Welcome to Mikayla's Blog

Feedback Infographic:  Source          In my experience, feedback is an interesting concept. We know about the growth mindset and how important it is, we know about feedback and constructive criticism, but what about how to directly help kids grow from feedback? I am just now finding out that saying "good job" to a student, can actually be harmful. There are so many variables, and often times, solely positive feedback does not help students grow. There are many nuances and factors that go into feedback that is important for everyone to learn, especially for me as a future secondary educator. Personally, working with kids, they thrive on feedback. They need feedback for their own security and development, but I am still figuring out what is the most appropriate way of dishing out feedback. According to an article by Alfie Kohn, saying "good job" to kids is actually sort of problematic. The idea of a "praise junkie" that Kohn writes about is close to...

Gerrit Dou, Sleeping Dog, 1650:  Source Aesop's Fables: The Farmer and His Dogs :         The key feature of this story is that one cold winter a farmer resorts to killing all of his animals in order to survive, the dogs catch on and figure that they ought to escape before they are next. This, to me, shows how dogs are held in a higher morality as compared to other animals, as the farmer goes through all of his other animals before even thinking about eating the dogs. Aesop's Fables: The Dog and the Wolf :         This story is my personal favorite of Aesop's fables that include dogs. I like the story because the small weak pup fools the hungry wolf by telling him to come back when he has gained some weight, that way he will be more filling as a meal. The pup remains safely behind the fence and outsmarts the wolf. Aesop's Fables: The Hare and the Hound :         The story about The Hare and the Hound is another to...

Eve by Pantaleon Szyndler, 1889:  Source         You may be wondering, "why, Eve? Why did you eat the fruit?' See, the story goes that I fell to temptation, right? But no, the real story never gets told, does it? Look, I was never tempted by a serpent, I made that up because I wanted Adam to take the fall. I was sick and tired of him. He is the ONLY mad that I was ever allowed to even look at, what's up with that? I was put on this earth to be his companion, and I get NO choice in the matter? Right. How is that fair? See, I wanted  to get expelled from the Garden of Eden, shoot, I did not realize just how severe the consequences would be, but dang! I was just trying to get a little freedom! How can you blame me? The funny thing is, I never even ate the fruit. Really, I didn't! The entire story is totally fabricated. I got the idea in a dream, actually, I just needed a little excitement in my life, so I figured, why not? What is the worst that could...

La Casta Susana- Juan Manuel Blanes:  Source Reading Notes Bible Women Part B        As previously mentioned, the women of the bible are incredibly interesting to me. I would like to spotlight them as often as possible since they so seldom have their own moment. The women's stories in this reading are Bathsheba, Esther 1, Esther 2, Esther 3, Susannah, Mary and Elizabeth, Mary and Anna, Herodias, and Martha and Mary. For this blog, I will be focusing on Susannah from the book of Daniel, because to me, she had the most interesting story. I thought her story also conveyed the erasure that many biblical women faced, for example, the opening paragraph introduces her in part to a man, "There dwelt a man in Babylon, called Joacim: and he took a wife, whose name was Susanna, the daughter of Chelcias, a very fair woman, and one that feared the Lord. Her parents also were righteous, and taught their daughter according to the law of Moses" (Susannah). This stor...

The Women Of Matthew 1:  Source Reading Notes Bible Women, Part A:        I found the stories of the women of the bible to be truly fascinating. As mentioned, I grew up being raised with a (poorly disciplined) Buddhist belief system. My mother's family, however, was different sects of Christianity. I had neighbors take me to church and buy me bibles, etc. So I grew up with an interesting understanding of religion, and the bible. I was first given the "teen girl" bible, and then later a "King James" bible, both of which I read in their entirety. I was always drawn more towards the stories of the women in the bible, I wanted to see strong religious females in the stories, not wrong-doing, weak-minded women. It frustrated me to see that women were often viewed as scapegoats for the men's actions, even as a child, it bothered me. This reading reinvigorated my passion for biblical women, and I specifically found interest in Eve's story. The following ex...

Source:  Cheezburger        I know first hand how hard hearing negative feedback is. I grew up wrestling for eight years, so I am very competitive in nature. I also did competitive speech and debate, so I am used to criticism. For some reason, the hardest feedback to receive for me is with my writing. Any negative feedback that I may get is so much harder than any constructive criticism I have been given. It must be because writing is such an intimate thing, but as a whole, negative feedback is hard.  I found the article about hearing negative feedback very informative and intriguing, it brought a lot of my own feelings about feedback into perspective. I thought it was interesting that the majority of the reason that we are so bad at getting negative feedback is that for the most part, we are awful at delivering negative feedback, according to the article, "Why it's so hard to heart negative feedback" , negative feedback is a cyclical issue, "It’s a s...

After the hunt, 1870, by David Neal (1838-1915):  Source Cultural Depictions of Dogs:  Source        This is the topic that I am primarily interested in. I do not know why, but the cultural depictions of dogs is the topic idea that stood out to me the most. As a dog lover, I am automatically interested in anything to do with dogs, so I would love to dedicate a project to their cultural depictions throughout history. In terms of prior knowledge, the only prior knowledge that I have is how dogs have served humans throughout history, I have written a report on how dogs aided in the progression of the human race, but I am by no means an expert on the topic. I would like to learn about how dogs have been used in folklore and in art in order to convey a different message or story. I think that this would be a really good topic just because it is something that I am truly interested in, and I am eager to learn more about. In my experience, the best research...

Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1754–1829)  Source        Peter never really cared much for women, he never found much interest in them. He always though almost low of them, as if none of the women he surrounded himself with were good enough for him. Peter found himself obsessive over the women that he saw online, he saw them as untouchable pure beings. One woman, in particular, an Instagram model, he stumbled across one day and instantly fell in love. He obsessed over her photographs, hoping to potentially see her one day. He could not help but paint murals of her on his walls, print her photographs off and create collages, etc. He was consumed by her and her beauty. He wanted nothing more than to be with her, but she did not even know that he existed. In Peter's mind, she became his possession, his object, his creation. He developed something like a God complex over the woman, feeling as if she owed him something. He prayed over her every night, hoping to God that...

Pygmalion priant Vénus d'animer sa statue by Jean-Baptiste Regnault .  Reading Notes:        My favorite of the assigned readings was the story of Pygmalion. I have always had a fascination with the story, it has always felt so intriguing to me. Of course, I am most familiar with the theatrical rendition by George Bernard Shaw, and the being a literature buff, the connection with Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale had me excited to read Ovid's tale. But the mythology basis is captivating, nonetheless. In essence, Pygmalion was a Cypriot sculptor who carved a woman out of ivory. He had sworn off women, asserting he was no longer interested due to prostitution, etc. but due to his own sculptures' beauty and realistic nature, he found himself in love with his own creation. Pygmalion prayed at Aphrodite's altar for a woman in the same likeness as his creation, as he was too afraid to admit his true desire for the statue. When he returned home, he kissed the ivory...

Tibetan Buddhist Tantric Wrathful Diety Source:  Wrathful Diety I chose this specific image because to me, the wrathful Buddhist deities are the more intriguing ones, they tend to be the ones that people do not spend time focusing on. I was also inspired by Life of the Buddha readings that I scheduled to be completed during Week five Learning Interests: Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Iliad Week 4: Women in the Bible Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5: Life of the Buddha Week 6: Arabian Nights Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7: The Monkey King Week 9: Brer Rabbit Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10: Great Plains Week 11: American Indian Tales Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12: Robin Hood Week 13: Celtic Tales Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14: Italian Fairy T...

       Personally, my time management skills fluctuate. I am really well organized and I have a tendency to plan out my weeks really well, but I find myself still waiting for the last minute before doing my assignments. Technically, I am doing this a day early, but I would have rather had everything done much earlier in advance. This class is self-led for the most part, so I know I will need to be disciplined in my time management this semester. Last semester, I was the queen of making the most of every moment because I was enrolled in 18 hours while working full time, I had to carve out time in the day just to function, let alone find time to do laundry. This semester, however, I have already been a bit lazy. My biggest challenge this semester will certainly be a discipline like I said, everyone loves to procrastinate. I really enjoyed reading  The Important Habit of Just Starting  because, for me, half the battle is just getting the motivation to begin th...

       I am not entirely tech-savvy, but I think I know enough to be able to make it through this class, and if not, I will certainly learn. My first impression of this course was that I was going to be slightly overwhelmed. I had never really worked with the tools that we use, but I have adapted pretty well so far. This online class is totally different from what I have experienced for many reasons. For one, I have never been in a class that uses the blog formatting, generally the online classes I have taken stick to canvas or moodle. I really want to be able to work on my general web skills and abilities, there are many fine-tune details of the internet that I am not very good at, for example, I just learned that "ctrl-c" will copy the text, yes, it is embarrassing. The only browser extension that I actively use, other than the ones that have been recommended to us, is a tool called "Honey". Since I do a lot of online shopping, Honey is a free extension that searc...

       I am so excited about this semester! I have been looking forward to creating and maintaining a blog for a while. My first impressions have been very good, the course material is interesting, the formatting is new and unique to me, and the grading is different from anything I have ever personally encountered. So far, this course is very refreshing, and far from what I have been socialized to expect from an online course. I am very intrigued by the general set up of the class the assignments as a whole. The most intriguing part is probably simply the blog post format to everything. This is entirely unlike anything I have done in any other class, I have had an online class here at OU before, and one at OCCC, and neither could even come close to this classes set up. I like some of the extra credit options, I really just like that there is an opportunity for extra credit, but I am personally interested in the microfiction option. Assignments Graphic Source:...

       As a preservice teacher, I often find myself in conversation with the idea of a growth mindset. I have heard about Ms. Carol Dweck before in my teacher education program many times before, we are constantly finding new ways to implement the practice in our classrooms and within our education. I feel as if I am on the growth mindset end of the spectrum, I will admit, there have been times in the past that I was living with a fixed-mindset, but through becoming a teacher, and with my history in the sport of wrestling, I learned that having a growth mindset is vital for success. I have learned that although I am capable of learning in a typical manner, living with ADHD has made learning a difficult task for me. At OU, I realized that I cannot just "bs" my way through a degree, I learned that being able to skate by without trying is not a talent, but rather a shortcoming. I have learned that I need to write things down, that I will not remember the things I think...

Hello Friends!         My name is Mikayla Chandler, I am a Junior here at the University of Oklahoma, and I am studying Secondary Language Arts Education. My go-to fun fact? I wrestled for 8 wonderful years of my life on an all-boys wrestling team. The years I spent wrestling were some of the most formative years of my life. If I was not studying to become a teacher right now, I would be training for the 2020 Olympics. The coolest thing about my major? I get to do what I love for the rest of my life. I cannot wait to teach English (hopefully on the high school level) to the next generation of young adults. I think it is beyond cool that I get the opportunity to become a teacher, I cannot think of anything I would rather be doing. Last semester I was enrolled in 18 hours while working nearly full-time, so I guess I am not really sure what class is my favorite, they all made me cry regularly. My favorite class was honestly probably my Young Adult Literature class,...

Tracking The Werewolf Creative rendition of a werewolf Source:  Wiki: Werewolf Physiology        The story of "Tracking The Werewolf" written by Morgan Smith, is a predated werewolf story that follows one man's experience in tracking a werewolf. The introduction did a good job of explaining the story and what it was going to entail. The intro is what ultimately reeled me in to want to read the rest of the story, and did a very good job of it. The title was gripping and exciting, but I wish it was a tad bit more creative. I think the overall page layout was very good, and I really appreciated the font/style/general layout. I also really liked the images that the author provided within the blog posts, there are lots of useful visuals. Toto's Adventure's In Oz Image of Dorothy and Toto Source:  The True Story of the Talented Dog Actress         The story of "Toto's Adventures In Oz" is told from the perspective of Toto him...

This beautiful waterfall that sits on the edge of the 2008 Beijing Olympic path, this was one of the most remarkable aspects of my trip to Hong Kong. My personal image from my trip to Hong Kong in 2017        A few summers back I got the opportunity to travel overseas to visit my aunt who lives in Hong Kong. I was lucky enough to get to live in Hong Kong for the summer before college almost entirely for free, and it was a life-changing experience. Up until I left the country, I never had much interest in traveling. Now that I have had the chance to visit a new country, I am addicted to travel. I now know the value and importance of travel, aside from the "destination" vacation value. I learned more about Chinese culture in Hong Kong than I ever thought I would know, and now I had a deep emotional connection with the Special Administrative Region, especially with all of the current political unrest. My favorite place on earth is specifically Lantau Island, Hon...

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