Growth Mindset: Review

Growth Mindset and the wonderful Carol Dweck:

So to preface my post, I want to say that I love Carol Dweck, and I have heard her talk on Growth Mindset before this class. I am a Peer Learning Assistant through the OU Student Learning Center for Intro to Mass Comm. I recently went through a 10-hour training for this position as a tutor, and in this  time period, we reviewed these videos.

I believe that the best strategy to being a student for life is to believe that you have a growth mindset. Too often students believe when something is too challenging or difficult that they are stupid or can never do what they think is impossible. But something Carol Dweck encourages is the power of Not Yet. So, I usually try to approach all my challenging learning curves to this — I can't do this test... yet. Or I can't complete this assignment... yet. It's important that we help students understand that their brain can grow and develop for their entire lives, research has found. So with a growth mindset, I believe anyone can achieve anything they truly want to.

A brain lifting weights as to explain how the brain is a muscle that with exercise and practice,
can grow and develop and ultimately learn. Photo: LinkedIn

In my last semester here at OU, I think my brain just wants to be done with college classes. I am honestly ready to work in the real world with people who don't have homework. I understand that learning is important in life, and someday I want to teach children how to learn, but for now, for me, I want to do my classes to the best of my ability and graduate with a smile. That being said, I approach my classes thus far with the idea that my goal is to learn something new today or apply something you've learned already to something you are doing today, because that is learning, too.

Time Strategies

For the end of week 1, I read "The Myth of 'Too Busy" by Tim Grahl and "The Psychology of Checklists: Why Setting Small Goals Motivates Us to Accomplish Bigger Things" by Lauren Marchese.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about organization and prioritizing because I can apply these concepts not only to my classes but my life. When I was a freshman in college, I wasn't involved in many things. I wanted to get my college life situated and figure out how to do it before I got swamped with things to do other than school and work. Well, I think a lot of people will say they want to get involved but then don't actually do it. Well, I didn't do that. I got involved. I would say that I got so involved that by the time I reached my junior year here at OU, my friends made fun of me for having to schedule hang out time with me because I apparently was "too busy," or how Grahl puts it, "I didn't prioritize my time well for hanging out with friends. Furthermore, while I enjoyed reading what Grahl had to say, I definitely took offense at first. I personally like to say, "I am too busy to do this or that." I actually do get a weird sense of joy out of saying I'm too busy for something. It honestly makes me feel my life is important enough to be busy. While I know this is not necessarily true, for me, it is. I am the type of person who would rather have too much going on than nothing at all. I understand other people are different, and I respect that, but I choose to "not prioritize my time well."
But I see the truth in what Grahl has to say, but I'm not sure I'll ever want to use his words.
As for the checklists article, I relate to it on every single level. I love lists. I make lists for almost everything I do. In fact, I probably have founds myself making a list and putting "make a list for vacation or for next semester," on it. Some people might call it a sickness, I just call it life.

Photo of an hourly planner with ball point pen.
Photo: Best Online Universities, LLC. 

I don't have a set plan for studying really, because my major requires me to go out into the field and gather materials and then come back and write. My major doesn't require me to read textbooks and then take multiple choice tests where I must study for hours. I appreciate this.
In addition, I have an At-a-Glance Weekly planner, which is broken down by single days of the week and on every day there is a line for every hour starting with 6 a.m. and ending at 9 p.m. This is by far my favorite planner, and I never go anywhere without my planner. It's my entire life. So, I use this planner to plan out my classes, work and other activities, and that usually keep me from procrastinating. An advantage to being "too busy," is that if I don't get something done at the time that I've planned it, then I know it won't get done. So, that gives me motivation to get my stuff done in a timely manner. I'm happily busy.

Reading Options: Choice for Week 2 and more

Week 2 Story selection:

Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche

I chose this story because I love fairytales. In less formal wording, I am a sucker for fairytales. I love love and the first section was so intriguing that I read the next three. I’m very excited to continue the old woman’s story and to see how the young girl fares in the end.

For later in the semester, I'm interested in...

... the Asian Unit
China: The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck & Filipinio Tales


I am really interested in reading this entire story, because I was adopted from China, and as I stated in my last blog post, the country will always have a place in my heart. In addition, I love fairytales and stories such as the first one about a young girl who chooses a peasant over other suitors and stays loyal until death. I look forward to really digging into this unit.


... the European Unit

Dante's Inferno

When I saw the title, Dante’s Inferno, my brain screamed with excitement. I remember playing a four-movement arrangement of Dante’s Inferno in my high school wind ensemble. I YouTubed it, and I couldn’t believe how vivid my memory was of playing this entire piece. Before we sight-read each movement, my band director read us an excerpt of this story, and now, I’m looking forward to reading it in this class.

Painting of The Barque of Dante by Eugène Delacroix. Oil on canvas.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. 

A little extra for this selection: Here's the YouTube video to the first movement of The Divine Comedy: The Inferno. 

(Fun fact: I played the clarinet in my high school band.)

Storybook Favorites: The 3 That Caught My Eye

Story 1

Chasing a Rabbit Trail

The intro truly drew me in to the storybook, Chasing a Rabbit Tail, because of the passage from the Velveteen Rabbit. The Velveteen Rabbit is a book I remember from my childhood very dearly. I continued reading past the passage.

Lithograph for The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, 1922.
Photo: William Nicholson, leoframes.com.

The introduction was well-written, and I got a great sense of who the rabbit was and what its mission was as well. The layout is more pleasing to the eye than some of the other storybooks I briefly browsed, but did not continue due to lack of interest in the content, such as Harry Potter references (I am not a HP fan.) Regarding the design, I enjoyed reading it in short columns with bold headings, making it easy to read and to follow. Navigation was easy as well, and the font was easy on the eyes. Again, a few other storybook I briefly saw were discouraging due to the style of font used, such as old timey font which is hard to read with the serifs. So this design and the content was well done.



Story 2
Arthurian Women

I chose to browse this storybook because of the title: “Arthurian Women: Queens, Damsels, and Villainess.” I enjoy reading about women and their place in society back in the day to present time. Being a leader and a woman is somewhat a difficult concept for some people to grasp still today, so again, I’m always interested in reading about how society views women in roles such as queens, damsels (in distress) and villains (or otherwise known as bossy). The introduction is well-written and continues to spark my interest until the end. I was actually very impressed with how intrigued I still was after the introduction, wanting to know the secrets of the Arthurian Women. The design is not as pleasing to my eye as the design used for Chasing a Rabbit Trail. I do not like how small the tabs are on the left side. In addition, the green text color kind of clashes with the green of the entire page, which is something I noticed immediately upon beginning to read. Moreover, it does not discourage me from reading, but does draw my attention away briefly. Navigation was seamless, but again, I didn’t care for the tabs on the left; I would much rather have the larger tabs at the top like a mainstream website.



Story 3
Ancient Chinese Fairytales

I was immediately drawn to this storybook, again, due to the title, Ancient Chinese Fairy Tales.” When I was about 3 or 4 months old, I was adopted from China (Guangzhou, China, to be exact) by American parents. Although I do not speak any Chinese nor have I ever been back, there will always be a place for the county of China and the city of Guangzhou in my heart. So, I enjoy chinese art, culture, food (especially food) and pretty much anything related to China. I did not find the introduction to be as well-written as the two storybooks above, but I found the author’s passion to be most intriguing. You can tell that the author is passionate about his wife and his wife’s culture, which is charming. I also think it is charming that he not only loved fairytales growing up, but that he’s stepping out of his own culture and wanting to learn about another culture’s fairytales. It’s a wonderful idea. Regarding design for this storybook: I don’t care for the sidebar on the left, (as with the Arthurian Women storybook mentioned above). I would use a different layout if possible, if I chose to do the storybook project.

Introduction: My life in a nutshell

Photo of me in Bricktown 2016. Photo: Kaitlin Mani

My name is Mia Chism. I'm a senior print journalism major with a minor in psychology. I will be graduating this May. I enjoy my major, and the best part about it is working with people every day and getting to experience something new and sometimes unexpected. 

Last semester, I was chosen to represent Gaylord College as its overall outstanding senior for 2016-2017. I was honored at a ceremony with OU President David Boren, and I was recognized at the OU-Baylor game during pre-game on the field. It is such an honor to be able to represent Gaylord College and our staff, faculty and students. In addition, I will be giving the convocation speech at the Gaylord Convocation. 

Over the break, I read Amy Schumer's biography, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, and it is one of the best books I have read in a while. 

My career goals have recently changed. This past summer I spent two months in New York interning with CUNY's Graduate School of Journalism and O, The Oprah Magazine. It was an experience of a lifetime. But after I came back to Oklahoma, I realized that I didn't want to pursue a career in journalism after graduation. So, I'm back to square one again, and I am interested in pursuing a career in non-profit, event planning or education. I'm not sure where my path will lead me, but I'm excited for the journey. 

My favorite hobbies include watching Friends. I have watched all 10 seasons at least three times. I just enjoy the humor and the friendships. I enjoy reading in my free time, which in the last couple of semester I haven't had much time for. I enjoy listening to all kinds of music, but my favorites are jazz and R&B. I don't have any favorite artists in those categories, because I think it's all pretty grand. 

Lastly, I love to be involved with people wherever I am at any given point in time, and so at OU I am a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (even though, I am not Hispanic, I enjoy representing and learning about hispanics in the journalism industry), the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Alpha Phi Omega- Delta Beta, Gaylord Ambassadors, and Diversity Enrichment Programs. I also recently left my job as copy manager at the OU Daily since I am no longer interested in pursuing journalism. I am a teacher's assistant for JMC 1013 Intro to Mass Communication, where I lead two separate discussion sections each week. As you might be able to tell, I enjoy being around people and helping others.

If I had an extra day for fun, I would spend it with my closest friends and my family members. Nothing beats spending time with people you love and who love you back. 

Week 1 Storytelling: The Beauty in Friendship

An oil painting of a fox climbing on a branch in the night.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Week 1: The Beauty in Friendship

A fox has by some means got into the store-room of a theatre. Suddenly he observed a face glaring down on him, and began to be very frightened; but looking more closely he found it was only a Mask, such as actors use to put over their face. “Ah,” said the Fox, “you look very fine; it is a pity you have not got any brains.”

(Traditional Aesop Fable)

* * * 

On a cold, dark and stormy night, Pat the Fox peeked into windows of every building on Main Street looking for a warm place to be. Finally, coming across Hound Theatre, Pat the Fox noticed a light had been left on and the window accidentally ajar. He jumped through the small, but large enough for him to fit crevice and began drying himself off from the rain.

Then he heard a faint sound, something that sounded like a little girl laughing. Pat the Fox looked up from cleaning himself and his face was met with a person. Jumping back on all four, he exclaimed, “Whoa! Watch yourself there missy.” Then he realized it was just a mask, and coolly laughed his fright off. Pat the Fox, still somewhat hesitant, took a few steps toward the mask when it shouted back, “How did you get in here? You shouldn’t be here at this hour. You look like a freak.” Pat the Fox twisted his head as to listen better, and responded, “Why, I came in out of the cold. Besides, at least I am only temporarily wet, while you, Mask, are only a thin piece of paper mache with no body or a brain.” 

Ventian carnival face mask. Photo: Pixabay

The mask laughed heartily and said, “At least I bring joy to people who use me and those who see me. I am the epitome of beauty.” Pat the Fox was insulted by this. He thought to himself that he may not have all the colors of the rainbow on his snout, but he gets the glory of exploring the world.” He said to the Mask that was still quietly laughing, “I may not be as colorful as you, but I don’t have to reply on humans to dictate when I get to explore or enjoy the beauty of the world.” 

The Mask stopped laughing. The Mask was sad at the thought that Pat the Fox was right. The Mask only ever got to see other people or explore new roles or see the different landscapes (which were only painted backgrounds) when the humans needed her. As beautiful as she ever was on the surface, she knew she was without a brain and without a body, too. She would never be free to think for herself or see the beauty of the world. The Mask began to weep, and Pat the Fox decided to comfort her by curling up near her. He asked, “May I stay the night? I will tell you stories about the wonderful world that maybe one day you will get the chance to see.”

* * * 

Author's Note: Above is the original Aesop fable, and below it I have written my own version of The Fox and The Mask. Originally, the fable describes a fox that has wondered into a room of a theatre where there is a mask. The fox tells the mask that it's too bad it doesn't have any brains. I have continued the story from there to reflect the idea that friendships can develop out of thin air and between things and people. In addition, not only can friendships develop but beauty can be interpreted many different ways, whether it be in the form of theatre art and drama or outdoors in the natural world.



Bibliography: This story is based on the Aesop's fable "The Fox and The Mask." in The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs.

Central Park, My Favorite Place

Central Park in New York, New York

This past summer I spent two months in New York interning with CUNY's Graduate School of Journalism and O, The Oprah Magazine. Sometimes I would need to take a break from busy city life, so I always found myself sitting and admiring Central Park. I would just pick a bench and people watch, stare at the clouds (which are different than Oklahoma clouds), and take a breath and a moment to enjoy the beauty of nature.

Central Park in New York, New York, from the air: Wikimedia Commons. 

Central Park in New York, New York at sunset June 2016. Photo by Mia Chism.