Feedback Thoughts: The Difficulty in Conveying Feedback

When reading 5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like a Champ I realized that I am not the best with receiving feedback. I think this is because I work so hard on everything I do that it just seems like an insult if someone else doesn't think that my work is very good. I wouldn't say I get upset but rather a little defensive. In this article I really enjoyed the second tip of receiving negative potential meaning I haven't reached my full potential. When one thinks about feedback in that way you can't help but feel positive because as a person you are able to expand and become even greater than before. I also enjoyed tip 5 talking about "self-compassion". I think it is important to treat oneself like a coach in the encouraging yet flexible sense. I feel like everyone needs to push themselves in the direction of their goals and passion so to be honest with yourself is the best means of feedback in my mind.

Being a perfectionist myself, I couldn't help but read 14 Signs Your Perfectionism Has Gotten Out of Control. This article weirdly described my perfectionism which I guess means I'm out of control 😐. I think the sign of "you take everything personally" was the one that meant the most sense for me. I do have a problem of taking things too literal from people which ends up hurting me leading to me being defensive and maybe even attacking the other person with harsher feedback. These articles made me realize that I need to take a step back and relax some in order to improve myself better.

When I think about the different types of feedback I have received over my life its pretty easy to see which type benefitted me and what didn't. When it comes to feedback from my parents or coaches it has always been where the screaming and being too harsh or condescending just doesn't work for me. I need someone to show me exactly how or what to do and then encourage me as I practice it. I do think there is time and place for screaming for feedback however especially through sports. For example I had a wrestling coach who was very loud and obnoxious but he did all of his screaming in an encouraging way. I truly think some people just have a way of communicating feedback to others that fires them up and others don't. What I think it comes from is that person truly wanting the other to succeed. If that person believes in me then I can believe in myself but if not then its just negativity.

A picture of Bob Stoops from Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia Trail: From Mother Goose to Dreamworks Animation

Mother Goose
Mother Goose

I started out this Wikipedia "goose hunt" (see what I did there) with Mother Goose because in some of my reading for possible topics for my project I looked up nursery rhymes. I wondered where does mother goose come from or who is Mother Goose? The answer turned out to be that Mother Goose was a name that refers to a country woman. Because Mother Goose is associated with fairy tales and what not that then led me to Puss in Boots.

Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots
After looking up Mother Goose, I saw on the page Puss in Boots who I knew from the Shrek movies which always can get my attention. Being ignorant I always assumed that Puss in Boots was just originally from the Shrek story. This page taught me however that he is the character of an European tale about a cat robbing and tricking people as he does in the Shrek movies as well. From Puss in Boots, who eventually got his own movie, I went to the Shrek Wikipedia link because I was thinking about how long ago that movie came out... the answer made me feel very old.

Shrek
Shrek

As I mentioned this is one of my favorite animated movies and the answer to when it came out was 2001. That means that I was only 6 years old seeing this movie in the theatre as I remember so well. This movie is hilarious and I didn't realize that Steven Spielberg owned the rights to the book written by William Steig. On this page I also noticed that the production company who threw this film together was Dreamworks Animation.

Dreamworks Animation
DreamWorks Animation

My curiosity brought me here because this last summer my friend who went to high school with me had an internship in California for this company. I learned from the Wikipedia page that the company has made 14.2 billion dollars off of the movies they have released. This makes me think I shouldn't tell my friend that because she would probably want more money from the work she did their this summer. Overall Mother Goose tied to Dreamworks because of the fairy tale aspect which is what Shrek (Dreamworks biggest movie) is considered.

Puss in Boots from Pixabay

Topic Brainstorm: Ghosts, Nursery Rhymes, The Odyssey, Dante's Inferno

Ghost Story

I have always enjoyed a good ghost story when sitting around talking with friends or family. This is probably due to the adrenaline that one feels when listening to a ghost story or watching a horror film. I love watching a horror film with a good story especially about ghosts and spirits. Some of my favorite ghost or spirit movies are Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, and Insidious. I really don't have any past knowledge about ghost stories in terms of their history and what not. All I know is the excitement I get from the mystery of whether there is afterlife in the form of ghosts and whether they can be scary or happy spirits. I would like to learn more about some different ghost stories here in the states as those seem more applicable to me. I think the ghost stories that I would like to tell would not be violent or possessing but rather more of a mystery type. I would like to have my stories be up to time and believable to a reader. I want the mystery of whether this could be real or not and have the reader thinking "ghosts have to be real" by the end of the story. I think this makes it more fun if the story seems applicable to ones daily life because we have all had a moment where we are scared thinking "is there something in the house" and what not. I want to retell stories or make up my own stories based on the idea behind something for example the The Man in the Picture. I think I could possibly retell this in a different way or just base my story off of the premise of a haunted picture. I also like the idea of the Dead Children's Playground where I could possibly add a sensory aspect.

Animated Ghost from Pixabay

Nursery Rhymes

When I was a child my mother used to read me nursery rhymes and even make me read them as well with her. Everyone enjoys a simple rhyming pattern especially one that tells a simple story. I think the little kid in me is coming out in making me interested in having my project involve a nursery rhyme. Other than the readings I used to do with my mother over the simple stories like Jack and Jill, but I do think they are a great way to get kids excited about learning to read and write. I think I would like to start researching more nursery rhymes that are more recent than the traditional ones. I think the way I would like to write some nursery rhymes would be linking them to a musical strategy such as rap. In my research the The Nursery Rhyme Book helped me read some of the old ones I recognized like Simple Simon met a Pieman and Little Bo peep. Overall I think this topic would be entertaining in forming more applicable nursery rhymes for kids.

The Odyssey

I have had a love with Greek and Roman mythology ever since the sixth grade where I started taking Latin. Since then I have read plenty of stories about the gods and heroes but the one that always was my favorite was the one about Odysseus. There is something incredibly entertaining about this character's wittiness in traveling for ten years facing all types of struggles to return home to his kingdom. In researching this topic I refreshed my memory by reading about him facing the Sirens, Cyclops, and Circe. I think that it would be fun to research more about the villains he faced and possibly tell a story based on them or maybe in their viewpoint facing Odysseus. I find the stories already amazing so I don't think I could do them justice in recreating them but rather adding my own input or taking the different angle about it. Since the story is from way back I could even possibly do it in a space sense since we haven't truly traveled space yet. All of these are ideas which I would like to narrow down eventually.

Dante's Inferno

I truly have little knowledge about the stories from Dante's inferno other than discussing it some in my English class freshman year of high school. I know that it is about the purgatory state of entering the 7 different levels of hell but other than that I just don't have much knowledge. The reason however I am interested in this is because of the allusions made to it in The Count of Monte Cristo. That story is probably my favorite book (although it is extremely long) and I love the idea of revenge vs. karma. Honestly I'm not sure how I would approach this other than maybe telling a version of The Count of Monte Cristo where Dante ( the main character) would himself go into the depths of hell to face his future starting with the Gate of Hell like that in Dante's Inferno. I also thought about making this one modern as well taking a possible celebrity from today and making that person go through the struggles like those in the story. This one I mainly chose as a possible topic because I thought it would be something I could make totally new unlike other topics.

Learning Challenge: The Simple Deskercizes

After reading A Workout at Work? I realized that body movement is exactly what I need this year. Last year I lived in a fraternity house that had a basketball court so when I would get tired I would go shoot some hoops. This year I don't have that luxury as easily available so I need to find something to get my heart pumping in order to keep my mind active. I have a bad habit of just sitting down at my desk and not doing anything other than staring at a computer screen for hours. This article made me realize how simple it is to do some work outs to keep me going throughout studying. This was my favorite article because the moving figures made me laugh, yet were extremely descriptive.

One of the Deskercizes was simply walking. Walking would be easy for me because I live in a duplex where I'm on the top floor. It would be simple to just walk around the kitchen, down the stairs, around my house and then back to my room for a little break.

Walking Man from Pixabay

Another Deskercize I enjoyed was the "desk push up" because I love going to the gym so this would be a simple exercise that wouldn't tire me out too much yet would get my blood rushing and have some entertainment.

Although it isn't mentioned in the article I think it would also be beneficial to do some jumping jacks in order to make all of my body move and get my muscles warmed up. This exercise isn't as dorky so if someone went into my room I could explain easier than say the "tricep kicks" that were mentioned in the article.

Overall, I need to start doing something otherwise I will look for any excuse to quit studying just because I'm tired. I may not be to my fully exhausted point however and these Deskercizes will keep me going and give me the break/push I need to keep going.

Growth Mindset: Finding Myself Through New Strategies

The following quotes are from past students in relation to the Growth Mindset approach. Under each quote I have applied them to my thinking with the events in my life currently.

"Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited about what could go right."

This quote seems to fully apply to my life right now. I have been stutter stepping for a long time now about starting to study for my dental exam in order to apply for dental school. I have this feeling that I will under perform due to my lack of test taking skills so I keep putting other things before it. I need to just focus on the fact that I am a smart man who can do anything if I put my mind and effort into it. 

"My biggest challenge when it comes to learning new things is how others perceive me."

Although I normally don't care what people think about me, I will admit sometimes I am afraid of what my parents want from me. I know that it is my life but I don't want to let my parents down when it comes to school work. They don't really put any pressure on me but rather I put it on myself to impress them which isn't always a bad thing but instead I need to start doing things for myself instead. 

"Try out different strategies" 

I can apply this to my life in the sense that I need to try different ways of learning information. I tend to focus mainly on my memorization which can sometimes only be for a little period of time. I need to find better ways to study in order to truly learn something and be able to apply it in a multitude of ways in order to truly use my education for the betterment rather than just trying to get a grade. 

This is a game of chess which involves many different strategies from Pixabay.

Week 2 Story: A Puppy's Wish

A Puppy's Wish

Update: I have edited this story for the better which can be seen on my Portfolio.

Once there was a stray male puppy without any friends wandering through the trash of a dirty alley. The puppy found in a trash can a female stuffed dog that was in perfect condition whom he made his best friend. The puppy did everything with his new companion.

He would snuggle up with the stuffed dog at night to sleep.

He would run around the stuffed puppy pretending to play a game of “chase”.

He would offer some of the food he took from the trash to the stuffed dog.

He would talk to the stuffed dog about everything and anything.

He would even give the stuffed dog baths by licking her clean.

After a few weeks of spending all his time with the stuffed dog, he realized he had fallen head over paws for his new best friend.

One day the puppy found a fortune cookie in the trash. The puppy ripped the package of the fortune cookie open immediately. The puppy didn’t even care about the cookie but instead he cared about the message inside the cookie.

The puppy crushed the cookie open to read the note inside.

The fortune read “Wish for something but beware!”

The puppy without even hesitating barked “I wish my best friend was alive!”

Immediately the puppy ran over to his best friend to check and see if she had come to life. She wasn’t yet so the puppy gave her a lick on her head.

Suddenly the puppy began to come alive.

She began to have real fur.

She began to move her eyes.

She began to breathe.

Finally the puppy’s best friend was alive and the puppy barked “You’re Alive! My love we can spend all our days going through the trash and loving each other.”

With a sad look in her eyes she exclaimed “Puppy, I’m extremely thankful for everything you have done for me but I must confess I am not in love with you.”

The puppy sat there with a blank face as if the world was ending.

“I’m sorry but I must find my true owner for she lost me and that is who I love.” She said to the puppy.

She then took off running away from the puppy and they never saw each other again.

Sad Puppy from Maxpixel 

Author’s Note: This story is based upon Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which the character Pygmalion falls in love with a statue of a woman. One day the statue becomes alive due to the works of Venus. The statue whom Pygmalion loved then becomes his wife where they love each other and even have a son. This recreated version of the story uses dogs instead and ends differently than Ovid’s because sometimes love doesn’t always work out no matter how hard one tries. The puppy should have realized from the fortune cookie’s note to be specific in what he was to wish for.

Bibliography: Pygmalion from Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000)

Reading Notes: "The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal" and "The Lion and the Statue"

"The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal" was a story I enjoyed when reflecting the writing style due to the simpleness in conversation. All of the things said by the characters were simple in the sense that they made it very clear how one of them felt with showing emotion as well. I think a good way that this is conveyed is through the repetition of the Jackal. The writer keeps a good pattern in say "Yes...." and this allows for the point to get through yet its not too descriptive so it doesn't lose the attention of the reader. Another thing I enjoyed about this story was the similes used. For example I enjoyed the "look as miserable as a fish out of water". This allows for a easy depiction of how worried the Brahman was. I think that it is important to use similes and metaphors because readers can relate better with the emotions or the actions of the characters involved. The author also does a good job of describing characters emotions which also sets the stage well for how these characters truly feel by using descriptions of what has been done unto them. I also think the climax of the story was very smooth in the sense it was put more into an action than what is said making the reader able to visualize what is being done. The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal

I also enjoyed the writing style of "The Lion and the Statue" because I enjoy the simplicity of fables. Although this story is short it makes complete sense through the conversation. The conversation not only sets the stage of what is being performed but it also is what I like to call the "kicker". As everything is being said between the two it ends in a statement that expresses the entire meaning or lesson behind the short story. I would like to learn how to lead a story through the character's words rather than actions because in my opinion this makes it feel as a reader like you are the one performing the conversation. Although I am confused whether the writer of the story put this or not, I also think it is important to put the meaning of the story in a short statement at the end to express the entirety of the meaning within a few words. I also think italicizing the words allows for more impact because the difference in font shows the power behind it. The Tiger and the Statue.

Tiger meme posted on Flickr by Meme Binge

Gavin's Tech Tip: First Tweet

I've been using twitter for a few years now but I have never used it for anything other than jokes, facts, and random communication between others. This is my first time to use it with a class or even be encouraged to tweet for a class. I think it will be a great thing being it can communicate random short information to the class. I just used the account I have always used because it seemed simpler than creating a new twitter. I hardly ever tweet myself but I do get on fairly often to read my feed. Anyways this should be a simple way to learn more about the class and communicate myself if needed.

Reading Options that I personally found interesting.

My mother is an English teacher and has been since I've been alive. She always made a strong point to teach me how to love literature and stories and she did an amazing job carrying this love over to me. What my mom didn't realize however was that she was teaching me to love music without even knowing it. As I have mentioned in my past blog Introduction to a Future Dentist I have a love for artists like Eminem and Johnny Cash. The reason I love them so much is how they can tell simple stories in their songs that go about with an almost perfect rhyme scheme.

Eminem Picture on Flickr by Scott Kinmartin

I attribute my love for them due to a book my mom would read and make me read every night as a child. This was a book of nursery rhymes and I couldn't get enough as a child. Due to my love for nursery rhymes I immediately went to these type stories on the Untextbook page Nursery Rhymes. Although I didn't recognize most of them (which I'm actually happy about so I could read them) I did recognize a few. For example I read the Little Jack Horner one. I also recognized The Crooked Man even though I fully hadn't remembered it. 

I also was attracted to the Homer's Odyssey section due to all of the years I've taken Latin. I started taking Latin in the sixth grade due to my mom's influence and never really looked back. I took Latin every single year of school from then on until junior year of college. In Latin class the Odyssey was brought up hundreds of times and especially the grand story of the terrifying Cyclops. I've always loved these mythology stories because of one teacher I had in high school who probably taught us more mythology stories than she did the language of Latin. This is why for this class I fully intend on reading all of the Cyclops sections along with more Greek mythology stories. 

Another section that caught my eye was the section of Saint Francis of Assisi in the Saints and Animals tab. I was interested in this because in the 6th grade I moved to private school for the first time in my life and it happened to be a Catholic school. Before this my family never really pressured any religion on me. The school taught me all about the different saints and in 6th grade we even had  school play where I dressed up as Saint Francis of Assisi. I wish I had a picture of me back then for it because it looked really funny to see a sixth grade boy dressed as him with a head piece to make me look bald and everything. Overall I think his story is very interesting plus I love animals being a Biology major here at school so I plan on diving into these stories as well. 

Saint Francis of Assisi 

I'm sure that I will get into more than just these but these were the ones I read about and will continue to read through out this class. I'm looking forward to these three because they are all a little different but still attract me to them due to some of my past interests. 

Time Strategies for the Always Busy College Student

Being a college student means you are constantly doing something. Even your "free time" is usually running around with friends, working out, or whatever one enjoys. This is why professionals really push having a set schedule that one follows in order to get everything down. Me being a perfectionist truly conflicts with this despite what one would think. Most people would think oh a perfectionist has everything thing planned out to make sure it is all done. That isn't how my mind works and I'll be honest it has caused me some problems but not anything severe.

I'm the type of guy who can't move on from an assignment or won't stop until I feel comfortable in what I am doing. I personally think that if I set myself a strict schedule it would make my work worse. I like how I won't quit until I know it is the best work imaginable. This is why I don't set schedules to be precise but rather I know when I need things to be done and I make sure I do them when I am going to perform them best. I like due dates and the pressure that comes before them because it makes me think outside the box. That being said after reading these articles there is a good chance I could possibly forget less things and maximize more time.

In the article 3 Steps to Recapture Time by Joynicole Martinez it mentioned that the first 15 minutes of each day should be spent categorizing what needs to be done that day. I think this would help me out a lot with school work and working out, however I think every day is unnecessary. Part of life in my opinion is learning from mistakes that are made in times we are just living free. It is important to live free sometimes and not have any plans. However I think Monday-Friday this would help me each day to at least get my top three priorities out of the way.

I think some of what I'm saying can be said in the article Why time management is ruining our lives by Pete Gamlen. He mentions how sometimes setting these precise schedules just build anxiety. I couldn't agree more in the fact that these do make me more stressed especially since I'm a very anxious person.

This semester I do need to manage my time better because I have more free time than usual due to wanting to study for the DAT for dental school. This is why I plan on waking up every morning at 7 to study until my first class. After class I will take care of what ever school work needs to be done and from there on I will judge my work schedule based off of my mood. If I'm tired I'll sleep, if I have energy I'll study, if I just need to be with friends then I'll hang out. I don't believe one must have a schedule even if I'm missing the point of these different articles. I believe one needs to have goals and dreams and that is what they should rely on to be productive. The craving to succeed rather than the craving to sustain a schedule.

That being said I will probably stick to the schedule my teacher sent me for this class because I know Monday and Tuesday are my most free days but that doesn't mean I will only abide by it which she said was alright as well.

Commons Wikamedia Alarm Clock

Technology to the Limit

I like to think that I have always been fairly technologically advanced. This may be because it has always been around due to my parents and the time period I grew up in but I'd also like to think it was because my interests kept me wanting to learn more of how to use it. However, the technology I consider myself good with is more TV, Music, and other entertaining aspect friendly devices.

As I have mentioned in my past posts this is my first time to ever have a blog in my life so there is already a new aspect being thrown at me. To be honest I am slightly scared when it says that I will be creating a website because frankly I have only used them. I don't even know where to begin creating one but I know that my teacher has walked me through everything thus far so I'm not too worried.
This being said I'm pretty excited to start using websites I've never used before because in my mind the Internet is limitless so you can never be on time with knowing how to work everything. Using technology is one game of keep up and the day it isn't means that there could be worse problems in the world.

I'm excited to learn how to better edit pictures and create images in themselves as described in the class activities. I also think it will be fun to work with SoundCloud being that I use their website for my own personal music.

This class is different than most classes I've ever taken because it actually promotes the use of technology and finding resources. I find it ridiculous that I've had a teacher who said the use of computers was prohibited. In today's age that is preposterous in my opinion and the Internet will be used every single day in peoples lives after college.

Overall, I'm excited about trying new websites and technology and I can't really understand why someone wouldn't want to get better with these skills.

Computer Meme from Alan-G-Brandon

Assignment Excitement

I wanted to take this class the first time I had heard of it last semester. Today, August 28th,  I was accepted into the class from the wait list and immediately started my assignments. One way I can tell I'm excited for what is to come is the fact that I've been working so far today and haven't lost interest yet. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tired, but I haven't lost interest at all.

If anything I'm excited about this class because I think it is going to call me to perform thinking I am not accustomed to. Already I have made a blog which I had never done before in my life. I am excited for the assignment of story telling because I personally love reading, listening, and telling stories.  I think this will be a good way for me to express some of my creativity. One of the extra credit assignments I am excited for is the Famous Last Words assignment. I feel like this will be positive for me in the sense I can focus on all of the good and the amazing opportunities I have been given at this University rather than stress on the amount of work I do. I imagine this to be therapeutic in a way. I'm also excited to read other people's blogs and comment on them to see what everyone else is thinking compared to me. It will also be nice to read the comments on my posts.

I will say I'm slightly nervous for the big Storybook project after reading some good ones. I know that I can do it but I want to create one that is completely original so that is a goal of mine.

This is my third online class but already this class seems different. This class seems to be based more on what I think rather than just reading and reacting like the other online classes I have taken thus far in my college career.

Overall, I am looking forward to this class and what I will accomplish and it will be interesting to write and reflect on everything throughout this semester.

Excited picture posted on Flickr by Meme TN Excited

My Growth Mindset opinion

I had never heard about Carol Dweck and the "Growth Mindset" theory before today and I have to say I'm slightly embarrassed. Although I have never really been afraid of a challenge, I have also seemed to have taken some easier routes when it came to my school work. When I say easier routes, I really mean not trying to go beyond what is asked of me. Especially when I was younger and went to public schools I never really had a challenge and was typically done with my school work before most of the other kids. This is why my parents moved me to private schools. My parents realized that I needed more of a challenge but to be honest even at that I could have gone farther in some aspects. I was always the kid just looking to get an A as easily as possible as Dweck described in her TED talk.

Now this makes me sound bad, but I would say that I'm normally looking for a challenge myself however it may not be school work always. For example in my sports days I was always pretty athletic until a couple of unfortunate back injuries, but one thing that I did over some of my team mates was work out. I started hitting weights in about the 7th grade pretty hard. I loved challenging myself to new strengths so I would push myself. I did this with school work to in terms of studying to make sure I got A's but honestly there were times things were easier and I should have kept going.

I think Carol Dweck is right about it not always being the mindset but rather the person was conditioned to this thinking of easy work is good work. I think that is also due to time constrictions. It is impossible for each student to be given individual attention at all times so they end up being just left alone because they are not causing any problems. This is an issue because no one is inspiring this smarter child, while the focus is being put on kids who aren't getting the information as easily. Honestly at the University this is bad as well. For my case because everything is so competitive with getting into dental school, I've fallen into the category of just trying to get an A rather than truly learning and expanding my knowledge.

This has inspired me to look more into researching a scientific topic myself and trying to learn the most I can about it just for my own betterment. I would also like to make myself start reading for pleasure rather than just for classes.

This has me excited to learn more about the Growth Mindset through the rest of this course and apply it not only to myself but maybe challenge those around me.

Cat meme found on GrowthMindset Memes blog

Introduction to a Future Dentist.

My name is Gavin Humphrey Martindale and I was born on September 11^th, 1995 in Tulsa Oklahoma. I’m an only child if you don’t consider my half brother and sister who are way older than me. Although it was just me growing up with my mom (Kim) and dad (Gary), my family always had at least one dog in the house and currently we have two named (Penny and Buddy). They are both mutts which we adopted and I couldn’t love more. I currently study at the University of Oklahoma and I’m just trying to finish up my senior year as smoothly as possible.  My goals for the future are to one graduate in Spring 2017 with a Biology major and hopefully move on to a dentist school. I would love to be accepted into the University of Oklahoma’s dentistry school and eventually one day start a dentist practice of my own. In this practice I hopefully will have specialized and can perform surgery because I think that would keep me entertained the most while helping people too.

Tooth picture posted by OpenClipart Vectors Tooth

My interests are involved with physical activities such as football, basketball, baseball, and weight lifting along with visual and auditory arts such as movies and music. My favorite movies are suspenseful movies such as “Prisoners” and comedies which could honestly be narrowed down to anything with Will Ferrell in it. My music choice however is all over the place. I love artists like Eminem, Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash, Kendrick Lamar, David Allen Coe, and many more. My favorite thing to do is go to a concert which is talked about in my other blog Cain's Ballroom...My Favorite Place. The most recent concert I went to was Lil Wayne which was in Oklahoma City.  I would say that my favorite food is Pizza but honestly I like anything except most dishes with veggies. I know this is childish but I just can’t get over them….I’ve never truly eaten a salad as fat as that makes me sound.

I took this May 2017 at a concert. 

Although I have a vast amount of love for the state I was raised in, I want to move to another city preferably larger one day. I would say this is my ultimate goal because I don’t want to say I never truly got out and experienced the world. If you have any questions about me feel free to comment!!