Famous Final Last Words

This week, I didn't do any of the readings since I am so close to finishing out the semester. Instead, I chose to focus on adding one last story to my portfolio and making sure that it was edited well. Looking back now, I noticed that I have learned a lot from this class while having fun at the same time. I learned a lot about grammar and how to use quotations correctly during narration. I've learned a lot about growth mindset and how that can affect me in all areas of life. I was also able to explore so many different kinds of writing styles and I was surprised by the writing that I was able to produce in this class. I didn't think I had it in me to be able to write anything remotely worth reading but this class gave me the right tools and support to do so.

I've been inspired by other people's writings a multitude of times in this class and I was always intrigued by all the different kinds of writing styles amongst my classmates. It has been fun to get to read other people's stories as well as meeting a lot of new people that I wouldn't have been able to meet before. By being in a class like this, you get to see a lot of creativity and diversity. 

This week, I was also able to look back at some of the work that I've done. I especially like my portfolio stories and am quite proud of them. I truly think I have grown as a writer and this class has made it possible to overcome a barrier that I had put up myself. I have also looked back at a lot of my famous last words blogs as well as my growth mindset and learning challenges blogs. I have made a lot of progress since my first blog and it's really cool to see just how broad of a scope was covered in this class. I learned about so many different writing styles of different cultures while also reconnecting with old stories that I had grown up hearing. 

Overall, this course and these blog assignments have left me with a bigger impact than I had expected in the beginning of the semester.  

Storytelling link

Portfolio Guide

Welcome to my Portfolio blog compiled of stories inspired by other stories. This portfolio includes some of the writings that I had the most fun with throughout the semester.

Sorry - This story tells of a young Prince who will do anything to marry his true love, but finds out that he can't always get what he wants.

Unthankful - This story is about a man's life and his blessings that were taken for granted. It calls upon a moral that is important and relevant to everyone.

Beauty and the Car - Read about a car's foolish love for a beautiful woman.

Dating My Boss - A diary filled with one girl's complicated relationship with her boss.

Learn by Heart: The Amazing Effects of Gratitude

The Amazing Effects of Gratitude

This week I watched this video about gratitude and the positive effects it can have on people. I was really surprised to see how much of a difference such a simple task could make in people's lives. It was interested to see how just showing a little gratitude could really make people happier and create better relationships with others. I may consider keeping a gratitude journal like the video mentioned to be reminded of all the things I should be thankful for. I should also show my gratitude for others more often.

Growth Mindset: Grow by Watching Others

For week 9, I decided to explore other people's ideas of growth mindset.
I came across a meme made by Carmen that inspired me more than the others.

Take the Stairs link

It's really true that there is no easy way out or a fast track to getting to success. You have to go through the work and take the long route for anything that's worth doing. Sometimes we often get discouraged by such a long road ahead of us, especially if the travel is going to be over mountains and through valleys. We have to remember our end goal and remind ourselves that each obstacle will make us stronger.

Week 8: Review

This week I found an interesting poster of site-specific searches for google. I never knew about these so check them out!

Where Would I Be Without Google? link

Week 8: Famous Last Words

Week 8 included two weeks because of spring break so it seems like it has been forever since I have written anything. I also thought I forgot to do the portfolio update for this week but then remembered that we had an extra week of spring break to get week 8's work done. It scared me for a second since it was 10 points but I was able to revise my portfolio story. Since there wasn't reading this week, I ended up doing a half-reading option for some extra credit points.

I haven't thought too much about how or what I should write for the next week. It seems that I have shut off my brain for spring break. It's going to be very difficult to get back in the normal routine of things and I am not sure that my creative juices will be flowing for this class once we all return from the long week away. Hopefully I will be able to adjust quickly and get to work efficiently. There are only a few days of break left and I still hope that I will be able to get a head start for the next week as this last part of the semester is always extremely busy.

I'm also excited to combine everything I learned so far in this class to incorporate into my other classes. I'm especially appreciative of the growth mindset thinking that I learned and other strategies to greater utilize my time. I also got my grade back for one of my statistics papers and got a 100% which I was surprised since writing is not my best subject. I also mentioned in previous weeks that I used some concepts from this class to write my statistics paper even though they are two completely different subjects. Seems like the material for this class can be used across a wide range of subjects which is really great.

Spring Break link

Week 8: Tech Tip Cheezburger

Here's a fun meme I made that perfectly describes this week. You can go here to make your own!

I need spring break link

Week 8: Learning Challenges - Review My Schedule

In the beginning I had my schedule set for two hours on Monday and four hours on Tuesday because I wanted to get all my work done early. However, this did not happen and I quickly realized that I was much more efficient if I spread the work out equally. It was also much more enjoyable to do a little at a time. So now I work on this class for an hour every day from Tuesday - Sunday and though I haven't made it a full week yet, I think it will really work. I usually look forward to doing the work for this class because it's fun and creates a more creative outlet for me. At this point in the semester, I am on track to finish this class early because I have done all of the required assignments as well as a lot of the extra credit. This way I can relax more throughout the semester.

Little by Little link

Week 8: Growth Mindset

This week I decided to learn more about growth mindsets. I came across an article called "6 Bad Mental Habits that Sabotage Your Success".

Here's a excerpt from the article that I really liked.

"No matter how much talent or experience you possess, if you can't gain control of your mind, you'll never achieve great things. You can't reach the next level of success unless you believe you're capable of accomplishing more."

Help Each Other Stay Positive link

Here are the 6 Bad Mental Habits listed:

1. Making excuses
2. Catastrophizing the future
3. Seeking audience approval
4. Believing self doubt
5. Putting yourself down
6. Second guessing yourself

I think these are all things that bring negativity into our lives and hinder the potential of what we could be. We can all work to stop doing these 6 things in order for our lives to thrive.

Week 8: Reading

For the Native American unit, I found Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest to be interesting. A lot of the stories include stories about creation whether it be how to earth was created or how certain animals/creatures came to life. I think it would be fun to add my own twist to a creation story.

I am also very interested in American Indian Fairy Tales because I am interested on what kind of stories are told to children in Indian culture. It would be fun to see what stories really resembled American stories and vice versa. From browsing, a lot of the stories are explaining to children the natural tendencies of the world or trying to teach some sort of moral. One particular story that caught my eye in this unit is The Child of the Evening Star because it speaks of choosing someone by their heart and not their looks. I have already written a story similar to this theme but I could possibly use the same theme with a different approach. The point of view for this unit also comes from one story teller. I could possibly use this idea too.

Iagoo, the Storyteller link

Week 8: Blog

The first cool thing I ran into was the Pinterest Board on Ashlie's blog. I really enjoy Pinterest and I actually spend quite a bit of time on it so that's something I would be interested in adding to my blog page.

I also liked Carmen's blog because there was a picture of her and a small "About Me" section. I think it's really nice to be able to put a face to the stories that I read.

Kaitlin's blog also has a really cool social feed on the side which would be really neat to just spread some news around. I would definitely consider putting this on my own blog.

Week 8: Time

This semester I have been doing the bulk of my homework on Mondays and Wednesdays since those are my long days at school. I'm pretty much on the run all day long and I try to get as much stuff done. Tuesdays and Thursdays are a bit more relaxed for me and I use that time to study and prepare myself for the next day. I typically don't do much school work on Fridays and Saturdays and then I spend all day Sunday basically getting ready for the week and catching up on the things I wasn't able to get done that weekend. For this class, I usually just work on my blogs everyday little by little throughout the week. I try my best not to get behind but I sometimes find myself doing all the Friday/Saturday/Sunday assignments and extra credit all on Sunday which takes a long time. For the second half of the semester, I plan to do things a lot earlier and try to get a bulk of the work done in the beginning of the week so that I can relax more at the end and not feel stressed out about time constraints. I have done a lot of the extra credit so I have some wiggle room which is good since the second half of the semester is where it really counts. I'm really hoping that I am productive over spring break and that I will get a head start on some of my assignments so I'm not getting dragged along for the rest of the semester. This is that part of the semester where things get really difficult and you doubt that you will make it. Midterms = complete stress. It's all about how you will manage your time to make things less stressful.

How I Feel at the Moment flickr

Week 7: Review

Voices in Writing link

Here's a funny joke about writing! I have to admit that I have trouble with writing in active voice all the time. I usually forget and I end up writing in passive voice. This usually makes my story longer than it needs to be. Maybe I'll consider writing my next story in a passive-aggressive voice.

Week 7: Famous Last Words

This week has been particularly fast because there has been so much school work to do before spring break. Now we just have 5 more days before spring break begins and I have a feeling it will go by slowly. Fortunately I don't have any big exams this upcoming week but I do have a big project. I'll have to prepare for that all week.

This week I was able to do both readings and an extra credit reading. I also took a different approach to writing and told a story from the point of view of an inanimate object. That was very fun. I would of never thought of doing this before this class. I like how this class introduces you to a lot of different writing styles and you can make each story your own. Other writing classes want you to write in one particular way usually tailored to a certain professor. That's important too though so that you can have some structure in your writing. For this class though, it really allows me to be creative and work on that skill more which I never get to do in my other classes. It is really helpful that we get to explore other people's writings and I am always surprised how each person can read the same story but come up with a whole different story during our storytelling assignment. I am really impressed by everyone's writing and it just goes to show that writing is for everyone. I used to think that only some people could write but I feel like this class gives you the right tools for anyone to become a writer. At least a decent one!

These last couple weeks in particular, there has been a lot of the talk of the presidential election. Frankly, I haven't kept up with it at all and sometimes I find myself ignoring it because I get annoyed with all of the hateful things said especially on social media. Politics just never seems to evoke a nice conversation and it especially bothers me when comments are made rashly without any significant backup. I know I shouldn't avoid it though. It is really important that I keep up with the news of this country and take part in it any way that I can. This upcoming week, I want to challenge myself to do some deep research and read into the platforms of the candidates.

Who Will it Be? flickr

Week 7 Tech Tip: Sidebar Box

This week, I added a new widget to my sidebar. I decided to add a "Quote of the Day" section which includes inspiring quotes that I think everyone would appreciate when they visit my blog.

Week 7 Learning Challenges: How to Read More

How to Read More by Austin Kleon

This is really great advice from Austin Kleon to read more. The first point had me laughing because I really do believe that technology has taken away from reading. You will see a lot of people on their phones, playing games, or looking at social media instead of reading. Especially for kids this generation. All of the other points are things that I actually did during grade school. I remember always making sure to have my book in my backpack incase I had some free time. I also remember making sure to check out a new book from the library on Friday so that I would have something to read over the weekend. I hope to implement these practices again because I really do miss reading for fun.

Week 7 Growth Mindset: Meme

Work for It link

I find this to be incredibly true especially when I think about my future career. It will require a whole lot of work and it is never easy but it is what I love and that's what keeps me going. I am glad that it is difficult though because it challenges me and makes me resilient. It's important that the thing you love requires hard work because then you know that it's worth it. Anything worth doing is going to require some work. If it's extremely easy, then you'll never grow and become better at what you love doing.

Week 7 Storytelling: Beauty and the Car

August 27th 2015

Hi. I am a car. I am not just any car though. I am a car who just got purchased by the most beautiful woman on the entire planet! She is so incredibly gorgeous that she can’t walk down the street without people stopping in their tracks and staring. In fact, every salesman was basically bowing and kissing her feet as she was shopping for her car.  I’m so lucky aren’t I? I get to be seen with such a beauty all around town. All the other cars are going to be so jealous of me too. 

Beauty's Car Wikipedia

My owner’s name is Rebecca and she just signed the papers to be able to take me home. I have never been so thrilled and happy before. After prying off all the drooling men around her, she hopped into the car and I had never been so in love with a lady before. We truly are a perfect match. I'm seriously the luckiest car out there. 

Rebecca turned on the ignition and I roared with life. My headlights never beamed so brightly and I sang on the top of my lungs when she turned on the radio. Where would this beautiful person take me? She probably only drives on the nicest roads and goes to places with graciously large parking spots. Oh, and I’ll probably never experience hail damage either because Rebecca will keep me in a garage at all times. Where would we go first? The beach? The mall?

Rebecca first went to a Starbucks and ordered a cappuccino from the drive through. She’s very classy isn’t she?

Just five minutes later, she happened to spill the steaming hot cup of coffee all over my leather seats. I was in so much agony, but I forgave her quickly because it was most likely an accident. It could have happened with anyone. I still love her.

December 15th, 2015

She drives me around every day, and every day I become weaker and weaker. She slams on the breaks and throws away all her trash including banana peels and apple cores into the back seat. She leaves all her dirty laundry on the floor. It’s becoming harder and harder for me to breathe.

August 13th, 2015

A year has gone by and now I have no mirror on the right passenger side and my bumper is hanging off. My tires have already been patched up five times and my engine feels terrible. I don’t know why she won’t fix me. Why would she treat me this way? It's complete torture every day. She’s such a terrible person. All day long, she yells on her phone and when she gets mad, she pounds on the steering wheel amongst other abuses. I’m deteriorating.

I’ve never been in such pain before. It’s so dreadful waking up every morning and I always pray at night that Rebecca will just stay home and not have to go anywhere. I simply can’t take it anymore. At this rate, I will die at such a young age. I can't believe my fate has turned out this way. Before, I couldn't resist her and now I wish she never existed in my life. 

Author's Note: This story is inspired by a Nigerian folk tale called "Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King." In the original story, a king marries a very beautiful stranger with an ulterior motive who ends up killing him. The moral at the end is "Never marry a stranger, no matter how pretty she may be." This may seem a little funny and obvious but on a more general scale, many people act like the king. They judge a person by their looks before they get to know their true personality which is more important. I wanted to write a story that illustrates how people are much more than just their outward appearances and no matter how pretty someone may be, that doesn't guarantee anyone happiness. A beautiful person is not a perfect person and they are too very capable of causing pain. Especially in a marriage or long lasting relationship, beauty only goes so far. You want to be with someone for their soul and not their looks.

For this story, I wrote it in the perspective of an inanimate object, a car. I thought it would be fun to tell a story in a completely different point of view. The best looking person is not the best owner. 

Bibliography: "Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King" by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910) Web Source

Week 7 Extra Reading Diary: Jataka Tales (Shedlock)

Jataka Tales by Shedlock

I like The Hair that Was not Afraid to Die because it told of how a person was influential to others by teaching them good morals. I think this is really important because a person needs to be good and continue to teach others good things. I still believe that many people are good in this world and I hope to be an example to others as well. A story including how a person can influence good morals into another one's life and how important that is would be a good story to write. A lot of good moral characters are parents, family, friends, or teachers. Sometimes it's hard to be a good person. I believe that when someone is tested in their true virtue and they stick to their morals, they will be rewarded. Good karma will come their way.

The Hare with Good Morals link

A lot of the stories here also include morals of telling the truth. I think honesty is really important especially for any relationship. Lies can get you into an even bigger mess than just telling the truth. Lies have to build upon each other but they often fall apart when one part of your story doesn't align with the rest. Lies can also be really hurtful to other people. I like these stories that tell of how good honesty is and how rewarding it can be in the end. Honesty doesn't go without being acknowledged. No one likes a liar. These stories also remind me of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. If you are known to be a liar, no one will believe you when you are telling the truth.

Week 7 Reading Diary Continued: Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria

Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell

Why the Bush Cow and the Elephant are Bad Friends reminded me a little of Tom and Jerry. Tom and Jerry are enemies that always continue to be against each other. The cat is always chasing the mouse and the mouse is always running away or playing tricks. I might use this type of story to explain why cats and mice do not like each other and make it a comedic story since all of my stories have been pretty serious so far.

The Cock who Caused a Fight between Two Towns  also gave me an idea about writing a story about two brother or two sisters since siblings are always fighting. This story wasn't such a happy ending or one that resolved a friendship but I could maybe just that the beginning of this idea and completely make up my own story. In this tale, the hatred of two brothers brought two whole towns to go to war with each other. It's scary to see how even family can make the worst enemies.

Cock who Caused a Fight between Two Towns link

Of the Fat Woman who Melted Away because as a funny sounding story but ended quite seriously explaining how woman were sold into slavery. It doesn't rest well with me and I wonder if these kinds of stories are read to children. Despite the last portion, the beginning part with the fat woman made of oil being melted away in the sun is really a imaginative story so I might include something really far fetched to just make my story interesting.

Week 7 Reading Diary: Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria

Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell

The African tales also include a lot of stories that explain how certain things became the way they are. I could continue with another story like last week and come up with a story to explain how something came to be. This is a bit challenging though because it's hard to find a viable explanation that hasn't already been thought of. I feel like the African tales are also really bizarre such as the explanation to how a huge elephant has such small eyes.

Why The Elephant has Small Eyes link

Although there are many great stories that tell of why something is the way it is. I really enjoyed Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King.

The moral from Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King was a bit funny to me. It said "Never marry a stranger no matter how pretty she is." I wouldn't advise to marry a stranger at all but I think it is true that some people just look for a pretty person without getting to know them. You'd be surprised to see how many people put up with stuff if the other person is pretty. It's a flawed society and it would be interesting to write a story about why beauty is not everything. I might be interested in writing this in the point of view of an inanimate object. Or maybe a person could be married to someone who was pretty and then could become blind from an accident and realize how beauty didn't even matter. If not as drastic as that, maybe another possible story could be about a couple that married for looks and then grew older only to realize that outside beauty doesn't last for forever.