Growth Mindset: Pinterest Mindset Cats

I explored Pinterest to find some awesome growth mindset cats.  Here are some of my favorites:

Jumping Cat (Blogspot)

I liked this one because it has great message.  Basically, if you want to be great, you have to be willing to put yourself out there.  How will you ever know what you are capable of if you never try??

Hardworking Cat! (Blogspot)

I originally liked this meme because the picture was just pretty funny to me.  But then I read the message and thought it was pretty good.   If you want good results, you really have to try!

Tech Tip: Canvas Calendar

I have already been somewhat utilizing Canvas calendar before even doing this assignment.  I think it definitely helps me stay on top of my assignments.  It is especially helpful when I use it for all of my classes.  Plus, I like all the colors! :)

Reading Notes: Tales of Yudhishthira

I decided to do some extra reading for extra credit.  I chose to read "Tales of Yudhishthira."  It is a comic with really excellent reading guides! I liked the beginning story of the brothers at the lake.  Here are my notes:

The story begins with the Pandavas in the forest.  A brahmin goes to them for help because one of his shami sticks got stuck in the antlers of a deer.  Yudhishthira and his brothers agree to help but the deer vanishes.  Then they search for water, as they are very thirsty.  They reach a lake that says they must answer some questions before drinking. Nakula ignores this and drinks.  As does Sahadeva.  Unfortunately, they both perish.  Arjuna finds the bodies, gets angry, and also takes a drink and dies.  Bhima arrives and follows the same pattern.  Finally, Yudhishthira arrives and sees all of his brothers are dead.  A yaksha appears and offers to bring a brother back for answering a riddle correctly  Yudhishthira blows the yaksha away so he revives all four brothers.

Lake (Wikipedia)

Bibliography:

"Tales of Yudhishthira" by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Learning Challenge: Learn about Sleep!

The article I read confirmed to me that sacrificing sleep to studying can be detrimental.  This is a common theme for students, especially those in college.  But it honestly is more important to get enough sleep, rather than pulling an all-nighter to study.

I learned that sleep can actually boost language acquisition skills in younger children.  That is something I did not know but thought was pretty cool!

I am now curious to see what other positive effects enhanced sleep can have on all different age levels.  I will probably do some of my own research to find out!

 

Sleeping Cat (Pexels)

 

Reading Notes: Seven Secrets of Vishnu, Part B

This is part B of the "Seven Secrets of Vishnu."

Matsya's Secret: Only humans can empathize and exploit.

The sacred mark of Vishnu is always on the forehead to represent the difference between humans and animals, the brain.  The larger brain is the spiritual manifestation of reality.  Only the fit can survive, physically and intellectually.  One fans for oneself.  Animals do not judge.  Man interferes with nature and this is because of empathy.  This allows to create society where there are no jungle rules.  The strong protect the weak instead of attacking them.  We become human when we rise above jungle law.  Society is a place where some are more safe than others.  Some are favored.  Often, the needs of culture are put above the needs of nature.  Eventually, nature will fight back.

Matsya (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Seven Secrets of Vishnu" by Devdutt Pattanaik. Link.

Reading Notes: Seven Secrets of Vishnu, Part A

For my reading options this week, I chose "Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Vishnu" because I haven't really utilized many video options yet!

Mohini's Secret - Spiritual growth need not exclude material growth

Mohini is the female form of Vishnu.  She was able to seduce sages and demons.  Vishnu is usually viewed as male.  In metaphysics, there are two realities, material and spiritual.  Material reality can be perceived through the senses and is represented by female form.  But spiritual reality cannot be and is represented through male form.  Mohini is female in form but male in essence.  She is spiritual reality wrapped in material reality. Realities are interdependent.  This is compared to a human couple or Lakshmi and Vishnu.  Lakshmi and Vishnu cannot exist without each other.

 

Mohini (Wikimedia Commons) 

Bibliography:

"Seven Secrets of Vishnu" by Devdutt Pattanaik. Link.

Growth Mindset: Crazy Cats!

I decided to do a Growth Mindset challenge for extra credit this week.  Of course I chose the challenge with random cats.

Here is the first picture that stuck out to me:

Mastery Cat (Blogspot)

I liked this picture for a couple reasons.  The first is that I think the quote is totally true.  You cannot really become really good at something unless you put in the effort.  Plus, mastery doesn't just come overnight.  You have to put in constant effort.  Lastly, I just thought the picture of the cat was really funny! It definitely made me laugh!

Here is the second picture I liked:

 

Cat with burgers (Blogspot) 

This meme also really stuck out to me! We should all be willing to take some risks every now and then.  I mean, that is how we find new things that possibly intrigue us.  Risk can also give us opportunities that we may have never gotten before.  Also, I think we should all be more like this cat and pursue cheeseburgers when we want.  Because sometimes, cheeseburgers can really be the goal!

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Reading Guide

I decided to do extra reading for some extra credit this week.  I chose to read this reading guide for Mahabharata and I really enjoyed it.  It gave such a nice summary and it was also in the form of a really cool comic!

I starts with the rivalry of the the Pandavas and Kauravas.  It then goes into the years the Pandavas have to spend in exile.  The next portion of the comic has to do with the Great War and ends with Yudhishthira being crowned as king.

 

The Comic! (blogspot)

Bibliography:
"Guide: Mahabharata" by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Tech Tip: Canvas Profile

I decided to make my canvas avatar a picture of my dog Shay.  I chose this picture because it makes me happy and I think she is just really cute! I didn't change my name because I don't have a nickname that I go by.

Week 12 Storytelling: Guilty Secret Santa

I have an updated version of this story on my website. Check it out here!

It was late November and all of the kids were returning to school after a nice Thanksgiving break.  This was an especially exciting time in Miss Jay’s 5^th grade class because the first day back from Thanksgiving break meant decorating for Christmas.  The kids would decorate the Christmas tree with handmade ornaments.  They would each hang stockings about their cubbies.  Students would make paper snowflakes and hang them around the room.  Within a couple hours, Miss Jay’s class was definitely flowing with the Christmas spirit.

Not only was the day spent decorating, but also Miss Jay would have each student draw a name out of a bowl.  Each student was then responsible for getting a gift for the person whose name was on the tiny slip of paper.  This was Miss Jay’s favorite Christmas activity, Secret Santa. 

Week after week, more gifts would pile under the tree.  The children’s’ excitement grew more and more.  It was finally the last week of school before Christmas break.  On Friday, everyone would be able to open their gifts and find out who their Secret Santa was.  Two days before the giant reveal, Miss Jay walked into her classroom and was shocked.  Her room was completely destroyed.  Snowflakes were ripped, stockings were torn down, and even some of the ornaments were broken.  It was a disaster.

The children started to funnel in.  They saw the giant mess and one very angry Miss Jay.  They were stunned.

“WHO DID THIS?” exclaimed Miss Jay.

There was no response.  Miss Jay asked again, “someone better tell me right now who destroyed my room!”

And again, there was no response. “Fine,” said Miss Jay. “If no one will fess up, you will all be punished and Secret Santa will be cancelled.”

A huge sigh fell over the entire room.  The kids were so upset because this was something they were really looking forward to.  But, there was one student named Jeremy.  Jeremy was loved by all and was even seen as a leader by most of the other students.  Jeremy knew what happened but he did not want to speak out in front of the entire class.  He also didn’t want to speak to Miss Jay when she was so furious.

The day was finally over and students were making their way out to the carpool line.  Jeremy approached Miss Jay and said, “I know what happened to your room, Miss Jay.  I didn’t want to say it earlier because I didn’t want to embarrass the person who did it.”

Miss Jay replied, “So what happened then?”

 “I heard Kaitlyn go up Anthony and tell him she drew his name for Secret Santa but wasn’t going to get him anything because she thought he was weird.  I could tell he was really sad by this.  Then I got here really early this morning to go get help with my math homework and I saw Anthony destroying the room.  I called his name to talk to him but then he ran away.  He shouldn’t have done that but I feel really bad for him because Kaitlyn was so mean,” Jeremy continued.

“Thank you for your honesty Jeremy.  I will fix this and talk to Kaitlyn,” Miss Jay responded.

Friday came around and Miss Jay had decided to continue with the Secret Santa.  She talked to Kaitlyn separately and told her it was not very nice of her to say those things to Anthony.  It turned out that she actually just had a crush on him!  So she agreed to get him a present.  Everyone opened their presents and found out who had drawn their name.  It was such a happy time for everyone.

 "Secret Santa" (Pixabay)

Authors Note:

I wrote this story based off "The Guilty Dogs" from Twenty Jataka Tales.  In the original story, all of the city dogs were blamed for something the palace dogs did.  They city dogs were sentenced to die.  One brave dog made his way to the king to question him on his punishment.  He was very charming and ended up showing the king that it was not the city dogs that committed the bad deed.  My story was definitely much different because I really just wanted to focus in on the theme of an entire group getting punished for the actions of the few.  I also definitely have Christmas fever so I wanted to throw a Christmas theme in there. :)

Bibliography:

"The Guilty Dogs" from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat Khan  Link.

Reading Notes: Rama and the Monkeys, Part B

These are my reading notes on the second part of "Rama and the Monkeys."

This began with "The Council of the Evil Beings."  Lanka was completely ruined and Ravana was furious.  He wanted revenge.  He gathered his "Evil Beings" and they talked of Hanuman never escaping should he return to their city.  They schemed of getting rid of all the monkey tribes and Rama.  They talked like it would be no big deal to them at all.  They gathered their weapons and starting boasting incessantly. Ravana's younger brother quieted them, telling them that they must be wise.  He claimed that Rama and Hanuman might not be so easy to conquer and that they should think about sending Sita back.

 

Ravana's younger brother (Wikimedia Commons)

 

Bibliography:
"Rama and the Monkeys" by Geraldine Hodgson. Link.

Reading Notes: Rama and the Monkeys, Part A

I have chosen this for one of my "free readings" because I have really taken a liking to these stories modified for children.

 I really like Chapter 1.  It explained the birth of Rama and the creation of the monkeys.  I especially liked where it was explaining the power of the monkeys.  They could basically do whatever they wanted.  They could tear up trees and break the earth by kicking.  They were even more powerful than the great elephants.  It went on to talk about the greatest of the monkeys, Vali.  It was important that he even was recognized by a name.  There were so many that it was hard to keep up.  It then recognized Sugriva, Agni, Nala, and Nila.  Lastly, the great Hanuman was introduced.  These monkeys were leaders and eventually would help Rama in his great battle. 

While I did enjoy reading this, I question how easy it might be for children to read.  It almost seemed a little too advanced for children, at least children that a re very young.

 

An interesting picture I found of Hanuman (Wikipedia)

Bibliography:
"Rama and the Monkeys" by Geraldine Hodgson. Link.