Week 15 Review - Walpurgis Night

Walpurgis Night

While reviewing the announcements to see what would capture my attention, I stumbled upon Walpurgis Night. I thought this was a really cool event. I love bonfires. They're something I have always enjoyed doing with friends and family. When I was younger, my grandparents owned about 10 acres of land. Of course, a majority of it was woods, so they would gather giant piles and save them for July 4th. Occasionally, if there was a large quantity of brush, they might burn it another time or two. Every time it was time to burn, the entire family would get together and we would have a cook out and make s'mores. It was one of my favorite things to do. 

Though this event has other motivations, it's still something that would be fascinating to attend. I mean, if it's in Harry Potter, it's worth a shot. One thing I do find interesting is that it is used in order to fence off witches. It's something used across a lot of countries, so witches must be a serious problem over there (LOL). Maybe one day I can go visit and see what it is really like. 

Famous Last Words

This last week has been crazy hectic for me. I finished up my Creative Therapies class on Tuesday and took my first final that night. It was for Sports Psychology and the first final of the semester is always the worst. Since then I have been studying for my finals next week, attempting to pack up my house, work every day, as well as finishing up my Capstone project for our presentation that we did yesterday.

This Saturday is my last day at my job here in the city and next Saturday is graduation so some friends wanted to take me out last night to celebrate. As well as give me a MUCH needed break. It makes me sad to leave everyone, but I am also excited to take on this next chapter in my life. I've been looking forward to graduation since I graduated high school, and it has taken it's sweet time to get here.

Personal photo from last night

This Sunday I am moving out of the house I have lived in for the last two years of college. Unfortunately, I have to move back home with my parents. For a 23 year old that loves her independence, this is not something that I am looking forward to. I am excited to be reunited with my dog though. That is the plus side to this. This semester has been crazy busy between work and school and I felt back leaving her home alone by herself all the time. So, I made the decision to leave her with my parents and brother. They love having her and I feel better knowing that she is getting love and attention when they are home.

After school, I am returning to Tulsa and picking up more shifts at my job there. I am hoping over the summer to get certified as an Exercise Physiologist and Personal Trainer and in the fall find a job that uses my degree and those certifications. College has been the best/worst experience of my life, but I wouldn’t change my time at OU for anything. 

Week 15 Learning Challenge - Reading Out Loud

Reading Meme

When I did my extra reading for this week, I read the story out loud. Though I felt I didn't get the same experience as some, I still felt like it helped me stay focused on the story and understand what I was reading. My favorite time to read a story out loud is when there is a lot of dialogue. When that happens you can add your own pizzazz and such to the story. You can emphasize parts different and change the tone of the story to however you want. You can add accents to the characters (which I think is so fun, even though I know I'm not doing them correctly). 

Week 15 - Growth Mindset

Morgan's Growth Mindset Post

I completely agree with Morgan when she says she finds herself saying this a lot. I do as well. I've probably said "I don't know" more times than I've said "I know this", during my college career. Since I've been in college, I have come to second guess myself more than anything. Even when I know what I'm talking about, I always end, "but I don't know" at the end. It's really hard to be confident in yourself in college because it's difficult subjects. It pushes you to think outside the box and it tests your ability to learn and adapt. One day I hope I can confidently say "I know exactly what I'm talking about" and not turn around and take it back right after. 

Wikipedia Trails - From Mermaids to Aleppo

This week for extra reading I read another part of the Little Mermaid story. It made me curious how they came about. 

From Mermaid

While reading this Wiki page, I learned that the idea of the mermaid started thousands of years ago. Another thing that I learned was that Christopher Columbus reported mermaids during his explorations, but it is thought that they were inspired by manatees or other animals. I thought it was interesting to read that there are still mermaid sightings being reported today. A man that I work with watched the Discovery Channel documentary on mermaids when it came out and swore that it was real. 

Atargatis

My Wiki search lead me to this page because this was the original "mermaid". It is said that she accidentally killed her lover and was ashamed so she turned herself into part fish. It's always different to read stories from different cultures. I believe this one is Arabic and is a goddess of fertility. 

One Thousand and One Nights

My search then lead me to the collection of One Thousand and One Nights. The story of Atargatis is held in this storybook collection. It has a large selection of stories and folk tales from the Islamic Golden Age. Like many storybooks from the past, the stories have been collected over many centuries by many different authors. 

To Aleppo

My final page was about Aleppo which is a city in Syria. While reading about One Thousand and One Nights it talked about Aladdin, which is one of the most popular stories in the collection. Aladdin was inspired by the town Aleppo. It was once the largest city in Syria and is now thought to be the second largest. It's one of the oldest ancient cities that is still being inhabited today. From the pictures it looks like a beautiful city and if I am ever able to travel to the middle east, I might have to add it to my travel ventures.  

Reading Notes - The Little Mermaid Pt. 3

Mermaid

I really like how the mermaid continues to visit the prince after she finds out where she is. I wish I would have written about this part of the story. I feel like I could have come up with something really creative to go along with this story. I could have done the diary entries again, and expanded on her many ventures back to the prince's castle. 

Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen; The Little Mermaid Pt. 3

Improvements

I really like the idea of adding more recordings to the class. There were some stories that I really struggled through. I think that having a recording so I could hear it first, would have been beneficial. I also think having the recordings as an extra credit assignment is a great idea. That way students can hear different voices, as well as the students recording can have some fun putting pizzazz in the stories.

The video tutorials might also be beneficial to students. I know there were a lot of things that I messed up on throughout my stories and some happened in almost every one (comma splices, etc). I also never completely understood the active and passive verbs, so maybe a video explaining those might be helpful as well.

Since you have mentioned videos, maybe having a video that sort of explains what the semester is going to entail would be something students might like. I know at the beginning of the semester trying to navigate through what seemed to be a million different pages, trying to make sure I set everything up properly or didn't miss something, was a little overwhelming. There were a lot of words on a lot of different pages and that was something that worried me. Once I got the hang out the class, it wasn't too bad. My thoughts are doing the screencast, as you mentioned, and showing students how to navigate through the online course as well as showing how to set up the blogs and whatnot. It might be a lot of extra work, but for me, having it showed to me would have been easier than figuring it out on my own.

My favorite place

Main attractions at the four Disney Parks by Ember Langley      

 Source:  Inside the Magic

Disney World in Orlando, Florida is my favorite place on the planet.

I know, it's more for children than adults, but it's so much fun. I can't help but feel like a kid again when I see all my favorite childhood characters come to life. Though it is more for kids, there are plenty of adult things available, which makes it even more fun.

The last time my family went, we brought along my younger cousins. Seeing the excitement in their eyes was amazing, and I can't wait to take my kids someday.

If you have never been, I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed. :)