the earth. This can then result in less geese and less corn for them until they figure out what has made the old woman that never dies upset.
(Photo from PixaBay.)
Great Plains unit: Old Woman Who Never Dies by Mandan.
growth mindset: sharing the mindset concept with someone
This week, I chose to share growth mindset with someone. I decided it would be a great time to share this concept with one of the students I tutor in Human Anatomy. This course can often seem overwhelming and many students tell me I'm just "naturally smart."
I started tutoring a new student and that's exactly what came out of her mouth when we first met and I told her that if I can do it, so can she. I immediately stopped her and explained her thought process. I asked her if she really and truly thinks that I just did good in anatomy because I am who I am. She snickered a little and said, "Well, not literally. You know what I mean!"
I snickered back and pulled out the piles of notes I made the semester I was in the course. Immediately, she went silent. I then explained that everyone can really achieve the grade they want in this course and that it's all about the learning process. I explained that the course took so much energy out of me, but I had a goal in mind and that was my motivation.
At this point in the conversation, I actually showed her the Carol Darwin video I read for another growth mindset challenge and we wrote down achievable goals from this point on in the semester. I think it went really well and motivated her to trust herself and her abilities!
I started tutoring a new student and that's exactly what came out of her mouth when we first met and I told her that if I can do it, so can she. I immediately stopped her and explained her thought process. I asked her if she really and truly thinks that I just did good in anatomy because I am who I am. She snickered a little and said, "Well, not literally. You know what I mean!"
I snickered back and pulled out the piles of notes I made the semester I was in the course. Immediately, she went silent. I then explained that everyone can really achieve the grade they want in this course and that it's all about the learning process. I explained that the course took so much energy out of me, but I had a goal in mind and that was my motivation.
At this point in the conversation, I actually showed her the Carol Darwin video I read for another growth mindset challenge and we wrote down achievable goals from this point on in the semester. I think it went really well and motivated her to trust herself and her abilities!
(Photo from PixaBay.)
tech tip: canvas mobile app
I decided to download the Canvas mobile app for this week's tech tip. I think that this will come in handy when I am on the go and get a lovely e-mail regarding a new grade being posted. Usually, I just get anxious and wait until I have access to a computer to check it since the Canvas website isn't the best on the mobile browser. Now, I will be able to check it right away. I also can use it to make sure I have completed any pending tasks while out and about. Nothing is worse than getting home to realize I forgot to finish an assignment due by midnight. I think this will help me avoid those moments!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)