Tech Tip: Canvas Dashboard

For this tech tip I decided to do another Canvas feature because I think Canvas is something that students should take full advantage of because it is the hub for everything we do for our classes. The Canvas dashboard is the main page that you see when you log onto the site. The first thing I do with my dashboard at the beginning of each semester is change the nicknames of all of my courses to something that is easier to know which class is which. For instance, for this class I changed the name from "MLLL-4993-995" to "Epics of India." This change makes it much easier to navigate the page for me. I also really enjoy the "To Do" section on the dashboard. This is a list in the corner that has all of your upcoming assignments listed for easy access. The dashboard is very useful if you customize it to best fit yourself and I highly recommend taking the time to do that at the beginning of the semester.

Tech Tip (Source)

Extra Credit Reading: Francis and Thomas Jataka Tales

I decided to continue my reading of Jataka Tales for this extra credit reading. I read from a selection of stories by Francis and Thomas that I hadn't had a chance to read yet. From these stories, the one I found most interesting was one called "The Choice of a Husband." This is the story of a amn with four daughters and he is trying to decide which man to give his daughters to as wives. He asks a wise teacher for advice on which man to chose. The teacher tells him that although all of the men have good qualities such as beauty and years, the best man to chose is the one with virtue. He explains that virtue is the true measure of a man and a man should be despised is he fails at virtue.

Bibliography: Francis and Thomas Jataka Tales (Source)

Rings (Source)

Reading Notes: Shedlock Eastern Stories and Legends, Part D

For this reading I read more Jataka Tales from Shedlock Eastern Stories and Legends. From the part D selection, I really enjoyed the story "The Dreamer in the Wood." This is the story of a reincarnation of Buddha living alone in the forest. He lived in peace with all of his surroundings, making sure not to harm any creature for his own well being. He ate fruit when it grew on trees, leaves when there was no fruit, and bark when there were no leaves. One day Sakka, the King of Gods, came to test the man. Sakka asked the man what he wanted for himself. The man asked to be free of hatred, malice, and greed. Sakka was surprised that the man didn't ask for anything related to food and gave him another request. The man asked that no creature ever be harmed for him, body or mind. These requests were granted because they were all selfless acts.

Bibliography: Shedlock Eastern Stories and Legends (Link)

Forest (Source)

Reading Notes: Shedlock Eastern Stories and Legends, Part C

For this weeks readings I chose to read more Jataka Tales. I read a selection from Shedlock Eastern Stories and Legends for extra credit last week and decided I would read some more for week 14. From these stories I particularly liked one titled "How the Antelope Was Caught." This is the story of a gardener who works for a king. Every day an antelope wanders into the garden and eventually is gains confidence and is no longer scared of the gardener. The king asks the gardener about the garden and he tells the king about the antelope and says he could get the antelope into the palace. The king tells him to do it. The gardener starts by putting honey on the grass that the antelope eats. The antelope loves the taste and eventually has no fear of the gardener at all. The gardener then makes a trail of honey soaked grass that leads into the palace. The antelope follows it because he lusts for the taste and wanders right into the palace. The king speaks about how the antelope would never have come near the palace, but his lust for taste took over and he did. This story has a moral against lust and I enjoyed it very much.

Bibliography: Shedlock Eastern Stories and Legends (Link)

Antelope (Source)

Wikipedia Trail: Krishna to Royal Canadian Mounted Police

I started this trail by learning more about Krishna. Krishna is a major deity in Hinduism, one of the avatars of Vishnu. He is the god of compassions, tenderness, and love. I then moved on to Jambul which is a a fruit that comes from a tropical tree commonly found in the India subcontinent. I was lead here because some Indian texts describe Krishna's skin as being the color of Jambul. From here I went on to read about Crimson which I chose for fairly obvious reasons (Boomer). Crimson is a strong read color that originally came from dye produced from the kermes insects. Lastly, I found my way to Royal Canadian Mounted Police because their uniforms are crimson. Very interesting trail.

Krishna (Source )

Learning Challenge: Sleep

I chose this learning challenge because my sleep cycle is not where I want it to be. I tend to stay up late and sleep in and I would rather be able to the fall asleep earlier and wake up earlier to be productive. I read an article that compared the importance of studying compared to a good nights rest. I chose this one because when I study for exams I usually study late into the night before the test and don't get much sleep and I have heard that this is not a good way to prepare for an exam. I learned that when you don't get a good nights sleep, your brain can't repair itself enough and that makes it hard to retain info and learn more. The article recommends that students not sacrifice sleep in order to study because that will actually backfire and have the opposite of the desired effect.

Bibliography: Why Sleeping May Be More Important Than Studying by Katrina Schwartz (Link)

Sleep (Source)

Growth Mindset

For this Growth Mindset extra credit I decided to look at the growth mindset cats. The first image that I really liked was one that said to study hard, then take a break. I related to this one because when I study I tend to just study hard for hours and not take a break. I often realize that I am just cramming and not actually retaining the information. I think taking breaks will help with that.

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Another that I liked was one that said failure teaches you to deal with disappointment. I like this one because there are too many people who have never really had to fail and deal with what comes from it but I think that failing and dealing with the disappointment is important to maturing and becoming a successful adult.

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