Thursday, February 15

Today is Thursday of Week 5. If you have not done your story yet for this week, that means today is Storytelling Day. There's also a new option this week: Story Planning. This is a good one for those of you who like to do research. Here is a link to all of the Week 5 assignments, and be sure to review the Storytelling instructions this week to learn about the new option. Plus, you can see an example below!

Class Procedures and Reminders

Success Tip: Research your images. Thanks to Google Reverse-Image Search, you can research images with the power of Google. Especially if you are working with a painting or sculpture, Google might help you learn who the artist is, and then you can acknowledge the artist in your image information. There's a Tech Tip you can do about Google Reverse Image Search if you have not used that before. It is really powerful!

Stray Comments. Every once in a while you may notice a comment on your blog that seems like it is meant for someone else. That happens sometimes, and if you let me know, I can try to find out who the comment was meant for.

Project Stack. If you turned something in by 6PM on Sunday, you should have comments back from me now. I'll be working on the Sunday evening assignments today. While you are waiting on comments back from me about your Project assignment, you can check the stack to make sure I received your email.

The following items are for fun and exploration:

Blog Stream. For an example of what a Story Planning post can do, here's what Brandon did, researching The Sons of Rama: Luv and Kush. He added more details and ideas to his reading notes, with links to some useful resources online, and then next week he can write a story based on his reading and research.

India Item. For those of you who like "why" stories about animals, you can learn about why squirrels in India have stripes: The Story of Rama and the Squirrel.

Myth Video: One of the great epics of the ancient Middle East is the story of Gilgamesh, so I wanted to share that Crash Course video with you.

India Comic Book: And if you were curious, here is the comic book that inspired Brandon's research above: The Sons of Rama: Luv and Kush — The Invincible Twins. See the Amar Chitra Katha blog for the Bizzell Reserve call number and more information.

Proverb of the Day: This very sweet proverb is from Kashmir: If I laugh not, how can I live? Find out more at the Proverb Laboratory.

Writing: Here are some wise words from Carl Sagan in a beautiful Buddha Doodle to inspire your writing this week:

H.E.A.R.T.: With a reminder from Grant Snider to never give up hoping.

Growth Mindset: And if you're afraid, today's growth mindset cat advises you to just keep going. You can find out more at the Growth Mindset blog.

Video: For more growth mindset inspiration, check out Eduardo Briceño's The Power of Belief.

Event on Campus: The Mr. and Ms. International OU pageant 2018 will take place from 7PM-10PM in Meacham Auditorium (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online. Here are Eduardo Campbell and Anushka Tandon from last year in the Homecoming Parade:

February 15: Matt Groening. Today is the birthday of Matt Groening, who was born on this day in 1954. Groening is best known for being the creator of The Simpsons... but before there was Bart Simpson, there was "Life in Hell" and the rabbits! The "Life in Hell" cartoons are truly brilliant and were a staple of my undergraduate college life; you can read about them here in this Wikipedia article. Below is a book cover for his "School is Hell" series. You can see the beginnings of Bart Simpson in that rabbit for sure:

Check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day, or click here for past announcements.