Famous Last Words: week 1

I wish that working ahead was more simple and accessible to do in all my other classes because it really helped me this week in this class! With my Italian online courses I had the same teacher thought the two required years of courses and it was similar to this one in how there were assignments everyday and declaration quizzes. I did not however take advantage of the fact I could work ahead in that class and it caused a lot of stress. Learning experience. I love this new blog thing to communicate to other students in this class because we are more free to express our creativity instead of simply answering questions on a discussion board in D2L and replying to other students answers.
- One thing that I wanted to make a note of doing that I saw present in a few student's storytelling posts was including a message through the stories. Just something to get the reader thinking. -
- Another thing I want to note to myself (and maybe others if your reading this) is that the blogger site is very easy to view and use on practically any device. So far I have been able to post and comment and read other posts on my laptop, Microsoft surface, and MY iPhone !! So I can practically do my homework anywhere (except the movies). -

All the possibilities ;) from flicker

I hope this semester proves to be as easy-going as it is seeming to be. The only thing I am dreading is the long walk I have to take from my parking space to my classes. Even when I got to school TWO hours ahead of my first class (arrived at 8:30 a.m .) I still had to park in the Boyd parking lot and at the back. This pregnant lady is not enjoying the walk lol, especially in the heat of the afternoon when my classes are over. Crossing my fingers for some cooler weather this fall or at least a closer parking spot ;)

Week 1: Introduction

Hi everybody! My name is Brittany Rodgers. I live in Moore, Ok and commute to school. I went to Southmoore high school and graduated in 2011. I am a senior this year majoring in Sociology. I hope to graduate in the spring with my bachelors, and then take a year off maybe before I start my masters program. I have a two-year-old son named Brady that I got to carry around campus the first semester of my freshman year here at OU ;) Now I am expecting my second boy in early December. I work full-time at a daycare and enrolled as a full time student. I like to take both online and campus courses, there are benefits to both that I love. I am a part of Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society here at OU but my schedule limits this as being the only extracurricular I can be involved in. I used to have a big hobby of collage-ing, cutting various pictures and words out of numerous magazines and creating something new. Other than that, I never really got to be passionate about something which used to really irk me but now as a mother I found a whole different thing to serve my attention to.

Here are a couple interesting things I like to think are a part of my 'story'. I traveled across Europe my senior year of high school with a tour group and two of my very best friends. I fell in love with the sights on this trip, especially everything in Italy! I encourage all of you to go if you ever get the chance. Another thing is that the daycare I work for was hit by the Moore tornado May 20th, we were located right next door to the Moore Medical Center but nobody was hurt (we had about 20 children in the building and 10 teachers). It was a life changing experience for me but I know there are many more people in this town whom lost more than their car or job. This event definitely solidified my love for this city I grew up in.

Here is a picture I took more recently, he was obsessed with those socks!

This was taken of me and my son by 10 news, two days after the event, standing in the remains of the daycare center.

Obviously taken by me, I am sure you might see a bigger version of me around campus this semester:)
 

Week 1: Storybook Favorites

The first story that caught my attention is titled, The Royal Girls' Room by Marissa Dutton. The title immediately reminded me of the skit off of The Amanda Show that was called 'The Girls' Room'. This was one of my favorite shows as a kid so it was nice to see how the author took this as inspiration to relate the story back to. I also really liked the format of the story, being told by a nearby royal toilet listening in on the women chatting (women tend to do this). The background and lettering was vey girly and fit with the title and theme of the story which is a neat thing to maybe remember for my own story. Also,The way the author focused on each woman separately was effective to me to understand their backgrounds better.

The second story that I thought was well done is titled, The Mystery of the Missing River. I was drawn by the title because it was mysterious and seemed like what an actual story would be called. I liked the custom background and integration of the title in the opening picture. The author did a good job of splitting different aspects of the story into journal entries by Sherlock Holmes, there is both separation and cohesion in this way that makes it easy for the reader to understand.

The third story that I enjoyed is Women of Epic Proportions by Rosa Pasquarella. I liked the way the stories of each woman in the books were told through their own words by answering questions through a dating game. Pretty clever idea. Besides the overall theme of the story I liked how there were pictures included for each woman, having more visuals is aesthetically pleasing for the reader. I haven't read the books yet but I think that the author included a character to be the host and that was a neat inclusion.

Week 1: Indian Epics

First off, I got to watch about ten minutes of Sita Sings the Blues (my toddler then proceeded to jump on the bed demanding my undivided attention). I thought this video, I guess you could call it a story, was very.....interesting. I could definitely tell that this was a story being told and there was many different versions as the narrators were arguing at times. I think this was a good idea of how stories are told through the grapevine.

I am nervous about reading the books for this class, as they look like nothing I have read before. I am excited as well though! I think this online course is different from any other I have taken before in the way it deals with other websites such as blogger and Google drive, most of the other classes I have had before usually have work turned in on a book companion website or D2L. It will take some getting used to but I think once the weeks get going in this semester, it will look less chaotic:) I am VERY excited to learn more about the technical aspect such as making blogs and such, where else would I be able to learn this stuff hands on? I think it is a nice aspect to this course that I had not known I would be introduced to prior to registering! nice little surprise!
I don't have any background in my knowledge of India or any stories, except about some dance related Gods I learned about in my intro to non-western dance forms class.

Really really really appreciative of the fact I can work ahead in this course this semester and have the option to finish early because I am due to have my second baby on Dec.1st!! Eeeeekkkk! The less stress on how to finish my courses this semester without missing class the better :)

Week 1: Storytelling (Hush-a-bye-baby)

HUSH-A-BYE, baby, on the tree top;

 When the wind blows, the cradle will rock;

 When the bough bends, the cradle will fall;

 Down will come baby, bough, cradle, and all.

(Original Nursery Rhyme)

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There once was a woman who had just become a new mommy. She and her baby lived in Oklahoma, and it was spring time. The new baby would cry all day and all night, only to be soothed by the sound of wind. Without any electricity, the woman would sit outside with her child all day wishing for wind gusts to sweep their way. On a day that there was no wind, the woman took her baby to the doctor and the doctor gave some advice to hush the baby. “On a stormy day, leave your baby outside and see if a tornado will cause her to despise wind from then on” The mother was horrified. “Won’t that be a danger to her life? I have heard many stories of tornados being ravenous to everything it touches…” The doctor sighed and looked at the child. “This little one will not stop crying until she hears wind that will scare her; a small tornado should do the trick.” Reluctant but desperate, the mother left her baby girl outside one afternoon when she had heard rumors in the town square of a possible small tornado coming to town. Sure enough, she could see one in the pasture coming her way.

(Pix a bay)

 

After ten minutes and the tornado had passed, the mother went to look for her baby. There was no crying sounds coming from anywhere and she began to get worried. Finally, after looking everywhere, the mother spotted her baby in a nearby tree. The baby was calm until the wind started rustling again. The doctor was right. The mother had to reassure her baby she would be in her arms again after the wind came back to push her cradle back down. Sure enough, the cradle fell with the baby safely into the mother’s arms just like she had told the baby. From then on, the child was calmed by her mother’s voice and not the sound of wind that reminded her of her journey into the air onto the top of a tree.

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Author's Note: I created this story based on the nursery rhyme, Hush-a-bye Baby available in The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and released in 2008.  I surrounded my story on the premise of how the baby got into the tree in the first place. Of course, this is highly unlikely to occur in real life, which is why I felt it appropriate as a story ;) The only way a baby could end up in a tree in a cradle would be to have been put there but I thought about how things end up in trees around here. Since tornados are more likely in Oklahoma I based the story here. I then had to figure out why on earth a baby would not be undercover in the case of a tornado, hence the colic-y state of the child and the desperation of the mother. With doctor's orders, I figured it would be most believable. I hope I get better at this storytelling business because this was pretty difficult to do ! But fun as well :)

Week 1: A couple of my Favorite Places

Although I have only visited Red River, New Mexico once, when I was in sixth grade, I fell in love with the town and the atmosphere. The town is nestled on a main street surrounded by gorgeous mountains. I did not get to visit during the winter time but I fully intend to go sometime since there are so many beautiful pictures of snow covered mountains. I remember getting to ski lift into the mountains and seeing chipmunks everywhere below me, it was so funny. Also, horseback riding is a must if you ever visit here!

See the street where all the shops and hotels are located in between these big mountains :D

Wikimedia Commons



Another favorite place of mine is Italy. I got to go during my senior year with a tour group and two of my best friends and this place inspired me to take Italian in college in hopes of going to live there one day. Now that I have a two year old, I am not so sure I will be able to go after that dream but I am still in awe of the country and hope to return with my little man in the future.

 

These are some vineyards that I felt were breath taking !

Taken by me, on my camera