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.

Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales, Part B

These are my reading notes for Part B of "Twenty Jataka Tales." My favorite store was "The Goblin Town."  A great ship crashed onto a beautiful island.  Women came to them, saying that their men had left on a ship long ago and have never returned.  They offered to care for these new travelers.  They charmed the men for a very long time.  One night, a man woke up to strange voices.  He got up and looked around to see that the women had turned to goblins in the night.  He had to tell his fellow travelers immediately. Only some believed him and agreed to escape.  But they were bound by magic chains.  A white horse came down from the sky and saved those that wanted to escape.  Those who did not believe that this was a goblin town stayed.

The White Horse (Pixabay)

Bibliography:

"Twenty Jakata Tales" by Noor Inayat Khan. Link.

Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales, Part A

I chose to read "Twenty Jataka Tales" which is another book retold for children.  I read one of these books last week and really enjoyed it so I decided to do it again!

I liked the story of "The Guilty Dogs."  The palace dogs had chewed up the the straps of the king's chariot and the king ordered every dog in the city to be killed.  But the chief of all the dogs would not let this happen to the innocent.  He was so full of love that the guards did not touch him.  He went to speak to the king and prove that the city dogs were innocent.  The king believed him and promised food and care to the city dogs for the rest of their lives.  I probably would like to retell a story like this because it is about dogs and I love dogs!

A Sweet Dog (Max Pixel)

Bibliography:

"Twenty Jakata Tales" by Noor Inayat Khan. Link.

Week 10 Story: Bad JuJu from a Jewel

Check out the updated version of this story on my portfolio! 

  Once there was a man named Satrajit.  He was a good and noble man that was a very faithful follower of the sun god, Surya.  In fact, he spent any extra time he had praying to and worshipping Surya.  One day, Satrajit was taking a walk along the beach when suddenly a great wave of light passed.  Satrajit was in awe when he quickly realized that it was Surya descending down upon him.  Satrajit was so excited that he could barely speak. 

He managed to say, “Oh great Surya! What an honor it is to be in your physical presence.  I have prayed for this moment for my entire life.  But, I cannot make out your features because your light shines so bright.  Please give me the chance to really see you!”

“Silly me,” said Surya, “I wear this necklace and it intensifies my light.  Let me take it off so that my light is dimmed.”  Surya took off the necklace and continued, “Noble Satrajit, I have come because I need your help.  I know that you are a faithful follower of mine so surely you can perform this task.”

Satrajit responded, “I am so humbled that you have selected me to perform your duty.  But what could the great sun god possibly want from someone like me?”

“I know that you are good.  Unfortunately, I have been informed that some of my ‘followers’ are wicked.  They go around doing horrendous things all while claiming they were of my command.  I need you to identify these evil-doers and get rid of them” Surya spoke back.

Satrajit responded weakly, “I am glad to do what you ask, but how exactly am I supposed to do away with these wicked men?”

“I am glad you asked,” replied Surya.  He handed Satrajit the necklace and went on, “See this necklace?  Not only does it intensify my light, but it also brings good things to a good man and bad things to a bad man.  An evil man will see you with this gem and find a way to steal it from you.  Once he gets it, the gem will do the rest of the work.  All I need you to do is wear this gem around Dwarka.”

Satrajit spoke back, “I think that I can do that! I hope I can make you proud.”

Satrajit put the jewel around his neck and went back to town.  Right off the bat, men in the town noticed the powerful jewel.  Each time Satrajit went to bed, he took off the necklace and placed it on his bedside table.  Every morning he would wake up and it would be gone.  He would then proceed to find the necklace and the unlucky man that received bad fortune.  One man was found torn to pieces by a lion.  A bear killed another.  Each day he would find another man dead because of the necklace.  These men were liars, cheaters, thieves, and murderers. 

After 10 days of this, Satrajit was growing weary with all the death he had been surrounded by.  Surya appeared once more, announcing that Satrajit’s duties were finished.  Surya offered the jewel to Satrajit as “thank you” for his obedience.  Satrajit was hesitant because he knew envious men would look to steal it.  So, Surya placed a spell on the jewel that no man with evil intentions could come within 100 feet of the jewel.  Satrajit was safe and the jewel brought him good luck for many years.

The Jewel (Pixabay)

Author's Note: Satrajit received that jewel from the sun god in the original story, but was not given a mission.  Instead, he grew worried that the jewel would be taken from him so he passed it on to his brother.  His brother was killed by a lion, who was then killed by the Bear King.  The Bear King gave the jewel to his son.  Satrajit's brother had never returned and rumors were formed.  Krishna and his men went to find what happened to him.  Krishna made it to the Bear King's cave and saw the jewel.  He and the Bear King fought until Krishna eventually won and returned home.  I decided to just focus on the jewel and change up the story by having the sun god give Satrajit a mission.

Bibiography: "The Syamantaka Jewel" by C.A. Kincaid. Link.

Reading Notes: Babbitt. Jataka Tales, Part B

These are my reading notes for Part B of The Jataka tales retold for children.

I thought the story, "The Elephant Girly-Face," was an interesting one.  A good and kind elephant named Girly-Face would never have hurt a fly.  But, one night he overheard some robbers saying that they must not be afraid to kill.  They will go into the house and kill anyone that awakens.  Girly-Face overheard this and thought it is how he should act.  So the next day he killed two of his keepers.  The king was surprised to hear this and decided the elephant had probably heard some bad talk.  So, the kind sent some men over to talk about how hurting and killing people is wrong.  Girly-Face overheard this and decided it is how he must act again.

I also liked, "The Ox Who Never Envied the Pig."  There were two brother oxes.  The younger brother noticed how a pig had been eating a lot of really good food lately.  HE complained to his older brother that it is unfair that the pig gets to eat all that and he and his brother do all the work while only eating straw and grass.  The older brother told him not to be jealous and that the big was being fattened to be slaughtered.  Sure enough the pig was killed to be eaten and the younger brother was suddenly happy to be working hard and eating his boring food!

"Girly-Face" (Max Pixel)

 
Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen Babbitt. Link.

Reading Notes: Babbitt. Jataka Tales. Part A

For my reading this week, I chose to read "Jataka Tales" by Babbitt.

I especially liked the story of "How the Turtle Save his own Life."  Basically, the children though the turtle was a demon and it was to be killed.  After several gruesome options, someone offered the idea of throwing it into the lake.  The turtle responded with extreme fear to this and was able to trick the men into actually choosing that as his "punishment."

I also liked "The Ox Who Won The Forfeit."  The ox was very strong and the man wanted to show him off and win some money.  The ox was to pull a hundred wagons.  But when he made the bet, he whipped his ox and called him names so the ox did not budge.  When they got home, the ox explained that the owner had never treated him like that before.  The owner apologized deeply.  The ox agreed to go back the next day to win his money back and then some.  They went and the owner praised the ox as he pulled the wagons.  The owner and the ox went home happy.

 Strong Ox (Wikipedia)

Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen Babbitt. Link.

Week 9 Story Planning: The Syamantaka Jewel

This week I will be planning the story I want to write for next week.  I am interested in writing a story based off of The Syamantaka Jewel.  I really enjoyed reading this story and I think I could make a fun version of my own.  I decided to end the story upon Krishna's return to Dwarka. I have taken some more detailed notes to help me with my writing.

The story starts with the sun god, Surya, descending down upon Satrajit.  Satrajit was blinded by light until Surya took off the Syamantaka jewel.  Surya told Satrajit to ask him for a blessing to which Satrajit asked for the jewel, not knowing what it was capable of.  Surya granted him the great jewel.  
This jewel was stored away and was capable of giving Satrajit eight wagons of gold and keeping harm from Dwarka.  Eventually Satrajit became worried that Krishna might take the jewel from him because he is more worthy.  So, he passed it along to his brother, Prasena.  This jewel brings good things to one that is good and brave.  On the flip side, the jewel brings death to an evil or cowardly man.


Prasena went to hunt one day and a lion tore him to pieces.  The lion took the jewel to his den.  Jambavat, King of the Bears, saw the jewel shining and rushed down to the lion’s den and killed him with a blow from his paw.  Jambavat took the jewel and gave it to his sun, Sukumara.

The people in Dwarka started to wonder why Prasena had not come back.  They schemed that Krishna killed Prasena and kept the jewel for himself.  Kirshna heard these rumors and decided to find out what really happened.  He found the spot where the lion killed Prasena but would not return until he found the gem.  He followed the tracks and found the dead lion.  He then followed the Bear King’s footprints, which led to his throne.  


The cave was lit up with the jewel.  Sukumara was playing with it alongside his nurse.  The nurse saw Krishna and called for help.  Jambavat arose and charged at Krishna.  The two began to fight.  This lasted for the rest of the day, plus 21 days after that.  Krishna’s men had been waiting outside all this time and worried that Krishna had died.  They were too scared to enter and returned back to Dwarka, saying that Krishna was dead.  They had just finished his funeral when suddenly the sky lit up.  It was Krishna with the jewel.


Krishna explained that the bear ended up begging for mercy and Krishna spared him for the jewel and took his sister, Jambavati, to marry.  HE told the entire story and gave the jewel back to Satrajit.  Satrajit offered his daughter, Satyabhama, as another wife to Krishna.

Krishna Marries Jambavati (The British Museum)

Bibiography:
"The Syamantaka Jewel" by C.A. Kincaid. Link.

Reading Notes: Shri Krishna of Dwarka, Part B

These are my reading notes over Part B of "Shri Krishna of Dwarka"by C.A. Kincaid. 

This section starts with the Sun god descending from the sky in front of Satrajit.  This is the story I have chosen to write my notes on because I enjoyed it and might want to recreate it.  Satrajit asked for Syamantaka necklace from the Sun god and he indeed received it.  This jewel pretty much kept away all bad things from Dwarka.  Satrajit became worried the Krishna would end up taking the jewel so he gave it to his brother, Prasena.  This gem brought happiness to a good man that possessed it but death to an evil man that possessed it.  Prasena was not necessarily the nicest guy.  Prasena eventually suffered a horrendous death by a lion.  The lion took the jewel and also suffered death.

"Sun God" (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories" by C.A. Kincaid. Link.

Reading Notes: Shri Krishna of Dwarka, Part A

For my reading this week, I decided to read "Overview: Kincaid. Shri Krishna of Dwarka." I decided to read this because it was fast-paced and I enjoyed the set up of it.

The first half I read was about Krishna's childhood adventures.  The birth story was interesting because Krishna was born out of Vishnu's black hair.  Krishna was very special and powerful from the very beginning.  The story about Putana was very disturbing to me.  She breastfed babies with poison milk and any child that was fed by her died.  But she stood no chance against Krishna, who literally sucked the life out of her!  It was funny to read about how naughty Krishna was as a child.  He even had to help his mother punish him. I then read through the boyhood and youth of Krishna.  I especially liked reading through the miracle at Mount Govardhan.  As he got older, Krishna would eventually defeat King Kansa, which was the main reason he was born.  He would then go on to found the city of Dwarka and marry Raivata.

Krishna (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories" by C.A. Kincaid. Link.