Learning Challanges

The H.E.A.R.T. topics I am most interested in is Time and Happiness and Health. Going to school full-time, working part-time, and having a large family to take care of, having time to manage everything is always an issue. I feel like a do an alright job managing my time, but there is always room for improvement. 

Last night: source (studying)

I struggle with finding my happy place sometimes. I am always working to make sure that my family is happy and healthy, but find my own lacking. This is something I truly need to work on. I struggle to find the time to do things that I really enjoy.



 

Growth Mindset

I have never heard of Carol Dweck or the Growth Mindset before. I agree with the concept. I hate thinking of things as only pass/fail. I feel better about myself if I feel like I have learned something out of an experience than if it came easy to me. A hard earned "B" is worth more to me than an easy "A". 

I have tried to install in my kids the importance of learning something from an experience rather than just getting through it. Before Christmas break my 5th grade daughter entered the 4th and 5th grade spelling bee. As we practiced the words that were being used in the spelling bee, she would often get discouraged when spelling something wrong. I would tell her that just because she got it wrong today, doesn't mean she will never get it. Everything takes practice, and that she just learned a wrong way to spell it and I would tell her the correct way. She was pleasantly surprised when we practiced again and she would get it correct. Each day her confidence grew. She was also very nervous about getting up in front of all of the 4th and 5th grade and the parents. On the day of the spelling bee, she had a good part of the practice list correct. Unfortunately she didn't make it to the second round as she was given a word that she struggled the whole time practicing. I praised her for having the courage to stand up in front of everyone and not giving up. She told me that it was ok that she didn't win because she had 4 of those words from the list on her spelling test and the day before and she spelled them all correctly. 

I am very shy and introverted. I have to force myself to do things that make me uncomfortable. This is my first semester at OU. I transferred from Rose State which is very small in comparison. There have been many times I have considered giving up, just so I didn't have to go to such a big school that intimidated me. However, I have set a goal for myself, and that goal includes me stepping out of my comfort zone. This class is also out of my comfort zone. I don't feel like a do a good job of writing. I don't really like it, and I feel like it takes me a lot longer than the typical person to get it done because I second guess myself. I almost dropped the class when I received the email explaining what the class work consisted of. But I like the subject and decided that this would be a perfect learning experience for me. 

I have always loved this quote and find it quite motivational.

source: arrow

Andrea's Storybook Favorites

I have found 4 storybooks that I took an interest to.

First is Monster Hunter. I have always liked mythical creatures, and the title caught my attention right away. I like how the stories are told form the point of view of someone who hunts the beasts. Although I really liked the background picture on the storybook, I feel that the print on top of the picture was somewhat difficult to read.

Next is Mythology's Most Wanted. Honestly, one of the main reasons I choose this one is because one of the stories is about Loki. I have to admit I have a bit of a soft spot for the trickster. I like the layout and design of the storybook, although I wish the print in the stories was the same as in the intro. I don't know if it's the font or if it is just a size smaller in the stories. Or maybe I'm just getting to old to read small print. I enjoyed that each of the stories was told by the main character themselves.

Third is Babs Urban Myths. Urban myths have always intrigued me. I like that she explained in the introduction that she used the website Snopes as her source for the stories. Bloody Mary terrified me as a child. I thought using a therapist trying to assist the main character as an interesting path to take with it.

Last is Ghost Stories of British Castles. I love old castles and knowing there are many ghost stories attached to many of the castles, the title intrigued me. Henry, the friendly ghost is taking you on a tour of the old haunted castles. I liked the pictures included, but I did find the basic black print on white background boring. 

 Gormanston Castle (source Medieval Castle)

I found several stories that told me what I do not want to do. I didn't care for the ones that were more like a tv interview. I don't know why specifically, just that I know I won't be taking that approach with my own storybook. I like the ones that have a colored background with a contracting print. I also think I may go with a slightly larger font than the default. The storybooks I chose were more that the topic interested me, as opposed to the style. I did look through enough storybooks that I have a basic idea of what styles I like and dislike.

Overview of the Untextbook

For week 2 I am interested in Ovid's Metamorphoses. This interests me mainly because I know little about the characters and would like to know more about them. I also like Cupid and Psyche for the same reason. I like both Greek and Roman Mythology, there is so much going on and I don't know very many stories. I would love to learn more.

Browsing the reading units, I found several that caught my attention. First is the Egyptian Myth. This caught my attention mainly because one of my granddaughters is names after the Egyptian goddess Isis. I noticed that one of the stories was about her. Two of the Grimm units also caught my attention. Grimm (Hunt) includes a story about Hansel and Grethel, which is one of my favorite tales. Grimm (Ashliman) includes a story about Rumpelstiltskin. I like to watch Once Upon A Time and Rumpelstiltskin is one of my favorite characters on the show. The last one that caught my attention is British North America. Most of the stories have animals in them and one story Origin of the Chinook Wind I thought was interesting since I am a meteorology major.

Hansel and Grethel

Introduction - Meteorology Major here

My name is Andrea Kennicutt. I am likely older than many of you all in class. I am 43 years old. I have 4 kids of my own, a step-daughter, and 5 grand-kids. Two of my grand-kids live with me and one come to visit every other weekend. My kids are boys ages 9 and 16 (17 on the 21st of this month), and twin girls age 10. My grand-kids are girls age 16, 13, 3, and 1 ½ and one boy age 8. The boy lives with his father in Alaska. The 3 year old was given up for adoption and last I heard lives in California. The 16 year old and the 1 ½ year old currently live with me and the 13 year old lives with her father, but she visits us. My stepdaughter has a drug problem, which is why none of her kids live with her. I have been married for 18 years and we live in Del City.  

This is my first semester at OU. I finished my Associates in Science at Rose State in December. I am majoring in Meteorology. I have always been fascinated by the weather. I absolutely love thunderstorms. Love listening to the thunder roar and I love to watch the lightning light up the sky. If any of you have ever watched the movie Thor, there is this scene where it’s about to rain and Thor hears the thunder and gets this big grin on his face. That’s exactly how I feel when I hear thunder. It makes me smile every time. To me, it is peaceful. I don’t know what I plan to do with my degree at this point, but hopefully I will figure it out sometime before I graduate. If all goes as planned, I will have my Bachelor’s degree in Meteorology in May 2018.

Beautiful Lightning

 I have 6 pets. I have a Beagle named Eddie. He is fat and lazy. I also have 5 cats. Three of them came from the animal shelter (as did the dog). We have Bones; he is named for my favorite Star Trek character. He is a tan tabby and is very fluffy. Not at all what you would think a cat names Bones would look like. Ninja is my husband’s cat. He is a black and white tuxedo. He likes to lie on my son’s black blankets, like he can’t be seen there. But his white gives him away. Bats came to us as part of a duo, Bats and Robin; sadly Robin got hit by a car. Bats is all grey and kind of shy. Natasha, aka Black Widow, practically forced her way into our home. She just showed up at our door one day and we let her in. She was pregnant and we kept one of her kittens we named Coulson. Natasha is all black. She hates all the other cats, including her own son now that he’s older, but loves the dog. Coulson is all black as well, but he has longer fur. He is very active, but then he’s only 9 months old.

 Ninja and Bones doing what they do best. Photo taken by me.

Natasha. Photo taken by me.

 Bats. Photo taken by me.

 Coulson. My kids put a pedometer on his collar. Photo taken by me.

Eddie and Loki. I no longer have Loki. He disappeared a couple years ago. 

                                  I miss him terribly. He was my baby. Photo taken by me.

I have fairly recently picked up my old childhood pastime of reading comics. I read them occasionally as a kid and I loved watching Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk back when they were on tv. Yes, I’m that old. Ha ha ha. I have been buying random $1 comics trying to find a series I really like. I like a lot of them. The series I am focusing on the most right now is Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme. I love all the comic book movies that have been released in recent years. I have been watching many of the recent comic book tv shows as well. The Flash is a family favorite of ours. Everyone in the family will actually sit together to watch it. As far as the movies go, my current favorite is Captain America: Winter Soldier. I say current favorite because my favorites change often. I am looking forward to watching Batman vs Superman when it comes out late this year, mainly because Wonder Woman is going to be in it. She was my favorite as a child, and I look forward to seeing her on the big screen. 

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in Batman vs Superman

As you might have guessed, I’m a bit of a nerd/geek. I love comics, especially Marvel and DC, and both Star Wars and Star Trek. I have never understood why some people think you have to pick one over the other. When I was younger I was embarrassed that none of my friends liked the nerdy/geeky things I liked, and so I hid that part of myself for a long time. Now that I’m older, I don’t care as much what others think. It’s a plus that now it is not considered such a bad thing like it was when I was younger. Don’t be embarrassed to express what you love, whatever that may be.

Week One Storytelling: One Crooked Day

There once was a lonely, old man named Mortimer. Mortimer walked everyday through the woods, down the long, winding road, into town. Although he was hunched over with age and often used a cane to support himself, he loved his walks. He loved the fresh air. He loved listening to the birds sing and watch the forest creatures scurry about.

One day, as he was out for his daily walk, Mortimer happened upon a crumpled up one hundred dollar bill next to a fence post. He looked around but saw no one nearby. He picked it up and wondered to whom it belonged.

 The Crooked Man (source Wikimedia commons)

Since Mortimer did not know who the money belonged to, and he had no way to find out, he finally decided that he would keep the money for himself. He thought and thought, as he approached the town, as to what he would buy with his new found riches. He decided that the one thing he wanted most of all was a companion. He went to the animal shelter and asked to see the cats that were up for adoption. The lady at the counter showed him the available cats and kittens. There were so many. He told the lady that he wanted a special cat, one that maybe no one else wanted. She told him she knew exactly the one for him. Curled up in the corner was a scruffy, older cat with a crooked tail. The nice lady told Mortimer that no one wanted the cat because he was old and not as pretty with his broken tail. Mortimer looked in the cat’s eyes and knew instantly that this was going to be his new best friend. He named him Ziggy for his tail was shaped in a zig zag pattern.

Ziggy (source Wikimedia commons)

He paid for his cat and took it home. As they approached his house, the cat suddenly took off into the woods. “Ziggy, please come back” Mortimer cried. Soon the cat poked his head out of the bushes and in its mouth was a mouse with one tiny ear and one big ear. The big ear did not stand up, instead it stayed flopped over. His cat did not kill the mouse, but instead played with it. Mortimer reached down and picked up the mouse. “I shall call you Droopy, and you are coming home with me as well.

Mortimer took the cat and the mouse to his home. His house wasn’t a big house. It wasn’t even a nice house. The house was small and in disrepair. The shutters were falling off, the paint was peeling. The entire house seemed to be a little off kilter. But it was his home. Now it was home for Ziggy and Droopy as well. Mortimer, Ziggy, and Droopy all lived together, happily ever after.




Author’s Note: I used the nursery rhyme about a crooked man to write my story.

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile, 
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile; 
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, 
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

I thought I would somewhat modernize it. I figured that not too many people would even know what a sixpence is anymore. As an owner of 3 shelter cats, I thought it would be nice if he bought a cat that was unwanted because he was a little different.

Bibliography: This story is based on the Crooked Man from the Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang.

My Favorite Place...Garden of the Gods, Colorado

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado (source Wikipedia)
  

I vacationed in Colorado as a kid with my aunt, uncle, and my cousins. We visited several attractions while there, including breathtaking locations like Pikes Peak and The Royal Gorge Bridge. However, the one place that stands out most in my mind is The Garden of the Gods. I remember how amazed I was at the natural rock sculptures. It was beautiful, wondrous, and peaceful. For years I have wanted to go back and visit. I hope to be able to visit there again some day soon with my children.

Garden of the Gods (source pixabay)