 |
| Chinese proverb Source: label |
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Review: Week 2
Going back over the class announcements, there were few posts that grabbed my attention.However, there is a particular picture that I thought served a very deep meaning. It was one of the words of wisdom proverb posters that said "One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade". I the words are incredibly inspiring and something that every youths should keep in mind. This particular proverb is a Chinese proverb that I have included in this post.
Famous Last Words: Week 2
This week went really smoothly for me. I was well prepared
and worked ahead at the beginning of the class. I had all the assignments done
and saved it as a word document file at the beginning. The only thing left to
do with those assignments was proofreading and checking I had all the requirements
fulfilled so I could post the blog posts right away. The best part about the
reading assignments were the reading guides prepared for us.
I particularly enjoyed reading about Ram and Sita and their
victory over Ravana. I also wrote a bedtime story for my storytelling
assignment. I enjoyed every moment of it. I literally was imagining myself
telling the story to my niece while writing the story. It was simple and easy
to follow and covered most of the important mements and incidents. I also
eliminated the negative part of the story where there is a lot of killing going
on. I changed the ending where instead of Ravana’s death, he lives and turns
into this wise man because of Rama so that the kids listening to the story are
kept away from the fact that evil should always die.
 |
| Sita Source: sita hindu goddess |
Talking more about my other classes, I have been enjoying my
Legal studies class so far. I have heard that the class is hard by my friends
who previously took it. However, the fact that we get to read various criminal
cases and get to talk about is what I love about this class. But then again, it
is just the second week of classes. I will get to learn more about the class
and am genuinely hoping it is not going to get hard and will love it till the
end.
I have personally learned a lot just from this class and
have seen a tremendous improvement in my reading and writing skills to be specific.
Reading Diary: The hare that ran away
When we say one thing, it becomes the other thing when
someone else hears it. When we have a fear in our mind, everything in our mind
becomes that fear. When we spend a minute in the fear, that fear becomes many
hours of our life and eventually that fear becomes our life. The story of hare
was very fascinating. The fear that the hare had in his almost made the whole
animal kingdom run away for their life. The fear started with a question in
hare’s mind, “Suppose the earth were to fall in, what would happen to me?” then
it almost ruined everybody’s life. Fortunately there was a lion; reincarnation
of Lord Buddha. Calm and thoughtful, went to the root of the problem that the
hare was having and fixed it. The story reaches us to tell us to be calm,
evaluate the situation and find a solution. Buddha has many characteristics
that is reflected in rest of the stories to follow. Buddha was very generous
and always thought about others life. It was all about giving no matter what.
If the thing that you are doing gave you happiness you do it. Not money,
diamonds and the physical pleasure, Buddha was all about the inner happiness.
Title of the Reading: Overview: Shedlock Eastern Stories and Legends
Learning challenges: Learning to read
 |
| Books and reading Source:taticflickr. |
Growth mindset: Getting more creative
 |
| Let's get Creative Source: fault |
As the second week ends, I have been trying to learn more
and more about the concept of growth mindset challenges. As per my understanding
challenges help students learn more and help them thrive to do better and not
for the heck of getting good grades. In just two weeks I have learned a lot
from this class. It might also be because I am taking 5 other classes and
working at the same time but I must say this class is challenging. Trying to
manage time to do the reading and write blog posts on top of trying to maintain
the same amount of effort for some other classes can be overwhelming at times.
But this challenge has done nothing but helped me work harder. Instead of
sitting there and complaining, I have actually found myself busy trying to not
loose focus and complete assignments before due dates. I have learned to work
ahead of time and take a break from procrastination. Story telling exercises
are my favorite as it has taught me to be more creative.
Possible Storybook Topics
Possible Topics:
1. Tales
of Ganesha: I think the stories of ganesha and his mysterious elephant head
would be something very interesting. I have always been a curious child and
knowing the story behind Ganesha’s elephant head is something I have always been
curious about. It had my attention since the beginning. I have heard different
stories from different people and have always been confused.
Research: To
start off, I did my research on this topic by looking up “Ganesha” and read the
Wikipedia version of Ganesha . I also read the
project done my previous students and read the “Ganesha Tales for Children” -Ganeshastories I loved the approach she took while
writing the portfolio and would love to write about it myself.
2. Gods
and Goddesses: There are gods and goddesses throughout the Indian Epics. They
all have their own super powers and own stories. It is interesting to learn
their super powers. Something I have noticed throughout the reading is that
every god has his/her own purpose in life and appearance.
Research: I read
the PDE Ramayana version. I also read the tndian epic storybooks gods to do more research and read about Vishnu to find more information at
Wikipedia. I read about each of his Avatar and him as Lord Shiva grabbed my
attention the most. I read about Shiva
and came to know that he is very different from Vishnu and Brahma and yet one
of them and just a different avatar.
3. Indian
Goddesses: Indian goddesses are very fascinating. It is nice to know that they
have different roles. Their appearance is very aatention grabbing and I was
very captivated while reading about each of them.
Research: After
a little research I came to know that goddess Parvati is wife of Lord Shiva,
goddess Laxmi is goddess of wealth, saraswati is goddess of intelligence, and
goddess Ganga is the goddess of water. I also took a look at hindu goddesses
written by one of the students to learn more about laxmi, saraswati and other
indian goddesses.
 |
| Indian Gods and Goddesses Source: Gods |
4. Ram
and Sita: The epic love story of Ram and Sita is something I can never get
enough of. After reading the PDE Ramayana I have been more interested to know
more about them. The way Ram saved Sita from Rakshyasa and Ravana is
incredible. They got together when Rama won her infront of so many people.
Research: The rama and sita is very interesting. I read the post to learn more about different insights
different people have in their story. I also read the wikkipedia version of
Rama
to know more about his characteristics.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Week 2 Storytelling: The Great Rama
Once upon a time there was a Koshala Kingdom ruled by king Dashratha. King Dashratha sacrificed horse to get a boon from god to be father of four son’s. His elder son Rama was born with blessings; avatar of god Vishnu. Rama grew up with high quality education form highly renowned gurudevs. Rama was very powerful and had all the knowledges about weapons. Rama encountered Rakshyasa Thataka in his teenage and defeated her. On his way to obtain higher education he falls in love with Sita and ends up marrying her. Sita becomes a perfect wife who loves Rama till the end of her life. Rama and Sita decided to give away all the royal possessions and live in jungle for fourteen year. Rama’s brothers try to convince Rama to stay in the kingdom but Rama denies and goes away anyway. Lakshmana, one of the Rama’s brother tags along with Rama to the jungle. Bharata, one of the Rama’s brother agrees not to follow Rama only if he was allowed to worship Rama till Rama returned back to the kingdom.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rama and Khara | Source | : | Rama strikes down Khara with an arrow. |
In the jungle resided many Rakshyasa. One of the Rakshyasa named Khara fights Rama and gets defeated in no time. Rama strikes the other Rakshyasa named Shurpankha with his bow and kills him in airborne. The king of Rakshyasa named ravana hears about Rama’s victory over all the Rakshyasa and plans to kidnap Sita. He recruits a Rakshyasa named Maricha; who disguises as a golden deer. Sita falls in love with the golden deer and tells rama to bring her the deer. When Rama leaves to hunt the deer Ravana kidnaps Sita and takes her to Lanka; Ravana’s kingdom of gold.
Rama goes to Lanka to get Sita. On his way to Lanka, he fights hundreds of Rakshyasaa and kills them. Rama defeats all the Rakshyasa with one shot from his bow. On his way to Lanka Rama finds many friends who wants Ravana dead. They promise to help Rama defeat Ravana, Rama accepts the friendship knowing he wouldn’t need anyone’s help to defeat Ravana. All the animals in the jungle came to help Rama. All the birds in the sky, animals on land and water wanted Rama to defeat Ravana and rescue them from Ravana’s mistreatment. Rama accepts all the friendship and moves towards lanka to get Sita. At the mean time Ravana tries to seduce Sita and make her marry him before Rama comes to get her. Rama gets there right on time and saves Sita. Looking at the whole group of animals and people Rama brought to find against him, he realizes how hated he is by the society. He realizes that he better than that and asks for forgiveness and promises to be a good man. Rama, being a very kind hearted, he decides to forgive Ravana and hires him as a helper in his kingdom. Good wins against evil and everyone lives happily ever after.
Author’s note:
The story telling style I used is BEDTIME. The heroic story of
Rama would be a perfect bedtime story for kids to sleep with. I have only
included the heroic act of Rama in this story to make it a perfect bed time
story filled with positive vibes. The original story ends with Rama killing
Ravana and saving the kingdom but I have given it a little twist. Some parts of the story is influences from ramayana battle with khara.
Bibliography:
Influenced by :Title of the book: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913) Ramayana
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)