Tech Tip: Canvas Calendar

I have never used the canvas calendar before this class. I honestly did not even know it existed. Now I use it ever day and have it linked into my calendar on my phone. It updates me when things are due and helps me get started on assignments by telling a day before each assignment is due. It is very beneficial and helpful with time management.

Reading Notes: King for Three Days

King for Three Days, from the Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919), is the story of Godfrey de Bouillon fighting in the First Crusade in the 11th century. He hated Jews and was known as a really cruel man for his actions in this crusade. He went from town to town exterminating all the children of Israel. By massacring as many Jews as he could, you can predict that his luck will not last forever and that something will happen to him that he will not like and try to change. The single most important part of the plot happens next in the story. He seeks and tries to obtain a blessing from a holy man such as a rabbi. He finds a rabbi by the name of Solomon ben Isaac. He will later become famous and be better known as Rashi. Knowing who Godfrey de Bouillon is and the actions that he has taken, Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac does not want to give him a blessing. Instead he predicts what will happen and tells Godfrey that he will be the king. Godfrey is happy and thinks this is a blessing. The rabbi continues and tells him that he will only last as king for three days and that he will only come back with three horses and three men. It's interesting that the bible continually uses the number three. It appears hundreds of times in both the New and Old Testaments. As the story continues he becomes king and leaves after three days. He is very happy as he leaves because he leaves with four men on horses proving that the rabbi was wrong. I am not very happy with this part of the story because as he is entering through the gate a huge stone falls off the gate and kills one of his men leading to the rabbi being right. It does not seem right for how he lost his fourth man. I think that if I were to retell the story I could change the ending making it more realistic and have less of a foolish ending.

Stone Smashing Soldier Blogspot

Reading Notes: The Water-Babe and The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog

The Water-Babe, from the Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919), is a story of Moses going to trial at the mere age of three. In the story Bilam, one of the counselors and chief magician to the King Pharaoh, grows very worried about the young Moses. He continually warns the Pharaoh that "this is not play" and that "this child is of the Hebrews - he will rebel against thee and seek to destroy your rule". Bilam predicts the future yet the Pharaoh lets the boy go to trial where another member of the counsel uses his magical staff to manipulate the boy into picking up the coals leading to the Pharaoh to think he is a foolish babe. Looking back Bilam should have used some of his powers to sway the boy into picking the jewelry leading to instant death.

In The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog, from the Jewish Fair Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919), I am going to focus of the character of the dog. It is just turning into winter and the dog and cat agree to part ways and never cross paths while looking for food and shelter. The cat goes to the house of Adam and grows fat. The dog however does not have an easy journey like the cats. He grows tired and weak for he is not a good hunter. He seeks shelter and food from other animals and in return will help them. He either hurts them more than he helps or gets hurt himself. This makes him very sad. Makes him feels that he is worthless and of no use to anyone. Once he finally finds a place that he is truly appreciated at, the cat is there and fights with him, telling him that he has broken the oath and needs to leave. This saddens him even more because he found a place where he is helpful and loved and yet an old friend does not want him there. The story could be changed by changing the cat and dog to different mammals making the story completely different yet keep the same plot.

Cat Attacking Dog Flickr

Wikipedia Trails: From Electron Microscope to Atlantic Ocean

I started with Electron Microscope because my roommate is using one in his research,and from there I went to vacuum as in the space vacant of matter, and from there I went to tropical cyclone also known as a hurricane, and from there I went to the Atlantic Ocean.

Electron microscopes are used in biology to see the structure of very tiny things. They can magnify things up to 10 million times.

A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. It is sometimes used in physics to show how things would work if they were not affected by air resistance making them work in ideal conditions.

A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm that bring heavy rain and can cause flooding in places close to sea level. They can be called tropical cyclones, hurricanes or tropical storm depending on the severity of the storm.

The Atlantic Ocean is on the East side of North and South America extending all the way to the West side of Europe and Africa. It is the second largest Ocean just behind the Pacific Ocean. It covers around 20% of the worlds surface.

Tropical Storm Wikimedia Commons

Tech Tip: Canvas App

I have had the Canvas App downloaded for a while now and it is very useful. I use it to check grades on the go as well as turn in some assignments or take quizzes. I also use it to check to see when assignments are due when I am not by my computer. The app is very useful and I think that everyone should download it.

Feedback Thoughts

Feedback can be very helpful even though at times, you do not want to hear it because it makes you uncomfortable and can seem demeaning. In the 5 Tips for Taking Feedback like a Champ, it talks about how when receiving feedback you should think of it as room for improvement. Meaning that you can get better at whatever you are doing and still have a lot to accomplish by improving those areas. The first step in Using Harsh Feedback to Fuel your Career is to embrace the emotions and vent it all out and then wait until they have passed to move on and try to use the feedback. I think this is really important because sometimes you have to just let it out before you realize that they are just trying to help you out and push you forward. When I used to play competitive tennis, my coach would sometimes give me positive feedback this part of my game or negative feedback that part of my game and I would get frustrated with negative feedback. But looking back the negative feedback is what pushed me forward and really helped me improve. This made me realize that even though feedback can frustrate you and make you upset, the only reason it's there is to help you improve.

Criticism Flickr

Topic Brainstorm

Noah's Ark caught my attention because it is a biblical  story I grew up getting told in elementary school. I know the general story line, but never got into details of what happened while everyone was on the ark. I am interested to see what happens after the flood as well. I would like to retell stories of what happens to the animals and people on the ark for over 40 days. The inmates of the ark.

Homer's Odyssey is about the journey and dangers coming back from the Trojan War. There are a lot of different dangers he faces when traveling back and I think it would be easy to retell these stories. I would also like to reread them since I haven't read them since middle school. Retelling how the cyclops were defeated by changing how he tricked him into getting drunk.

Cyclops drinking Wine Flaxman

I randomly clicked on twenty two goblins and thought it would be easy to retell the stories because they are their own separate twelve stories that are told to a king. I have not heard of these stories until today, but I like stories end in a riddle. I could change The three lovers story by changing what each lover does to mourn for her and how she gets revived.

The Tales of the Parrot seemed interesting to me because the parrot has to tell a different story every night to keep his owner's wife from going to see her lover. The stories are trying to teach the wife a lesson as well as keep her from cheating on her husband. All or some of the characters could be changed in The Goldsmith, the Carpenter, the Taylor, and the Hermit and could create something else to teach a lesson about shame that could be brought by going to see her lover.

Week 2 Story: Bear, Man, and Wizard

Once upon a time, a bear was thrown into jail for being the town drunk. He tried and tried to get out, but he could not. 

By chance a poor man walked by.

"Let me out, I got thrown in here for getting too drunk," cried the bear.

"No way," replied the man, "you will probably eat me."

“No I will not,” pleaded the bear, “I will be very grateful and be your protector and guard.”

After hours of sobbing and pleading to the man, he finally yielded to the bears request and opened the gate of the jail. Jumping out of the cell and grabbing the man, yelling, “You fool! I haven’t eaten in months, what is going to stop me from eating you now?”

Pleading for his life he cried, “Please do not hurt me, I have done nothing wrong. What can I do to convince you to let me live?”

“Well if you could somehow get me some Budlight I would forgive you and let you go in peace,” the bear said.

Not knowing how he could come up with the request, the man walked towards the town. Along the road, he stumbled upon a wizard. The man told him his story and the wizard told him to take him to the bear.

The bear screamed, “I am going to have to eat you now since you did not come back with any budlight,” as the man and the wizard walked up to him.

The man bursts out, “You are mistaken, the wizard can turn anything into budlight with just the flick of his staff.”

The bear then asks for the wizard to turn his jail cell into Budlight. Without hesitation the wizard points his staff at the cell and turns its all into Budlight.

The bear cheers, “Dilly, dilly”, at the site of endless beer and goes back into his cell happier than ever. Letting the man walk away in peace. 

Bear attacking the man Wikimedia Commons

Author's Note

The story above is a modification of the Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal with different characters and a change in the ending. I used the wizard from the recent Budlight commercials in placement of the trickster. 

Bibliography

Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations from John Batton.

Reading Notes, Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal

Stories of tricksters have been around since the beginning of story telling. As any trickster story I focus on the trickster of course and in this case is the Jackal. Brahman walks by a tiger stuck in the cage and does not want to let him out because he will eat him. After sobbing and pleading, Brahman finally lets him out and as he's telling this to the jackal, the jackal seems very confused. He asks him to repeat it multiple times and tells him to take him to the cage where the tiger is. The Jackals confusion manipulates the tiger into getting back into the cage causing him to be trapped once again.

Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal by John Batten

I wonder if there is another way for the jackal to trick the tiger other than pure confusion. Could he use some sort of magic to convince the tiger to get back in the cage?

Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal by Joseph Jacobs (1912)

Reading Options

Robin Hood caught my attention because I grew up getting these read to me as a child and then reading them and I would like to revisit them in this class.

Robin Hood shoots with sir Guy Wikimedia Commons

King Arthur caught my attention because I know the story and would like to read a more in-depth version rather than just seeing the movie. 

Noah and the Ark caught my attention because I grew up attending a Catholic school and hearing this story every year. 

Time Management

I read both The Importance Habit of Just Starting and Time Management Tips Just for Creatives
These articles were very useful and I am going to use one of the tips from the second article for this class. It is one that was also suggested by our teacher and it is to work when you work best. Do not just see the due dates and do the assignments around the due dates. Work when I can and try to get ahead. Time management is going to be very crucial for this class since I will be very busy with my capstone. I am going to have to just work whenever I have free time.

Do it! Flickr

Technology

I have never had a blog so this is new to me and most of my classes just use canvas for assignments and quizzes so this is a little different. That being said it is still really easy to navigate through. I am looking forward to looking at other people's designs for their blogs and learning how to change mine.

Blogging Wikimedia Commons

Assignments

This class is all about time management. I think that getting ahead each week will make this class a lot easier. I also like how if I were to have a busy week I would not have to do both readings. Commenting on each others work will allow us to get to know each other and provide feedback. I like how there is an option for the project which provides flexibility for us.

Today not Tomorrow Flickr

Growth Mindset on Tennis

Growth Mindset is a very interesting and telling take on the way of teaching. She's saying that students in the US are too comfortable with easy and never want to face a challenge. The more we fail, the less we want to try and do it again. By changing the way we teach, her research shows that classes at the bottom can go all the way to the top in a matter of one year. That is inspiring in and of itself. 

The same mistake is happening in kids sports right now. They are handing out participation trophies to all the kids that played. This is rewarding them for maybe being the worst at the sport causing them to not work as hard and get better. In the game of tennis you win by making less mistakes than your opponent, you do not have to be perfect. You have to manage the mistakes and learn from them. You have to learn to compete. This is basically what she is saying that you need to make the challenge zone the new norm. 

Things to Remove from your Brain Image Source

Introduction to a First-Time Blogger

Hello, I am a senior chemical engineer major here at the University of Oklahoma and the coolest thing about the chemical engineering field is the versatility of the major. You can go into many different fields such as the oil and gas industry or any chemical industry. For instant, my capstone is designing a potato chip plant that will make one million pounds of potato chips each year. We have to do everything from finding the land to build it on to distributing the bags of chips to our customers.

This break was quite exciting. I went to San Antonio for a party the first weekend after finals and then traveled out to Los Angeles for New Years as well as the Rose Bowl. The ending of the Rose Bowl was not what I wanted, but it still was a great game and awesome trip. The week after that I went to Vail, Colorado and stayed at one of my friends house and skied for 4 days. There wasn't much snow except for the last day where it snowed 15 inches on us as we skied. And I drove to all these places spending over 75 hours in the car and driving over 5,000 miles. Here is a picture I took of my friend's dog that went on the trip to Vail with us. Her name is Harper and she loves playing in the snow with brother, Francie, that is not pictured.

Harper and her toy

I enjoy watching tennis and I try to play with a couple of my buddies whenever the weather is a bit warmer. I also like watching football and basketball and try to go to every OU home game for both sports. I am also trying to attend as many away OU basketball games I can this semester since I am graduating in May and won't be able to travel as much since I will be working.

Storybook Favorites

Gambling and Curses Lose: Real Love Wins

Five brothers and their wife Image Source

The title caught my attention because who does not love a love story about gambling and curses, but after clicking on it I realized I had never heard the story before. The first two sections of the introduction did not really grab my attention, it was not until the last section when the person walking by them tells a story similar to theirs. I like the design of the introduction due to its simplicity. In my own project I would consider using his or her navigation because of how easy it is to go from story to story.

Indian Epics: Tales of the Wild West

When I was a kid I loved hearing stories about cowboys and the wild west so naturally I clicked on this title. The home page has a great image of what looks like a fight undergoing. The introduction is different than the previous story because it does not really tell you much about how the story is going to go, but all about the characters that are involved and that there will be stories about each of them. The title of the last story on the webpage catching my attention because a new face in town causes trouble in the wild west. The imagery and navigation are similar to that of the previous story and I would consider doing it this way in my project.

The Trial of Four Warriors

I have not heard this story before, but the title caught my attention and it told you what the story was going to be about. After reading through the introduction, I began to read through the first warriors story. Safe to say the introduction worked. The design layout of this one was different than the previous two by having the links to the stories on the left hand side instead of at the top and I liked this change because it was unique and original.

Cliffs of Moher Ireland... Favorite Place

I visited Ireland two summers ago and loved it. Here is one of the places I went while I was in Ireland.

Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland Pixabay

Test Post

Just checking out how this stuff works.