Week 8 Extra Reading: Ancient Egyptian Myths

(Image Information: Ra on the Solar Boat

Jeff Dahl Source: Wikipedia)

For extra credit reading, I decided to take on the Egyptian Myths unit. It was really interesting to read about Ra, and the way his name was given. It was also interesting to read more about the Sun God. I think what really intrigued me the most about this unit was how similar these stories are regarding the creation of the different deities in Hinduism. I am still unclear as to what religion this would fall under, exactly. But, what it was really cool is that each thing (sun, moon, etc) has its own special meaning. 

Something that I really liked was the story where Ra complains of people who talk badly of him and he goes seeking advice on what he should do. I think the message in this story could easily be modernized, and have a more modern twist. I think this is still a concern people have all the time. If I get a chance to write a story about this tale this week, I will definitely do so. I think I will keep the characters the same, but develop them to be more modernized. Maybe I might make Ra a teenager or a college student, and have the God in which he seeks advice as an adult figure or just another friend that is the same age as him. 

If I get the chance to read Part B of this unit, I will definitely do so. I really liked this unit!

Bibliography: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories by Donald Mackenzie Reading Guide A

Wikipedia Trails: From Diwali to Golu

(Image Information: Navratri Golu

Bootervijay Source: Wikipedia)

1. Diwali

With Diwali coming up this Thursday, I decided to search it on Wikipedia just to see if there was information regarding the festival that I didn't know. Growing up, I only knew what my parents taught me so I wanted to see if there was more information I wasn't aware of.

2. Dhanteras

Reading about Diwali led me to reading more about Dhanteras, the day before Diwali. Now, I understand more about why during Diwali we want everything to be "clean" and why my mom buys new things like sheets, candles, house accessories, and even clothes for us!

3. Vijayadashami

Reading about Dhanteras led me to read more about Dusshera. At first glance, I was wondering if Wikipedia led me to the wrong article, but soon realized this was the more proper name for the festival. Reading more, I realized that this significant day is celebrated differently in different parts of India. 

4. Golu
Reading more about the South Indian practices, I never heard of Golu. So I clicked on the link to find out that this practice of worshipping these dolls during Navratri is a practice only held in South India. It amazes me how Indians, while they are Hindus, can also be completely different. How crazy!

Learning Challenge: Deskercises

(Image Information: Exercise Pictogram

United States National Park Service Source: Wikipedia)

For this week's Learning By H.E.A.R.T, I decided to read about different Deskercises. The article I picked was "A workout at work?" posted by the Washington Post (the article can be found here).

While there were many exercises that I felt were really useful to use at work, I found it very amusing that this article included a "humilating?" scale with each exercise. It turns out the harder exercises were less humiliating (who would've thought?). 

As simple as it may be, I think the "walking" exercise and taking breaks while you're studying or at work are super important. Now, in the Union, if you walk into the Student Life Center, you'll see that many of the offices have standing desks now.

This means they're computers are now on this apparatus that allows the computer to be raised at standing height level. This encourages less sitting, and more standing. There seems to be studies that sitting a lot can also be detrimental to health. So, I'm not sure if these desks are becoming a trend, or if people are becoming more health conscious.

Either way, I really like how people are continuously trying to find ways to keep active. This article does a great job of introducing some easy-to-do exercises that are pretty difficult and geared to get you moving. I'll try incorporate one or two of these this week, as I know I'll be sitting and studying a lot for the two tests I have this week. 

Growth Mindset: Daily Learning Habits

(Image Information: Google Under Magnifying Glass

Simon Source: Pixabay)

After reading the blog post by Aaron Davis, I began to realize that when it comes to school, my daily learning habit is always to just Google things. However, when it comes to my job, I find myself asking other people how to do things, and become more of a visual learner asking for demonstrations. This is only because my job requires hands-on activity, and requires one to have knowledge of the different operations. On the other hand, the things I need to learn for school are just word-for-word verbatim. So, I find myself Googling more information, looking for videos, and other things that would just make learning the material easier. However, neither of these learning habits compare to life-learning habits. My life-learning habits just come from trial and error. I know that if I make a mistake, that I won't make it again because I will have learned form it. However, I also think a lot of my life-learning comes from my parents. They've already been where I am in life. Sure, it must have been different, but they learned most of life's lessons that I don't need to experience for myself to understand. But, I find that my curious nature and desire to master all that I learn a daily learning habit that is really powerful. I am never satisfied with just knowing the bare minimum!

Tech Tip: Canvas Notifications

I decided to do a Tech Tip regarding Canvas, and picked on notifications! I have the app installed on my phone, and one thing that always throws me off is when I send a message on Canvas, my own app will send me a notification that I sent a message. Also, it was also a little odd that I would get notified about an assignment multiple times, but this is because there were changes being made to it that I couldn't see. So, it was nice to be able to go back into the notifications part of Canvas on my computer and adjust what I wanted to be notified about, how I wanted to be notified, and when I wanted to be notified. Super useful tip!

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

(Image Information: Feedback Cat Memes

Growth Mindset Memes Blog Source: Cheezburger)

1. Overall, I feel the feedback from other students is really helpful in terms of helping me shape and mold my writing. I think it is really helpful when students tell me what more they would like to so, or what they really liked about my writing because then I can focus on making those changes or continue to see what styles of writing are stronger for me. I do appreciate constructive feedback as well, because I know that the only way to get better at writing is being told some of my weaknesses!

2. I really like to focus on what things someone does really well in their writing. This also allows writers to see where they flourish the most. I also do include some minor constructive feedback like maybe a better formatting style, or a better page layout just to help strengthen writing overall. I do, however, want to get to a point where I am able to give feedback on more sentence structure or grammar because I know just by Dr. Gibbs comments that I have so much work to do in that area in my own project haha!

3. I really like the random generator to make blog comments, because then I'm not having to pick and choose or being assigned a person. However, I do feel like I still haven't gotten around to everyone in the class, so I hope to visit each person's page at least twice before the end of the semester. The introduction of the blog comments is my favorite part. I love learning about other people and their hobbies, desires, and goals.

4. In the future, I think I need to really make more detailed notes as I read other students posts so that I can give even more helpful feedback. Maybe reading more feedback assignments might help to see what to look for when reading another piece of writing that isn't my own.

5. Finally, I chose the image above because I love how it expresses the true meaning of feedback. Feedback, whether it's positive or constructive, is all a part of the growth process. Yes, we should be confident in ourselves, but we should also be open to feedback! I think feedback has such great value, and being able to put the use of feedback in this class is my favorite part.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

(Image Information: The Farmer and the Stork

Project Gutenberg Source: Wikipedia)

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Looking back, it's been super nice getting to just pick and choose what interested me to read. I haven't been the best about keeping up with reading and writing stories just because Howdy Week happened and now my application cycle is keeping me busy. But, writing this reflection post halfway through the semester has allowed me to see that I need to make time for this, and I am ready to make changes the rest of the semester. I really like how we are able to have the freedom to choose. Sometimes, I don't have time to do both reading parts back to back, so I really appreciate the extra reading option to make up for it. 

I am super excited to be working on my project more this week as I will finally obtain my copy of the OU Ghost Stories book, and will be reading it in its entirety with the 3 day weekend we have this week. I am still super sad I wasn't able to go on the ghost tour, but I will visit with some of the OU tour guides and see what information they can provide me with. I think it would be really fun to take my own pictures and edit them, as Dr. Gibbs has suggested and added them to my project. I just love that I decided to take the OU aspect of this project. Having been in the Epics of India class before, I think my biggest accomplishment this time around is just being more confident in my writing. I don't think I write well, and sometimes get down on myself for it, but this class really has allowed me to feel more confident in the way I express my writing!

The image I chose above is from one of Aesop's fables. I really enjoyed the stories by Aesop because of how much meaning the words have behind them. While one person may take one message from it and apply it to their life, another person by seeing another message and apply it accordingly. I think this is what drew me to these stories, and this image reminds of that. It just reminds me of my dad and his stories that have "hidden messages"!

Looking forward, I need to plan my time more efficiently and get to more storytelling! I may need to adjust the times I work on my project and assignments for this class, and maybe even take advantage of the weekends to work ahead. Maybe I might even decide on a reading ahead of time, and split it up so I complete it before the due date (e.g. read Part A and split it among Sunday and Monday, and Reading B between Tuesday and Wednesday). This way, I won't be overwhelmed to read for an hour, and also meet the assignment deadline.

Excited to see how the rest of the semester goes!