Growth Mindset: My Potential

(Potential Pondering, web source: Growth Mindset Blogspot)

This is something I find myself doing a lot. I think nearly everyday I think about ramifications of my decisions, and whether or not they live up to my potential. Especially since post-grad life is looming over me like a big... heavy... dark... stormy... cloud... I know that my one decision about where to go after this will definitely change the course of my life forever. I also know that it will decide the course of my potential. I will only be able to achieve certain things if I make certain decisions at the right time. Whew. That's a lot to think/worry about. Mostly worry. It's okay. I'm fine. Everything's fine.

Learning by HEART: Caffeine Buzz

(The Deathly Caffeine Cycle, web source: Learning By Heart Blogspot)

I chose this one because I feel like this is especially pertinent to what I'm feeling at the moment. This happens almost every year; there's something about Thanksgiving break that messes up my sleep schedule for weeks afterward. Of course, this is right when I need to bank some sleep hours to prepare for finals week. I've been on a weird cycle of staying up until 3am, waking up for class, feeling exhausted by late afternoon, drinking something caffeinated to wake myself up (and another... and another... and another), then finding myself awake again at 3am. I plan to sleep for 12+ hours just as soon as I am finished with all of my classes for this semester.

Quotemaker: Postergen

(M. Cicero, web source: Postergen)

Reading Notes: Brothers' Grimm Unit, Librivox, Part B

Link to reading here.

The Queen Bee:
I think this is an interesting story to mess around with a little bit. On the surface, this seems like a somewhat cliche trope of the dominant brothers exerting their influence and power over a younger one. In this story, there's even the deeper level of the older brothers being bigger than the younger one, as the latter is a dwarf. They assume that they know better than the younger brother, but yet are bested by the latter. This could be translated into really any situation where someone is being underestimated. Siblings is a natural choice, as displayed here, but I think there are opportunities beyond that cliche.

The Twelve Huntsmen:
I like the idea here about the tests of certain people to prove something one way or another. Like, someone isn't who they say they are, but there are a couple of sets of foolproof tests to determine whether they are lying or not. I think this idea, however, would require me to depart almost entirely from the original story. I think I would step far away from this original (and kind of senseless) story of a woman trying to get her man back with 11 women who look exactly like her. I definitely wouldn't write about this, but something keeps reminding me of an almost Twilight type story where Edward isn't human but vampire, and there are certain things that would tip Bella off.

The Fox and the Horse:
I appreciated this sweet little story! I love animal stories, and foxes are my favorite animal. I thought this was an interesting fox story, too. Many stories concerning foxes show them as cunning and sly, using these things for evil. I liked how the fox in this story used his wit to help his friend, the horse, return home to his master.

(Sleeping Fox, web source: Wikimedia)

Tech Tip: Quotemakers, Behappy.me

(Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, web source: Behappy.me)

I picked this quote because I feel like it is a powerful statement about living up to potential and the "correct" path we all want to take. I fear missing out on opportunities that I'll never get again, and fear that the decisions I make today may be ones I regret later in life.

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm Unit, Librivox

Link to reading here.

The Frog Prince:
I think something exciting here would be the prince's entire backstory. Why was he enchanted in the first place? What did he do to the fairy that made her transform him into a frog? My vision here is that the prince is kind of rude and pretentious at the beginning, which ends in him being a frog. I also see him being a frog for a very long time before he meets the princess in our story.

Rapunzel:
This is very similar to the classic tale; a child is taken from a family and locked away in a tower for many years only to be discovered by a man wishing to marry her. What's interesting is the last part about the prince falling from the tower and basically gouging his eyes out. I'm interested to see what I could potentially do with the Disney adaptation of this story, Tangled. Instead of the prince finding her tower, a crook finds her. Rapunzel in this movie is also not as pathetic as she seems in this classic tale. She defends herself against the crook when she first meets him and holds her own as they travel through the surrounding forest to get to her parents.

(The Prince Beckons to Rapunzel's Tower, web source: Wikimedia)

The Travelling Musicians:
I hadn't ever heard this story before, so I'm glad I chose this unit. I think this is an interesting story that could be retold using humans instead of animals. What if the animals were actually teenagers that wanted to start their own band and they each ran away from home to do so? And then they come to a situation where they really need their parents (something to put here instead of the animals coming up to a robber's house), and then they learn their lesson and go home? Could be an interesting concept.

Growth Mindset: Create Your Own

This is a quote that reminds me to always be grateful for my schooling and for the opportunity to learn. While the endless assignments and papers and readings threaten to kill my drive, I remember that learning is the one thing that you can never do enough of. The mind can only gain from education; it will never tire from it. Plus, Leonard Da Vinci is one of the most incredible minds the world has seen, so I have no problem taking his word for it.

(Learning Quote, web source: Canva)