Week 15 Review: Staying Creative

My favorite item from some of the recent announcements is this picture showing 29 different ways to remain creative.

29 ways to stay creative; Week 13 Announcements

I think this is a great graphic that can help motivate people to find ways to harness their inner creative beast. Sometimes people lose motivation or run out of ways to think outside of the box, which is a normal thing that occurs to everyone now and then. This image can help kickstart the imagination and potentially help get the creative juices flowing. I know there are a few tips on there that I use myself in order to elevate my ability to think outside the box.

Famous Last Words: Week 15

Well, we've finally arrived at the final week and final day of the course. Naturally, I've procrastinated to the point where I'm up late at night finishing up the last few assignments needed in order to me to reach an A in the course. It's been a frantic dead week so far, with all my final exams being this week instead of next week (when finals week is actually scheduled to be). But I'm thankful to be finishing up with finals earlier than anticipated because I am so completely done with school. I honestly checked out of the semester a couple weeks ago and have barely been getting by the past two weeks. I'm definitely looking forward to my long awaited gap year while I wait to hear back from the optometry schools I will be applying to at the beginning of July.

My other classes have went well too, with only a short paper remaining for my communications class. Other than that, I'm done for the semester! It looks like I'll be ending my years as an undergrad pretty strong, since I managed a 4.0 this final semester. I'm proud of myself for sticking to it this semester and not letting my procrastination get the best of me. I gave myself a great chance to succeed this semester by getting my work done. I'm looking forward to summer break, although I'll be studying for the OAT and retaking a class. My family is planning on going on vacation to this summer so it will be a nice mini break until I'm back hitting the books. I also plan on shadowing and working in an optometry clinic this semester in order to gain more experience in the field. It was nice being in this class and getting the opportunity to learn more about other cultures and about the other students in this class. Have a great summer break!

Graduation is here; Flickr

Wikipedia Trail: From Divergent Thinking to Cerebrospinal Fluid

Divergent Thinking - I decided to search this term as I went back through the assignments and came across an image detailing two different types of thinking: divergent and convergent. According to Wikipedia, divergent thinking is a method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It is spontaneous and free-flowing.

Divergent thinking; Wikipedia

Convergent Thinking - After searching divergent thinking, I thought it was only right to also know what convergent thinking was. Convergent thinking generally means the ability to give the correct answer to standard questions that do not require significant creativity, according to Wikipedia. You can refer to standardized tests as examples.

Convergent thinking; Wikipedia

Electroencephalography - Next I came across this term, abbreviated EEG for short. Basically, it is a electrophysiological monitoring method used to record electrical activity of the brain. I thought this was interesting because it is so widely used in the medical field and also a vital part of many research studies.

EEG readings; Wikipedia

Cerebrospinal Fluid - After EEG, I came across CSF, which is a clear, colorless fluid found in the brain and spinal cord. It acts as a cushion or buffer for the brain, providing protection to the brain inside of the skull. It also is vital to many other important functions that the brain and nervous system are a part of.

Vials of human CSF; Wikipedia

Learning Challenge: Health/Happiness Cartoon

Advice from a tree; Learning by HEART

After looking through the images, I found this one above to be my favorite. I like it because it focuses on nurturing oneself and having a positive image of who you are. I think it also gives good advice on how to keep your mind in a state of peace when everything around you may be chaos. Life can be serious, but it can also be fun and enjoyable if you let it be.

Growth Mindset: Growing in All Classes

I see a lot of similar challenges between my classes at OU. Obviously there's the challenge of staying disciplined and turning in all work on time. By refraining from procrastinating, I have been able to get my work done in all classes in a timely manner, at least for the most part. I've also challenged myself to be more vocal and active during class discussions and participate more thoroughly. It's been a challenge that has applied to all my classes, not only this one. I think this is a great challenge that encourages you to improve in more than one way.

Growth mindset; Flickr

Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App

I downloaded the Canvas app onto my iPhone last semester and it has been one of the most helpful apps on my phone. It's so convenient to be able access whatever materials you need for the class so easily. It's also come in hand in class when my laptop has died, and I need the lecture notes to follow along. I can just access the notes on my phone through the app! It's been quite the resource over the past year and I think I can say that Canvas is way better than D2L in terms of ease of use and accessibility.

Reading Notes (EC): Khasi Folktales

The Tiger and the Monkeys

I thought this was a nice little entertaining story about how the monkeys had outwitted the tiger. This story could definitely be the basis for a retelling, as it's got a lot of components that make it so good. My favorite part was how the monkeys decided to trick the tiger by dressing up a fake clay figure. It's quite bold and genius if you think about it. I didn't understand how the tiger could so easily "fall in love" with the singing of a tiny insect. I thought it made him blind and rash, which ultimately led to his beatdown by the monkeys. I thought the story highlighted the tiger as almost being the villain, due to his arrogant and self-centered nature. I think this story could be retold from the point of view of either the tiger or the monkey, which would give a new perspective and greater insight into their thoughts.

The Legend of the Lei Tree

I thought this was another interesting story in this unit about a tree that threatens to take over the livelihoods of people in the surrounding area. After much consideration, a handpicked group of men were sent to the tree in order to cut it down. No matter how hard they worked, all progress they had made was reversed at night as the bark regenerated. A bird comes and tells them that the reason that the tree keeps healing so quickly is because a tiger comes by to lick the trees wounds because he does not want it to be cut down. It helps him hide in the shadows when he hunts for prey. This story would also be a good one for retelling because there are multiple directions for the story to branch out into.

Hokenakal monkey; Wikimedia

Bibliography

Khasi Folktales by K.U. Rafy 

Portfolio Index

1. The Blizzard - A retelling of the classic tale of Noah's Ark.

2. Notscha vs. Sun Wu Kung - A story detailing the epic fight between Prince Notscha and Sun Wu Kung, the immortal monkey king.

3. Left Behind - An extension to the Apache creation stories with a wicked twist.

4. Mouse Escapes - A continuation to the Brothers Grimm stories with a taste of revenge.

Course Improvements

I kind of like the review weeks. It gives me a chance to catch up and evaluate how well I am doing in the class at the time. However, I can see the benefits that come with adding planning weeks into the schedule. I guess the preference would vary from student to student and I personally think the schedule is fine the way it is. The review weeks work out perfectly, at least for me. I do like the idea of including more audio recordings! I think that's a great idea. I was also wondering if there are any cartoons or little episodes that depict the stories. I think watching these myths as vidoes would be another fun way to learn about the different stories that comes from different cultures around the world. Tutorial videos would also be pretty helpful, but I think your instructions and links to helpful websites are already really beneficial. I don't see the harm in having tutorial videos to people who really want to improve their writing! As for the thematic reading units, I think I would've enjoyed being able to pick from themes rather than locations. It also gives students more options (or so it seems). Overall, I think all these suggestions seem great and could help the class in some way or form! I would really just like to see more video options implemented into the course.

Famous Last Words: Week 14

It's the end of the fourteenth week and everything is chaos once again, just like the beginning of the semester. I procrastinated quite a bit this semester, a product of senioritis no doubt. However, I would like to say that I did make some progress towards alleviating my habit of procrastinating, so all is not lost. As the semester comes to a close, I found myself wondering how much better I could have done or how differently I could've done other things in order to make it an even more successful semester. But at the end of the day, I think I did pretty well considering it was my last semester ever as an undergrad. My other classes are going alright, although my Capstone course has been tough! It's way more difficult than I was anticipating, but I've enjoyed it nonetheless for the most part. It's a relief to almost be done. I can definitely say that I'm looking forward to my gap year! I'll probably be studying for the OAT and working full-time, but I like knowing the fact that I don't have to worry about grades, assignments, and exams for a whole year.

As for my writing over the semester, I think my most creative work was about Cat and Mouse and the little feud they had. The story that I enjoyed the most out of the ones I wrote was the when where the old couple get left behind in the underworld. I struggled a bit more this year than when I took Epics of India when it comes to getting assignments done on time. I'll barely be pulling of an A this semester, when in the other class, I finished it early and had extra time to study for finals. I thoroughly enjoyed this class though, I think even more than Epics of India, because I was able to branch out and read other stories that I wasn't as familiar with. I ended the week with a bit of bad news, but overall, great week!

How I feel studying during dead week; Flickr

Week 14 Review: Procrastination

After backing up my blog, I came across an interesting post in the announcements. It was an image about time management and it was titled Stages of Procrastination. I thought the image was pretty accurate and I got a kick out of it because I'm guilty of procrastinating all the time. It kind of made me feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one who goes through these stages, although it could be avoided if I just planned my time better.

Stages of Procrastination; Learning by Heart

Tech Tip: Create a Pinterest Board

I actually forgot this was even an option as extra credit for this class. I have used Pinterest before, but only because I took Epics of India a couple years ago and it was an extra credit option back then too. I enjoyed this option so I figured why not try it again, even though there's only a week left in the class. Better late than never!

Link to Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/parthjayaswal/mythfolklore-portfolio/

Reading Notes (EC): English Fairy Tales

Tom Tit Tot

I thought this was an interesting story that has the potential to be retold in a variety of ways. It was about a girl who was told to watch the pies her mom had made until they had softened again. The girl though, was impatient and ended up eating all five of the pies. The mother had no food to give the King, so he asks to marry the girl in exchange that she sows him things one month out of the year. The mother agrees and marries her daughter off to the king and for eleven months, the daughter is treated lavishly. At the beginning of the twelfth month, the king takes the girl to a room and tells her she must sow five things a day or else she will be killed. Unfortunately, the girl does not know how to see but a black creature appears out of nowhere and offers to sow for her as long as she can guess his name by the end of the month. She would have three guesses a day or else he would get to take her. So the girl takes this deal, but each day she got the name wrong and each day she got more and more nervous as the creature became more and more confident that she would not get his name. Then one day the king came by and said he had seen a tiny little black creature who had said his name was Tom Tit Tot. So on the last day, when the creature thought he had her, the girl told him his name and he took off, never to be seen again. I'm wondering what it would be like to tell this story from the creature or the king's perspective. It would be a cool concept to consider.

The small little black thing with a tail; UnTextbook

Bibliography

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs