Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Blog #36 - Fiona Chen - Period 1 - 5/13/2020

Freshmen Lit 2020

5/13/2020- Fiona Chen- Period 1

Aim: How can we use the theory of neuroplasticity to analyze Odysseus as a dynamic character?


The reading (Learning Agility: Where Wisdom Meets Courageous Problem Solving) was interesting, and I learned things from it while also building my knowledge on other subject areas. It started off with how The Iliad was the earliest mention of distinct characteristics such as wisdom and courage. Since I never really paid attention to western literature before high school, this passage got me to see how these traits connect with learning agility, which is another thing that the passage talks about. After the passage mentioned Odysseus and his ability to adapt to challenging situations quickly, I noticed that Odysseus did indeed had to adapt to the sudden situations placed before him, whether it was caused by himself or his shipmates. The reading goes on the dive into growth and fixed mindsets, which is something that I have heard of and learned prior to this lesson. Because Odysseus is an agile learner and learnt from his mistakes, he would be considered as having a growth mindset. I feel like neuroplasticity isn't that often talked about, so it was another thing that caught my eye. The fact people with growth mindset also struggle a lot when making risky decisions just makes me think that no matter what type of person you are, facing challenging/risky decisions/situations will definitely be something you will have to face in the future. Overall, I enjoyed this reading; learning agility and neuroplasticity were both things that I had not known beforehand, so seeing their connection was intriguing.



Working and learning from home is something most of us haven't experienced before, so it took me awhile to get used to the new routine, staying at home everyday while still having to do the assigned homework and classwork. At first, working from home was pretty pleasurable, this lasted about 2 weeks. After that, I found it harder and harder to keep up with the work; because I had all day, I kept on pushing off work because it wasn't due that specific night. After having spent 2 months at home, I have gotten more used to the flow of things. A plus to staying at home is the flexibility of my schedule, I can do things in whatever order suits me the most.


Regarding the virus, more and more people are in quarantine, although it's pretty upsetting that a large majority might still be making our efforts to stay at home useless. As of today May 13th, the CDC informed us via Twitter that the reported number of cases of coronavirus within the US  is reaching 1.4 million. 28 states reported more than 10,000 cases within their state. In Wisconsin, their Supreme Court had just strike down the governor's stay at home order. It was a 4 to 3 decision, based on the article from The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/13/coronavirus-update-us/). Now looking at the cdc.gov website, as stated before, the total cases count is reaching 1.4 million (currently 1.36 million), and the total number of deaths is 82,246. There are still several states that have not reached 5,000 reported cases. As this continues, I hope that everyone is staying safe and hopefully at home, taking precautions and practicing social distancing.
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Today's lesson discussed a comparison between growth and fixed mindsets, as well as dynamic versus static characters. Throughout the lesson, there are several mentions of facing challenges, along with a video that contains possible ways to deal with challenges/obstacles. In an accompanied reading, we learned about learning agility, and how this connects with growth and/or fixed mindsets. Another major point from today's lesson is dynamic versus static characters. Main characters are usually dynamic characters, this means that their view on something changes by the end of their story, whether it is their values, or beliefs, not their physical appearance. This change can be positive or negative. On the other hand, static characters typically do not evolve through the course of the story. We eventually used these traits (growth/fixed mindset, dynamic/static character, learning agility), to evaluate Odysseus's learning agility and how he's learned from his mistakes. This lesson led me to think more about my mindset and how I usually view things. I can use what I learned from today's lesson to characterize characters from future books and/or movies.


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