Growth Mindset

I have actually heard of Carol Dweck and the growth mindset.  We learned about it in the Mythology and Folklore class I took last semester. The one thing that has been most challenging for me since coming to OU is learning to budget my time for each subject that I am taking.  I find that too often I spend too much time on one subject and not enough on another.  I am working on setting out certain time periods during the day to devote to each subject.  What I have learned about myself since being at OU is that I learn best by writing the information down that is being presented to me.  Just listening is not enough, I need to be able to write it down so that way it gets engraved in my mind.  Since I learned about the Growth mindset last semester I probably wouldn’t be that interested in learning more about it.  My learning goals is to get all my homework and quizzes done before Friday so that way I can have the weekend to relax. The one class I am excited about it Gender and James Bond, because it is being taught by one of my favorite teachers.

Growing Brain. (June 24, 2011)

Xavier Vergés. Source: Flickr

Assignments

The assignment that intrigues me the most is the storybook one.  The reason for this is because I wonder how much different it is going to be than the one I did for Mythology and Folklore last semester.  It is unlike what I have done in most classes, because with film, we just have a bunch of readings and movies to watch.  Here, we have actual assignments that require time and effort to complete them.  Most of the stuff I do in my other classes are on paper or with worksheets but with this class everything is online.  The extra credit always grabs my attention but the one that interest me the most is probably the extra story ones.  I love writing stories so it would be easy for me to write one extra story a week.

Assignment. (NA)

Nick Youngson. Source: Picpedia

Technology Tools

I have taken many online classes during my college career.  I actually prefer them to real classes that happen on campus.  I think it easier to manage the work load and time when everything is due at the end of the week.  Doing online classes allow me to work at my own pace so I am not time crunching and trying to do get everything done in one day. This class is exactly like the Mythology and Folklore class that I took last semester, so nothing has really changed. There aren’t really any skills that I want to work on this semester. Having a online class like this one really does expand your computer skills and gives you strengths that you can use later in life.

Learning Technology Tools. (November 27, 2017)

Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Source: Wikicommons

Time Strategies

The first article that I read was The Important Habit of Just Starting.  I really enjoyed reading this.  I think this article is useful because it is kind of just like positive reinforcement that I should always have a great mindset when preparing for any challenges that might come up. I should be able to meet them head on.  Besides meeting challenges this article also helps when it comes to starting early on work or school. It reminds us that by developing good habits earlyh they will become traits in the future that we will do without even thinking about them.

The second article I read was Realist Study Plans.  What I got from this one was that we should always set reasonable expectations and goals, whether at work or school.  Trying to reach abov e and beyond what we know we are capable of will just end up hurting us and not do us any good. By planning out our week it allows us to be able to reach our goals that we have set for ourselves and not stretch ourselves to thin. By having a reasonable study plan it allows us to be better prepared for the coming weeks and months.

Time Management. (November 4, 2015)

NasimAhmed96$. Source: Wikicommons

Introduction to a Film Major

Well to start off, I am Andrew Albright.  I am a senior here at OU and am majoring in Film and Media.  Now when I say that most people think that all we do is watch films.  While this is mostly true we also look at the technical aspects of films such as costuming, blocking, lighting, and so on.  I have been in love with movies ever since I was very young.  I recently achieved my New Year’s resolution that I made for myself which was to have over 1,000 movies on iTunes and I was able to achieve that before the year ended.  I will graduate either this summer or next fall.   A fun fact is that I work as a Video manager for the OU football team and have been doing so for the past 4 years and I have enjoyed it immensely. 

The class that I really enjoyed taking last semester was the Mythology and Folklore class that Laura teaches.  I really enjoyed working at my own pace and becoming a better writer.  My biggest accomplishment last semester was making the honor roll for sure.  I never thought that I would make any type of honor roll because I have always struggled with school and never thought I was any good at it, so I was really proud of myself.

My favorite types of movies would have to be horror for sure.  My girlfriend does not like them at all, but I cannot get enough of them.  On top of horror I also enjoy pretty much any movie that can keep my interest or has Ryan Reynolds.  When it comes to tv I love all action comedy shows as well as horror.  My top shows are Psych, Blue Mountain State, The Witcher, and Carnival Row.  When it comes to music I am a metal head at heart but can listen to just about anything.

I honestly cannot wait to graduate and be in the real world again.  Before coming back to school in 2016 I worked full time for an oil company, so I got to adult for a bit.  I did enjoy it a lot actually. MY goal, when I graduate, is to work in the NFL being a videographer, write scripts, or go back to work at PSAV which is an audio-visual company.

Me holding the Big 12 Trophy after beating Baylor. (December 7, 2019)

Taken by Luke Phillips. Source: Me

Storybook Favorites

1. The first story book that interest me is Battle for Lanka.  What drew me to this storybook was how it was structured.  I really like the thought of making each person have their own journal as a way of telling their story.  It is a unique way to capture someone’s attention and draw them in.  I am not familiar with this topic so when I read the story book I really wanted to explore it more in depth and maybe choose this one and make it my own.  I thought the overall design was nice and that it was very each to navigate.

Sri Lanka. (February 2000)

National Aeronautics & Space Administration. Source: Wikicommons

2. The second storybook that I chose to look at was Music Stories.  I really enjoyed looking at layout and design of this one.  The introduction was a little bit confusing because it states that we will be learning about music but when you click on Ravana we get met by a beast that is apparently angry and blood thirsty.  Sure, the person does connect it to music but that was not a story that seemed to have cohesion.  If I were to do this one I would make sure that everything flowed well and that the story was happy.  With music we usually associate it with happiness not destruction.

Ravana. (December 27, 2004)

Henryart. Source: Wikicommons

3. The third and final story that I chose was A Hero’s Adventures.  I chose this one because I am big fan of action and heroic characters. This storybook took a different path than I thought.  I was under the impression that there were going to fights and death with the main character saving the woman but alas there wasn’t really any of that. I think the title could be a little misleading when trying to understand this book.  I thought the design and layout were a little bland and could have used some color.  Overall, I did enjoy the stories and will definitely keep it in mind when deciding on my project.

Kamadeva. (1820-1825)

Unknown Author. Source: Wikicommons

My Favorite Place: Midland, Texas

One of my favorite places to go in the world is Midland, Texas.  I know a lot of you are asking yourself, why would he choose Midland as one of his favorite places.  Well, I shall let you know.

One of the reasons that I love Midland is that all my extended family lives there and I have been going down there ever since I was born.  What I love about this place is that it is a small cozy town with the population of a big city.  While the city limits aren’t very big there is a lot to see down there.  When my family and I go down there we usually go visit my grandparents and my uncle.  My uncle owns a pretty big oil and gas company, so he lets us visit him in his offices.  I think it has become more fascinating to me as I have gotten older.  The reason that I say this is that as he tells me more and more about what everyone’s job is I actually understand what he is saying. As I have gotten older it seems that things that seemed boring have now started to interest me more.

After we have visited him we go over to my grandparent’s house.  What is interesting here is that all my relatives live within 5 miles of my grandparent’s house.  It makes it much easier to visit family members when all you have to do is walk a couple of minutes to their house.  Aside from spending time with family, Midland has a great movie theater called Cinergy that I spend a lot of time at.  The reason for that is I have been a movie fanatic since I was 7 and am a film major so I try to go movies as much as I can.  Besides having a great theatre there are a lot of good spots in town to eat.  The food in Midland is different than Oklahoma because there is authentic Mexican food and it just hits harder.  You can also go atv riding and go out to shoot guns/hunt if that strikes your fancy.  Overall, visiting Midland is just a fun time overall and it is cool to see how a small town has seen a lot of growth over 2 decades.

Midland County Courthouse View. (August 22, 2017)

Ahodges7. Source: Wikicommons