Feedback Thoughts

Feedback! Sometimes hard to hear, yet often helpful. I read two articles this week about feedback and overcoming negativity. The first article I read was entitled "How to Get Past Negativity Bias in Order to Hardwire Positive Experiences" by Katrina Schwartz from KQED news. The article discussed how our brains are naturally more receptive to negative feedback than positive feedback. However, we can begin to adjust the impact of this neural trait. One solution is the "HEAL" method, promoted by Psychologist Rick Hanson, that focuses on championing positive experiences.

The next article I read was "Why It’s So Hard to Hear Negative Feedback" by Tim Herrera from the New York Times. The article discusses the need to receive feedback without succumbing to anxiety or simply avoiding feedback altogether. The author offers a powerful solution for workplace feedback: "The solution to this problem on both sides—whether you’re receiving the feedback or giving it—boils down to trusting that everyone is participating in good faith." This was an interesting solution that could be helpful in many settings, especially professional ones.

Receiving negative feedback in college can be difficult. Yet it happens for all of us at some point, whether coming from a professor, friend, or mentor. Learning how to accept negative feedback and channel it into positive results and healthier reactions is a valuable skill.

Visual representation of a feedback loop. Source: Wikimedia

Topic Brainstorm

These are some potential topic ideas for my storybook project!

1. Saints and Animals
For this topic, I would start by reading the unit on Saints and their Animals in the UN-Textbook.
I'm especially interested in Saint Francis, and the possibility of retelling the animal stories surrounding his life intrigues me. I read his page on Wikipedia, and it notes that "He...became associated with patronage of animals and the natural environment, and it became customary for Catholic and Anglican churches to hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day of 4 October." Saint Francis is a fascinating person in the history of religion, and the connection to nature he and other saints had would be fun to write about! The website section on Saints who Loved Animals could also be a resource for me.

A painting of Saint Francis preaching to animals by an

anonymous Italian painter. Source: Wikimedia

2. Enneagram types and Canterbury Tales
I really enjoy the Canterbury Tales. I read a lot of Chaucer in a medieval literature class last year at OU, and I loved the way he developed characters in his short stories. For this project, I would re-read some of the Canterbury Tales, which I could do in the UN-Textbook unit on these stories. I could mix-in my love for the Enneagram personality framework by re-telling certain tales in a way to bring out the characters' Enneagram types. I would use the Enneagram Institute's website as a resource for the traits exhibited by different number types. Knowing a decent amount already about both the Enneagram and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, this would be a creative way to combine two strong interests of mine.

3. Stories from China
As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, I'm interested in studying abroad this summer and have been considering China as a potential location! The rich history and culture of China fascinates me, and I plan on reading the "China" unit in the UN-Textbook during this course. I don't have a firm idea on what this storybook project would look like yet, but I would use these stories as a starting point as well as some of the Chinese stories on Freebookapalooza. I would possibly focus on re-telling tales that have moral applications. The Wikipedia page on Chinese Folklore was interesting to browse and could serve as a valuable resource for this project.

4. Encounters with Christ (Using the Gospel of Mark)
The Gospel of Mark has always been a captivating text for me growing up in a Christian family, and I'm thrilled to re-read it with fresh eyes in the UN-Textbook unit I'm planning on reading for week 4. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus Christ encounters many unique people during his ministry. For this project I would focus on lesser-known stories in Mark and re-tell them from the perspective of minor characters. This creative way of looking at the Christian New Testament would be an enjoyable project for me. In a class I took last year on Judaism, I learned about Midrash--a genre of Rabbinic literature that fills in the gaps of Biblical stories and playfully interacts with Biblical texts in order to deduce moral implications or make interpretative claims. I could write in a somewhat midrashic style for this project, likely using the Wikipedia page on the Gospel of Mark as a resource for important context.

Week 2 Story: The Three Baseballs

Image via Steshka Willems on Pexels. Source: Pexels

The Three Baseballs

One warm, summer day in the 1950s, in a small town in central Nebraska, a mother was preparing for a trip into Omaha. She asked her three sons if they needed anything while she was visiting the big city. The older two boys, ages 15 and 14, gave her a long list of toys, pastries, and other such luxury items that they didn't really need. Her youngest son, age 11, responded that he didn't really need anything. 

"Are you sure?" asked the mother. 

"I'm sure," he responded, "but I would love to have just three new baseballs to play with."

So the mother set out for Omaha, determined to get him those three baseballs. After a long day of shopping, she realized it was getting late and left the city for home. It was beginning to get dark outside, and she took a wrong turn onto an old country road. She didn't panic and kept driving. A few minutes later, she passed a run-down store selling sports equipment and decided to stop to ask for directions. No one seemed to be at the store, but she saw a bucket of brand new baseballs outside. She realized that she had forgotten to get baseballs for her son! 

"I'll just take three and get back on the road," she thought to herself, "no one will even notice."

Just then, as she grabbed the baseballs, a large, tough-looking dog emerged from behind the store. The dog spoke forcefully, demanding her youngest son in return for the three stolen baseballs. The mother was distraught, yet quickly realized she had no power to change the situation.

She found her way back to the main road, returned home to her boys, and explained the situation. Her youngest son, John, was thankful for the baseballs and even seemed happy to go to the strange place; he loved sporting goods stores!

As John's mother dropped him off at the store, the dog appeared and commanded John to pet him for three hours. The dog slipped into the shadows after this, and John looked around the store for a while. John felt perplexed yet oddly calm.

A while later, the dog returned bearing an old hunting knife and told John to cut his tail off. John, who loved all types of animals, tried to refuse. "I could never do that!" he cried.

Yet the large, fierce dog insisted. As the tail fell off, some human-looking skin appeared to emerge through the dog's weathered back hair. The dog lit up with excitement! "Hurry, shave all of my hair off!" yelled the dog.

As John began to shave, something strange started to happen. The talking dog was turning into a small girl about his age! When the transformation was completed, there stood a kind-looking child. "The baseballs belonged to me, and so now you have to be my best friend," she said.

The girl's family, who had been worried for days, was soon found. She remained close friends with John for years to come.

Author's note: This story is a modern, American adaptation of a classic Czech fairy tale. The basic plot remains similar in structure, yet the characters and the details of the events have been changed!

Bibliography. "The Three Roses" from The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922). The story source can be found here.

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

"The Three Roses" was an enjoyable fairy tale and probably my favorite reading from this week's selection of anthologies. Time for some story notes! I'm going to try the "Focus on Plot" strategy for notetaking.

• I always enjoy stories that start with "Once upon a time." These words always put me in a relaxed mental state, ready to enjoy a tale.
• I was surprised at the third daughter's request for three roses. She seems to have more depth than her sisters and is somehow a bit mysterious.
• As the mother sets off for the market, I could sort of sense as a reader that something unfortunate would occur!
• The mother gets lost! The plot is moving quickly. She then stumbles upon a "palace" which is always a great setting for a fairy tale.
• The palace has a rose garden, so surely the third daughter will get her rose, right? Probably not without more complications though! For a short story, the author sure has thrown in a lot of interesting wrinkles.
• The antagonist (maybe?) appears...and is a Basilisk. I like how the creature enters "at once" before strongly demanding that the mother exchanges her daughter for the roses.
• The plot continues to move quickly, and I like this pace. The mother goes home, resigning herself to giving up her daughter. Yikes! That would be terrible. I wish we had more insight into the mother's emotion at that point with some dialogue.
• The daughter (who just now gets a name, Mary!) seems fine with going to the castle and being handed over to the creature...which is a twist. It makes me as a reader feel better about where this is headed!
• Mary having to nurse the Basilisk is certainly an interesting yet odd wrinkle. And then, suddenly, he brings out a sword for her to cut his head off. What an interesting turn of events! It's almost as if each successive strange event is topping the last. 
• Mary cuts off the creature's head, and then a new head appears so she is told to cut it off as well. The second cut reveals a young boy! The creature becoming a young boy is the most important event in the story, in my opinion. The plot seems to hit its peak here.
• The boy says that he "must" marry Mary, which is one final plot twist. This has been a roller coaster of a short tale. I'm not sure that I like the fact that the marriage seems forced...
• The wedding is "great" as the story concludes, yet the author writes that the attendants all "had to play and dance." More forced things? A bit odd! This has been a fun, quick plot nonetheless. 
• I enjoyed how the emphasis shifted from the mother in the beginning to Mary in the back half, coinciding with the moment where the author lets readers know her name.

Male green basilisk. Source: Wikimedia

Story source: The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).

Week 2 Reading Overview

Here are my reading list choices!

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: Saints and Animals

Week 4: Gospel of Mark

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: The Life of Buddha

Week 6: Twenty-Two Goblins

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: The Monkey King

Week 9: China

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Mississippi/Great Lakes

Week 11: Inuit (Eskimo)

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Celtic Tales

Week 13: Alice in Wonderland

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Ashliman

Week 15: Inferno

I'm definitely excited for these readings! I'm quite interested in religion, so weeks 3, 4, and 5 will all be enjoyable for me. I'm considering studying abroad in China soon, so I'm also looking forward to reading week 9. I've always wanted to read Dante's Inferno but never found a good opportunity, so reading some of it on week 15 will be an awesome end to this course. 

Gustave Doré's illustration to Dante's Inferno. Plate XVIII: Canto V

Source: Wikimedia

I chose this image because, out of all the readings, I'm probably the most excited about Inferno. I found this image and was struck by the dark, swirling scene. 😳

Time Strategies

Salvador Dali's "Profile of Time." Source:Wikimedia

For the time strategies assignment, I read two interesting articles on how to better manage my time. Both pieces made me reconsider some of my time-spending habits! This article on overcoming procrastination by Peter Banerjea encouraged readers to ask relevant questions to ourselves about how we're spending our time. The most helpful question for me to read was "What one thing can I do to get started?" This question can serve as a practical tool to help you achieve small goals.
I also read an article on reframing being "busy" by Tim Grahl. The author discussed how thinking of yourself as constantly busy leads to recurring, unhealthy time management decisions. Instead, we should think of how we spend our time as a series of choices and priorities.
These articles were helpful to read and encouraged me to think about procrastination a bit differently. I don't typically have problems with procrastination on class assignments, but the tips found in the articles are applicable to all sorts of tasks. This semester, I hope to use my time in more intentional ways.

Technology Tools!

Image of an old IBM PC. Source: Wikimedia

Using some new websites and computer tricks will be a fun element of this course. I'm somewhat familiar with a lot of the relevant tools, such as bookmarking and image editing. Blogging and creating graphics will be new, useful skills for me to learn while taking this class! This is actually my first online class as a college student, so I've been looking forward to it for a while now. I bet that creating my own website will feel rewarding.

Thoughts on the Assignments

"Assignments" image from the Wikipedia Education Program. Source: Wikimedia

The assignments for this class seem interesting, unique, and fun! I like that there will be a variety of different types of work rather than having students do the same type of assignment repeatedly. I'm especially excited for the reading assignments and eager to begin those. Commenting on other students' blog posts will also be a worthwhile exercise and a neat way to see how others are approaching the assignments. The extra credit options are interesting and quite different from what I've had in previous courses! The "Wikipedia Trails" option sounds like it would be enjoyable.

Growth Mindset Thoughts

Image designed by Islam Abudaoud. Full image can be found here

Found originally via Laura Gibbs's Growth Mindset Memes blog

I really enjoyed learning about the Growth Mindset from Carol Dweck. In particular, the way she explained the Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset in her Ted Talk was fascinating. Teachers shouldn't frame classroom environments around the ideas of failure and intelligence being static; rather, in order to help students achieve, challenges should be embraced and learning growth encouraged. Dweck talks about the importance of using the simple word "yet" to help students grasp this concept. I also found interesting Dave Paunesku's article critiquing the use of Growth Mindset as not enough to solve the achievement gap. He argues that we need to address the systems in place that limit opportunities for certain students rather than attributing the blame for low achievement to the students themselves. I found this article persuasive, perhaps in part because Paunesku's argument strongly relates to one of my favorite subjects, Sociology. 

I had heard of the Growth Mindset concept before, yet hadn't heard of Carol Dweck or looked at any related research. One challenging course I'll be taking this semester is Intensive Intro to Latin, which is a class combining Latin 1 and Latin 2 into one semester. Approaching this course with a growth mindset will be helpful for me in the coming weeks! I often tend to focus on outcomes rather than process, so keeping the Growth Mindset in mind will be a good exercise for me this semester.

Introduction to Derek the Letters Major

Hey! My name is Derek Bixler and I'm a Letters/Constitutional Studies major from Oklahoma City. I'm starting my third year here at OU, and I plan on going to law school after I graduate. My academic interests (other than law!) are religion, political science, and sociology. The best part about being a Letters major is the flexibility to take all sorts of classes in multiple academic departments and still gain credit towards my major. This really fits me, as I like to explore new ideas and am constantly fascinated by new ways of thinking. I like to read, but I typically only read non-fiction books; I'm excited to expand my tastes by reading creative works of fiction for this course! My hobbies include watching OU sports (especially football, of course), volunteering with Generation Citizen, and playing the guitar. I also enjoy going to concerts and could talk all day about my favorite bands. My favorite movie is Goodwill Hunting, and I still can't decide whether my favorite TV show is Parks and Recreation or The Office. Both are classics in my opinion! This past summer I spent six incredible weeks in Virginia as a Mount Vernon Leadership Fellow and learned a ton about the U.S. government and American history. Through the fellowship, I was able to become friends with some amazing college students from other universities across the country and explore Washington D.C. pretty thoroughly. I'm glad to be back in Norman though and ready for the semester to start. I'm hoping to study abroad this upcoming summer, so if anyone has any suggestions on where to go I'd love to hear them! So far I've considered Italy, China, and South Africa. I'm a huge fan of the Enneagram as a way to better understand people and their motivations, and I'm a type 3 with a type 2 wing. That's probably enough about me though! I'm excited to start this course and to read the other introduction posts.

A personal photo of me from the Speaker's Balcony of the U.S. Capitol this past summer

Storybook Favorites

For this post, I've been looking at some of the example storybooks from past students and reading through them! It's been fun to take in different narratives. One that I really liked was a creative retelling of the Peter Pan and Captain Hook story. I enjoyed the ideas behind the author's work and the amount of thought put into it. I've always been a fan of Peter Pan as a character. The introduction served as a good launching pad and helped readers enter into an "interview" scenario with Captain Hook. I enjoyed the author's use of multiple interesting images on the pages and the simple navigation of the storybook.

The Adventures of Merlin was another fantastic storybook to examine. I admired the simple yet elegant use of one beautiful image at the top of each page. Navigating through the storybook was easy, and I enjoyed the descriptive author's notes on the bottom of most of the pages. I have some familiarity with Merlin, and this storybook skilfully uses Merlin as a character. I definitely might use a layout similar to this storybook! It stylistically fits what I typically prefer.

A final storybook that I was impressed with and found interesting was The Nutcracker. The layout kind of reminded me of the Merlin storybook: clean and aesthetically pleasing. The colors were gentle and inviting. The adventure that the protagonist "Mina" goes on is fun and gripping. I found this narrative very readable and accessible even though I have never seen a performance of The Nutcracker. I really enjoyed the ending of this one!

All three storybooks were enjoyable for different reasons! I'm excited to begin crafting my own after getting some cool ideas from looking through these. A solid amount of thought was clearly put into creating all of the storybooks I went through.

This work of art is titled The Dutch Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. (I love this painting of multiple proverbial legends and may loosely base my storybook around it!) Source: Wikimedia

Favorite Place: Mount Vernon

My favorite place in the world is probably Mount Vernon, which is President George Washington's Virginia estate! Not only is it beautiful, but I spent six memorable weeks there this past summer as a Mount Vernon Leadership Fellow.

Image of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate.

Source: Wikimedia

Blog post test!

HI this is Derek! First blog test.