Monday, December 7, 2015
Week 15 Reflections
Looking back on this semester, I have really enjoyed this class and the writing skills that it has brought me. I have always thought that writing has been easy, but I have truly learned how much I enjoy writing while taking this class. These stories have been so much fun to think of and to write and I think that I want to continue on and keep writing short stories in the future! I really enjoyed the extra credit options in this class and the readings were great! I got a little bogged down in how long some of them were, but that was probably just me being lazy! I would've loved to have more suggestions for storytelling ideas and strategies because towards the second half of the semester I started to blank on new ways to tell the stories!
Reading Evaluation
I really enjoyed the readings this semester! I noticed that I tended to only do the half reading options because of time constraints!
The best reading diary strategy for me was to decide what kind of story I wanted to write before I read the reading and then write notes over it that way! It was easier to write notes this way!
I think there was a little more reading vs writing and commenting! I wish there was a tad more writing instead of quite so much!
Overall, I loved the readings this semester!
The best reading diary strategy for me was to decide what kind of story I wanted to write before I read the reading and then write notes over it that way! It was easier to write notes this way!
I think there was a little more reading vs writing and commenting! I wish there was a tad more writing instead of quite so much!
Overall, I loved the readings this semester!
Week 14 Tech Tip: Editing a Pinterest Pin
I feel like I know my way around Pinterest pretty well but these tech tips have allowed me to learn more about how to efficiently use the website for all types of things! I like being able to edit the pins because when I have done something, I can edit the description so that I know in the future that I have done or tried it!
I am really excited to use this tech tip in the future!
I am really excited to use this tech tip in the future!
Week 14 Growth Mindset: Quotes that make you think
"Think of all you have learned so far, and don't fret over what you have left to learn"
As finals week approaches, I have found myself using this quote more and more as I begin to study! I think it is extremely important to think about all the knowledge that we have attained before we worry about all of the things we still have to learn! This very much reminds of the Growth Mindset that we have been looking at of the whole semester and I like to keep that in mind as I move forward. It is so important to value and celebrate your milestones, even when you have miles left to go before you have finish and fully succeed. This applies to classes, as well as work and everything you attempt in your life!
As finals week approaches, I have found myself using this quote more and more as I begin to study! I think it is extremely important to think about all the knowledge that we have attained before we worry about all of the things we still have to learn! This very much reminds of the Growth Mindset that we have been looking at of the whole semester and I like to keep that in mind as I move forward. It is so important to value and celebrate your milestones, even when you have miles left to go before you have finish and fully succeed. This applies to classes, as well as work and everything you attempt in your life!
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Week 14 Essay: Poetic Speech and Style
This week I read from the unit, Fables of La Fontaine, which was written in the poetic style. The stories were a collection of Aesop's Fables from a French writer and I definitely recognized a few stories, but most were completely new.
The poetic style has always been hard for me to read and understand, so I generally try to stray away from reading poetry when I can. I have never understood the beauty of poetry or heard the underlying meanings that I am told poetry holds. The largest problem I find when I am reading poetry is I cannot understand a lot of the language used and I fail to see the metaphors that are often central to understanding the poem. Though I do not personally prefer the poetic style that was used in the Fables of La Fonatine, I believe that the style really was an important element of the stories. The style allows the moral to be driven home, without it having to be flat out stated multiple times.
A strategy I used to better understand the poetic language and style is reading the poem through once and then a second time to try and actually understand what the poet was trying to tell me. Also, a lot of the stories were similar to other Aesop's Fables that I had read in past units and that helped me be able to understand the underlying moral easier and for the new fables, I looked up analysis of those stories to help myself better understand them.
Overall, I enjoyed these poems much more than I have in the past and I think that is because I generally enjoy the stores of Aesop's Fables. I think in order to grow to like poetry in general would be to read poems about things and stories that I am already familiar with so that it can be much easier to understand.
The poetic style has always been hard for me to read and understand, so I generally try to stray away from reading poetry when I can. I have never understood the beauty of poetry or heard the underlying meanings that I am told poetry holds. The largest problem I find when I am reading poetry is I cannot understand a lot of the language used and I fail to see the metaphors that are often central to understanding the poem. Though I do not personally prefer the poetic style that was used in the Fables of La Fonatine, I believe that the style really was an important element of the stories. The style allows the moral to be driven home, without it having to be flat out stated multiple times.
A strategy I used to better understand the poetic language and style is reading the poem through once and then a second time to try and actually understand what the poet was trying to tell me. Also, a lot of the stories were similar to other Aesop's Fables that I had read in past units and that helped me be able to understand the underlying moral easier and for the new fables, I looked up analysis of those stories to help myself better understand them.
Overall, I enjoyed these poems much more than I have in the past and I think that is because I generally enjoy the stores of Aesop's Fables. I think in order to grow to like poetry in general would be to read poems about things and stories that I am already familiar with so that it can be much easier to understand.
Image source: Wikipedia
Week 14 Storytelling: The Tortoise meet Two Friendly Ducks
Sit down and let me tell you about the story of a Tortoise who simply just wanted to get out of her home, out of her hole.
Marie was a simple tortoise. She only knew her own shell and now, she wanted a new home and a new way of life. She wanted to have a bigger life, a life filled with adventure and promise. So she set on her way to find a new life, although she had no clue how she would be able to accomplish that, only that a tortoise of her abilities surely could find a great life somewhere!
She began down the trail through the woods in the search of something new, whistling as she went. Down the way a bit she saw two ducks talking to each other as the walked towards her. She started walking quickly toward them, well as quickly as a simple tortoise could, as she was excited to see another animal on the lonely trail. The ducks hadn't seemed to notice her yet, but she was determined to get to them.
After some quick tortoise speed, Marie reached the ducks and smiled at them as she huffed and puffed. She looked at the two of them and asked,
"Can you guys bring me a new life?"
The ducks looked at her and felt bad for her so they looked at each other and said,
"Well, we can help you fly! If you grab onto that stick right there real tight, we can take you real high in the sky so you can see the whole forest. But, we must warn you, you cannot talk while we are up in the sky and you can't even open your mouth so that the stick does not fall out!"
Marie was so excited! She was going to fly high up in the sky. So she grabbed the stick and clenched her mouth with all of her might as the ducks grabbed hold and flew her higher and higher.
Marie was a simple tortoise. She only knew her own shell and now, she wanted a new home and a new way of life. She wanted to have a bigger life, a life filled with adventure and promise. So she set on her way to find a new life, although she had no clue how she would be able to accomplish that, only that a tortoise of her abilities surely could find a great life somewhere!
She began down the trail through the woods in the search of something new, whistling as she went. Down the way a bit she saw two ducks talking to each other as the walked towards her. She started walking quickly toward them, well as quickly as a simple tortoise could, as she was excited to see another animal on the lonely trail. The ducks hadn't seemed to notice her yet, but she was determined to get to them.
After some quick tortoise speed, Marie reached the ducks and smiled at them as she huffed and puffed. She looked at the two of them and asked,
"Can you guys bring me a new life?"
The ducks looked at her and felt bad for her so they looked at each other and said,
"Well, we can help you fly! If you grab onto that stick right there real tight, we can take you real high in the sky so you can see the whole forest. But, we must warn you, you cannot talk while we are up in the sky and you can't even open your mouth so that the stick does not fall out!"
Marie was so excited! She was going to fly high up in the sky. So she grabbed the stick and clenched her mouth with all of her might as the ducks grabbed hold and flew her higher and higher.
But as she was flying through the sky, Marie heard from below,
"A miracle is seen! There goes the flying tortoise queen!"
Well, Marie thought that was exactly what she was now. After all, she had to be the first flying tortoise in the whole wide world! So she exclaimed,
"The queen! I'm truly that, without a joke!"
But as she opened her mouth, her grip on the stick was released and she started to fall through the sky as fast as could be. The ducks sighed as the tortoise had not heeded their good advice.
Author's Note: For this week, I decided to rewrite the poem The Tortoise and the Two Ducks from the La Fontaine unit because I liked the story but the verse form was sort of hard to read for me. I wanted to do it in the storyteller format where someone was telling the story. I also decided to end the story really bluntly because I feel like the tortoise falling would end the story abruptly.
Image Information: The Tortoise and the Ducks from Youtube
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Week 14 Reading Diary: La Fontaine
This is my last reading diary for the class and I am doing it over the unit La Fontaine because they are a lot like Aesop's Fables and I really enjoyed those!
The Cockerel, the Cat, and the Young Mouse
The verse format can sometimes be hard to work with because it can be much more confusing than a straight forward story format. I loved that this one had a moral like Aesop's fables but it was much more subtle than the english versions as it was just the last two lines in the poem.
The Tortoise and the Two Ducks
I remember reading this story in the english version (not in poem form) and I really liked it then! I loved the idea of this story because it shows how foolish someone can be even when they are warned not to do something. It also shows how easily someone can succumb to vanity and believe the hype that people say about them.
The Frogs Asking a King
This one was really interesting but I had a little trouble understanding the story and what the underlying moral was!
The Swallow and the Little Birds
Like the first poem, there is a sort of moral stated at the end of the poem in the last two lines: It's thus we heed no instincts but our own; believe no evil till the evil's done. Trust your instincts and don't believe something bad has happened until it has occurred and you know that it has.
The Bear and the Amateur Gardener
"A foolish friend may cause more woe than could indeed the wisest foe" sometimes your friends can get you in more trouble than you enemies can when they are foolish and do not think of the consequences! This could be a good story!
The Astrologer Who Stumbled Into A Wall
This poem was super hard to read because there wasn't any separation between the lines or the stanzas, it all sort of ran together!!
The Cockerel, the Cat, and the Young Mouse
The verse format can sometimes be hard to work with because it can be much more confusing than a straight forward story format. I loved that this one had a moral like Aesop's fables but it was much more subtle than the english versions as it was just the last two lines in the poem.
The Tortoise and the Two Ducks
I remember reading this story in the english version (not in poem form) and I really liked it then! I loved the idea of this story because it shows how foolish someone can be even when they are warned not to do something. It also shows how easily someone can succumb to vanity and believe the hype that people say about them.
The Frogs Asking a King
This one was really interesting but I had a little trouble understanding the story and what the underlying moral was!
The Swallow and the Little Birds
Like the first poem, there is a sort of moral stated at the end of the poem in the last two lines: It's thus we heed no instincts but our own; believe no evil till the evil's done. Trust your instincts and don't believe something bad has happened until it has occurred and you know that it has.
The Bear and the Amateur Gardener
"A foolish friend may cause more woe than could indeed the wisest foe" sometimes your friends can get you in more trouble than you enemies can when they are foolish and do not think of the consequences! This could be a good story!
The Astrologer Who Stumbled Into A Wall
This poem was super hard to read because there wasn't any separation between the lines or the stanzas, it all sort of ran together!!
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