Reading Notes Part A: Aesop Fables (Jacobs)

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I choose to read these Aesop Fables this week. I read the Jacobs version just to clarify. I found that I enjoyed the fables immensely. The one story that stuck out to me was the one called "Wolves."

I found the wolf and sheep story to be a bit reminiscent of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." The stories do not have the same exact plot, but I felt like there were some parallels. This was one of the stories I found I remember exactly form my childhood.

I feel that my favorite art of the story was when The wolf dressed up as the sheep only to pray on them. I feel like this was a strong opinion about appearances. The wolf dressed up as the sheep was deceiving others into trusting him and in turn harming them. I felt this moral could also be applied to normal life. You can easily find that you have to be very careful when you choose to interact with people now-a-days. Well, if you can get them to stop looking at their phone for a minute or two. You have to be a very good judge of character since with everything in the world today, you can really be able to become someone else. It's crazy to think that there are people like the wolf that you canmeet in your every day life.

I think that it would be fun to provide maybe some comic relief from the story, and allow for the wolf to feel remorse in some way after harming the sheep. Maybe have the wolf miss him? So many ideas for a story!! I'll have to see what I end up writing about. These fables have given me a lot to think about.

Wolves, Source: Pinterest

All the above information can be found at this link:Aesop Fables (Jacob)

Storytelling: The Sheep Wolf

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 "Wulph! Wait Wulph!" I heard the little sheep screaming and panting my name as I ran away. I had to run away though. He didn't give me any other option but to run away! I couldn't help but think of him as a big walking pot roast. Why on earth did he have to get so close to me? After eating grass two weeks this was my one chance at having an actual meal. Every time I attempted to go hunting this little.... thing followed me around. You would think that he would pick up on the fact that I salivated uncontrollably when he was around, but know they all just thought my nose was always running. Apparently, running like a Wulph. I couldn't wait to.... Wait, why was I waiting? We were RUNNING away. I heard my stomach growl. After all of the constant games and "Baaaa"-ing I finally had my chance. 

I had been under the radar for about two months now! I hadn't been able to get a single steak in! I couldn't believe how annoying his little thing was! He just had to know what I was doing all the time! Even when I went out for a bathroom break! He. Was. There. It was becoming the most frustrating situation for me! I couldn't stand hearing all of his jokes.. What was a knock knock anyway? 

I ran through the field and into trees. No one would see us here. I could hear the little fuzzy... thing panting after me. I stopped abruptly and turned around.  "Gosh Wulphy! I had something important to tell you! I don't think we should be this far away from the herd though," his voice trailed off. Here it comes the awkward silence. Why is he just staring at me?

"Wanna hear a joke before we head back?!" Not at all. "Knock, Knock! Wulphy, you have to open the door when someone knocks!! Knock, Knock!" I stared at the little meat loaf. "What door?" "The one right there," he said as he shoved his head right in front of mine. He was so close! Oh no! Why did I just lick his face?! I need to fix this. What's the quickest way to make sure he doesn't notice?....Oh crap. "Who's there?" Here we go again.

"Orange," he said with that goofy grin on his face. That was it! Dinner he is! 

 "All the better to eat you with my dear!" I bellowed ready to attack. I glared at him. No. More. Knock knock. Jokes.

"No, silly! It's orange you glad to see me! You get it? Isn't it funny? Why aren't you laughing? Wul--" 

Finally! I tore him to shreds as I swallowed chunks of him whole. My delicious meal! He deserved it! He was telling me the same joke for the fifteenth time. I..."Hey Wulphy, why is it so dark in here. Wow! You sure do think a lot about sheep. Hey, look, there's me!" 

What was that. Oh God no! Please no. How was I still hearing him? I had eaten my fill of his body. I stared at the carcass on the ground and nudged it. Nope definitely dead.... Did I eat a different sheep? I looked around and walked in a circle... No.  How was it even possible that he was in my mind?.... I closed my eyes and concentrated..."Hey Wulphy! Knock Knock!" The voice echoed this time in my brain. This was worse then having him follow me! 

"Wulphy! Knock Knock! Open the door!!"

Oh dear God please help me. WHAT HAVE I DONE??!!

Author's Note: I found that it would be nice to have some form of comic relief for this specific fable from the Aesop's Fables (Jacob). I found this story to be incredibly intriguing and I wanted to be sure that I put that across. I always enjoy a humorous story and this one is no specific intention. I was inspired a bit from "Hoodwinked" the Disney movie that came out a few years ago. I am a huge Disney fan so I found that this was immediately my first thought. 

In the original story, the wolf doesn't really have a friend or anyone following him. He gets away with his disguise and with killing all these sheep without consequences until the very end. I decided that here should be some form of guilt in his conscience that causes him to regret his decision at least somewhat. This is why I chose to add the sheep with various jokes! I felt that it could be a comical way for the wolf to deal with his karma. I also thought that this would allow for the story to have more of a form of comic relief rather than the original. I hope that you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! 


All the above information can be found at this link:Aesop Fables (Jacob).

Wulphy, Source: V&A

Feedback Thoughts!

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When done correctly, given feedback can be incredibly useful to a person. It can help people to better their writing and correct their mistakes. I think that it is incredibly important to be tactful when giving criticism to others. You have to be very careful to not offend the other person, because creating tension among each other can be problematic. It can be extremely troubling if you are in the same workplace. The last thing you want is a band of angry co-workers conspiring against you! 

My favorite thing that I read from the given articles is the statement "Be a Mirror." This article mentioned that it was important to be a mirror when giving feedback. Be honest when telling people of their errors, but don't be rude!  If you are rude, you immediately become offensive without even trying. 

The Criticism Sandwich, Source: oldhatcreative.com

My favorite tactic to take criticism head on is the Criticism Sandwich tactic. It shows you exactly how to phrase criticism in a way that won't be rude or hurtful. When criticism is cushioned between two compliments, or even a few compliments, it makes it much easier to be able to take the criticism. This is the best way for the criticism to be taken as something that is helpful rather than something that is offensive. It allows for the criticism to be meshed into an overall positive comment so that it is tricked into not being negative at all! If you haven't given this method a try I highly recommend that you do! I am sure you won't regret it! Good luck to all those giving and receiving criticism! Remember criticism is almost always helpful when taken in a positive manner! 

The Act of Giving and Receiving, Source: www.pinterest.com

 

Growth Mindset

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Before watching the interviews provided in the material for this course, I had honestly never heard of Carol Dweck. I had always thought that it was better to be encouraging to other people rather than to be discouraging to them for not meeting a certain level. After going through so many different situations in my life I have learned that 99% of the time you just have to keep on going and never give up. So upon watching the various interviews of Carol Dweck I found that I agreed with her hypothesis completely, and I wasn't surprised by the results. They were simply exactly what I would have expected. 

When I was in school, I feel that I was in the growth group rate for some scenarios and in the fixed mindset rate for others. I worked really hard in school as well as in life on various relationships. There was a lot going on during that period of my life, so I had no option but to be of the growth group. I needed to overcome all of my challenges and come out stronger on the other side. I am proud to say that I accomplished my goal otherwise I wouldn't be here today, and I will continue to work hard to accomplish everything else that comes my way no matter what it ends up being! 

I think that the growth mindset should be applied no just to school but to all of your life's problems. Sometimes all you really need is just a little Dory inside your head telling you to "just keep swimming!" Encouragement truly does go a very long way when trying to get through not just challenges in school, but also getting through trying times in life. We all go through times when we doubt ourselves and doubt our decisions, but if we keep telling ourselves that we are working hard to reach our destination even though we have not yet reached it one day we will, it will make a difference. Most of the time when we say things over and over again to ourselves, especially if they are positive things in can influence our mind to then become positive and believe in the optimistic ideas that we have drilled into our minds. I challenge you to try this method out for yourselves to see how much it can help you! Let's strive for a growth mindset in all that we choose to do! 

An Example of a Growth Mindset, Source: Cheezburger

Time Strategies

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I have realized very quickly this semester that your work can pile up if you don't keep tabs on it. It has been just a few days into the semester so far and I have found that I am already beginning to get quite overwhelmed with my work load. I now know that it is very important to be able manage your time effectively and efficiently. If you fall behind even a little bit it can be a massive problem and can affect your grades negatively. It is best to create a schedule and adhere to it wholeheartedly.

For this semester I am learning that I will need a very strict schedule. I will have to make time for things that need to be done instead of finding time. Especially when it comes to this online course I will be doing my best to give it an hour of my time every day to make sure that I can work ahead and keep up with all of the necessary assignments. Personally, I also find that making lists work incredibly well for me! I enjoy the feeling of marking something off after I have accomplished it. I find a great satisfaction in feeling as though I have conquered something.

Time Management, Source: Subject Guides - LibGuides

For this class specifically I am going to try to work ahead and allot an hour a day to read and study for this class. I feel that this will allow for me to keep up with the work load and prevent me from falling behind!

Time management is an incredibly important skill to have in life. It will help you with deadlines at work, accomplishing your goals, and so much more. If you can figure out how to better manage your days now it will be so much easier for you in the future! Try to make this a goal, and set out time for everything that you feel is important! Good luck to all of you for the next semester.

Reading Options

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 For this semester it will be our job to choose a reading every single week. Unlike in the Indian Epics class we will have a new reading every single week rather than reading one long epic consecutively. Personally, when I choose a book to read the topic needs to interest me as well as the first few pages need to be able to grab my attention. I think that if a book isn't capable of grabbing your attention then it you shouldn't read it because it will feel more like a chore rather than you being able to enjoy it. I found three topics that truly interested me in readings, although two are variations of the same type of story.

The first topic that I found truly interesting was the love story of Cupid and Psyche. I am usually drawn to mythology and I also find that I enjoy these kinds of stories immensely. I found myself immediately gravitating towards this section of the options. Unfortunately, I found that I have actually read many of the given options before such as Metamorphosis, the Odyssey, etc., in previous literature classes. If this wasn't the case I would have chosen one of them, but I would much rather choose to read a new book rather than re-read one that I have already read before. 

Books!, Source: Online SAT / ACT Prep Blog by PrepScholar

The other two topics that I found to be interesting were the two Aesop fable options. I am huge fan of not just fables but Aesop as well! I am familiar with some of his work, but when I went through the list of options from both of the two units I found that I had not read most of the stories provided. I am really excited to read these fables and I believe that I will begin with this topic as my reading for the week. I am not sure which one between the two just yet, but I will do my best to decide as soon as possible. 

I am so excited to begin this new journey with so many new books and stories! I cannot wait to see what the semester brings! I am excited for this class and for reading more stories that will be memorable! Good luck to everyone for the rest of the semester! 

Storybook Favorites

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Last semester, I actually ended up doing a portfolio instead of doing a storybook. I found that I preferred the format as well as the project idea itself. I enjoy writing various stories and do not like to be constricted to just one specific topic. However, these past examples of storybooks are incredible! I think everyone did a wonderful job! Below is a list of my top three to share with all of you!

Storybook 1: "The Sherwood Investigators"

I am a big fan of detective stories, so I knew I had to read this story as soon as I saw it. I felt that this topic would be something that would keep my attention. I wasn't wrong! I love the story about Robin Hood! Especially how he took from the rich and gave to the poor. I did feel that the introduction was a little short, because it was very concise. I was honestly not too fond of the layout though. I found it to be quite simple and would have enjoyed a layout that had a lot more to do with the topic rather than something that was so simple.

Link for Storybook 1: https://sites.google.com/site/alecstorybook/introduction

Storybook 2: "Elephants in India"

For this storybook, I found that the title really caught my attention. It didn't give away too much. As soon as I read the introduction I fell in love. I have very fond stories of my father telling me bedtime stories when I was little to help put me to sleep. I think I am going to bookmark the link to see if I have time to go back and revisit this specific storybook. I loved the layout of this storybook unlike the other one. I found that it went very well with the theme of the storybook and wasn't too over the top either. It was a perfect in between, and I can easily say that this was my absolute favorite storybook out of all of them.

Link for Storybook 2: https://sites.google.com/site/elephantsinindia/introduction

Storybook 3: "Alice's Journey"

For this last and final storybook, the title was an immediate attention grabber! I found that I was incredibly intrigued by what the story concept was going to be. In recent times, social media has grown to be such an important part of our day to day lives that I couldn't wait to see how this aspect would be added to such a classic story. I found the tone of the introduction to be very interesting. It somehow managed to peak my interest but not go overboard and cause me to have too much information. I really enjoyed that an actual image of a Facebook post was added to the introduction. I really enjoyed this storybook as well. 
 
Link for Storybook 3: https://sites.google.com/site/kimberleybishopok/

Storybook, Source: Superpower Wiki - Wikia