Tech Tip: Twitter List

I have never used twitter lists before. I've heard people talk about using them but I never knew how to start a list or why I would want to. Now that I have started my own list, I think I will build even more. Twitter is a great tool for any industry, but especially for the news industry. I think this will help me sort out all the craziness of the internet when a big story breaks. Thanks for the tip!

Week 1 Curation

As a journalism major, I have a vast amount of recourses I use on a daily basis for my newscasts. My browser's bookmark section looks like a public library full of knowledge based sites. I've been using bookmark curation for as long as I can remember. I have different sets of folders and subfolders for school, work, OU Nightly, and life in general.

I do have a Pinterest account, but I mostly use it for ideas on how to decorate my annual Halloween party or how to DIY a headboard out of boxes and fabric. I'll have to start curating different stuff on that site and see how I like it.

My life on many platforms.Without my bookmarks I wouldn't know what to do.

Growth Mindset

I have never heard of Carol Dweck before doing this assignment. I like the idea of the growth mindset.

There are two ways I can identify with the growth mindset idea.

Pride of Oklahoma:

Pride of Oklahoma

We are constantly learning new shows to perform during the games. You must have the mindset going in that things will change on a day to day basis in order for the band to get better each game.

OU Nightly:

OU Nightly

It is very crucial to have an open mind and be willing to learn new things every time someone steps into the OU Nightly studio. In the news industry things can change within a matter of seconds and members must be on their toes to be successful.   

I think the growth mindset challenges will be fun and something extra that I can get out of the class. I am looking forward to participating in the experiment!

I found this meme on Laura's collection of mindset memes and it perfectly summarizes these two organizations. 

Growth Mindset Memes

Storybook Favorites

Prison Stories of the Wicked Stepmothers

Disney's Evil Queen

This story really caught my attention because I literally laughed out loud when I saw the title. It reminded me of the hit series on Netflix called Orange Is the New Black. I love how it combines traditional fairytale story themes with a new modern-grownup twist. The intro really captured me and I wanted to know more about this secret place in the fairytale kingdom. I also like how it goes right into the story without taking too long on descriptions. I wasn't a big fan of the actual presentation of the story though. I didn't like that I had to click through different links instead of just scrolling down the page.

E! News Special: Diary Reveal

E! News Logo

This story grabbed my eyes because it looked like something familiar. As a broadcast journalism major, I have to always be looking for all news, including entertainment. I thought it was a very different take on biblical diaries and I love the creative way the author brought together two very contrasting ideas and melted them into one. Once again, I'm not a big fan of the design of this storybook. I thought there was too much pink, which was a little distracting, and I'm not a fan of clicking different links to read the whole story.

Czech News 9

Czech

Once again someone has peaked my interest by using the "news" angle for their storybook and I am digging it! Bonus points for involving Czech stories as well! I like the design of Czech News 9 better than the previous just because it was easier to read. Like I've said in the past though, I am not a fan of clicking different links to read the whole story. Also there is a very long paragraph in the story that I think should have been broken up into smaller paragraphs. It was a little hard to read the whole thing without getting lost in a giant block of lettering and words.

UnTextbook Units

UnTextbook Units

Egyptian Myths & Stories

Egyptian Hieroglyphics 

This section really intrigues me because as a kid I was fascinated with Egyptian culture. My favorite moving growing up besides Twister was The Mummy.

Czech Folktales

The Disobedient Kids and Other Czecho-Slovak Fairy Tales.

This unit definitely catches my attention since my last name is from a Czech origin. I am not too familiar with my ancestors traditions so I am excited to learn more about their myths and legends in this unit!

Myths of the Cherokee

Sequoyah, the inventor of the Cherokee written language.

This unit stands out because of where I grew up. I'm from Sallisaw, OK which is located in Sequoyah County. I live only 10 miles from Sequoyah's Cabin. Sequoyah created the written language for the Cherokee nation. The Cherokee nation is heavily involved throughout my community back home. I do have some Cherokee and Choctaw ancestors so it will be interesting to learn more about their legends and see how they compare to what I grew up with. 

Adam & Eve

Adam & Eve 

This unit caught my attention because of how it compares different versions of the stories. I grew up in church listening to bible stories so I think it will be interesting to see how other cultures and religions tell the story of Adam & Eve.

Introduction

Introduction

Me at Disneyland this summer.

Hello faithful readers of this fabulous blog! I hope you have enjoyed my first of many creatively outlandish takes on storytelling.

About Me: My name is Dylan and this is my fourth year at the great University of Oklahoma! I am studying broadcast journalism while minoring in international studies. I play the saxophone in the Pride of Oklahoma and also anchor for OU Nightly. You can watch me this fall live at 4:30 p.m. starting in late September on our website. I am from the small town of Sallisaw, Okla. My family has lived there almost the whole time since moving from different countries in Europe.

Why I'm Taking The Class: To be 100% honest, I really needed an upper division western credit and this sounded like the best option. Now after being in the class for a bit, I absolutely love it! I feel like I am a kid again and have found my creative side. For so long I have been writing facts and figures and depressing news stories, but with this class I am able to let my creativeness flow as much as I want.

Hobbies & Interests: It's no surprise that I love anything and everything related to news. If I'm on my computer or my phone and not working on a project, I'm most likely on a news site trying to absorb everything I can. I am also an avid reader. I really enjoy post apocalyptic dystopian type books where the good guys always win. I studied abroad last summer in the great city of Seville, in Spain and I have completely fell in love with it. I hope one day to go back! My guilty pleasure I would have to say is watching Big Brother on CBS. I absolutely love that show! One of my goals is to become a member one season, but I'm not sure how that will affect my professional goals.

Life Motto: "Do what makes you happy."
In the past 23 years I've been on this earth I have learned quite a few things. The most important is that life is too short not to enjoy yourself. Do something because it makes you happy, not because someone else wants you to. Don't worry what other people think about you because at the end of the day, the people that matter the most won't care.

OU Nightly News

Storytelling Week 1: The Poultry Kingdom

Storytelling Week 1: The Poultry Kingdom

"LADY bird, lady bird, fly away home;
Thy house is on fire, thy children all gone—
All but one, and her name is Ann,
And she crept under the pudding-pan." -

The Nursery Rhyme Book

     A long long time ago before humans ever roamed the earth, chickens ruled the land in present day Spain. They built a vast empire from the ground up and were able to control other birds within their kingdom. 

Queen Lady Bird 

     The ruler of the Poultry Kingdom, Queen Lady Bird, was a ruthless leader that would do anything to grow her empire. The only thing she cared more for than her kingdom was her four very cute chicks: Bucky, Clucky, Ducky, and Ann. 

     Ann was very special to Queen Lady Bird. She would be next in line to the throne. Everyday she would groom Ann and tell her how wonderful she was. 

Ann

     "Ann, you will be the ruler of this fine poultry kingdom someday," the queen would tell her daughter, "you must be prepared to make tough decisions to stay in power."

     Ann would sit and listen to her mother speak about how important she was and how she must learn to be a ruthless leader, but the more she listened to her mother, the more she realized she did not want to be anything like her. She thought that there had to be a way to be a great leader without being so ruthless.

     One crisp fall morning, Ann was woken by the Queen frantically.

     "Ann wake up. The Reptile Kingdom has invaded from the East. I must travel with the troops to stop them from reaching the heart of the kingdom," the queen shrilled. "This is your test sweetie. You must take charge here in the main village while I tend to the soldiers. Can you handle this?" the queen asked.

     "Ye.. Ye.... Yes," Ann stuttered. 

     "Good! Now get dressed and be ready to address the subjects in thirty minutes. You must tell them to be prepared to fight. They must all be willing to sacrifice themselves to save the kingdom." the queen said.

     When Ann addressed the frightened subjects of the kingdom, she couldn't tell them to sacrifice themselves for the kingdom. She knew her mother would be angry but didn't think it would matter since the soldiers would stop the invas....

     "PPPPPSSSSHHHTTTTT BBBOOOOOMMMMMM."

     In the instant she had thought everything was okay, flaming rocks rained from the skies. The loyal subjects of the poultry kingdom fled the castle courtyard for cover.

     "The reptiles have infiltrated the last line of defense! Be ready to fight!" a grungy guard shouted at Ann.

     Ann could feel the blood rush out of her head. She had just told everyone that they were safe instead of preparing them to fight. 

     In the next few seconds she realized everyone had fled to the woods to take shelter, even the castle guards. She was alone surrounded by a burning kingdom crumpling all around her. 

     Word got back to the Queen about the incident in the next few hours. She ran as fast as she could to find her beloved Ann. When she arrived to her castle she could hardly recognize anything. The colorful blue and red bricks of the castle were now only dust and the beautiful fountains ran brown with muddy water. She started searching for Ann franticly. 

     "Mmm... mot.. MOTHER," Ann barely got out. "Mom. MOM!" she yelled this time.

     "Ann where are you?" her mother screamed.

     "MOM!" Ann yelled.

      Ann had taken shelter under a big kitchen pot and somehow survived a flaming rock landing on it. The queen grabbed her daughter and ran for the hills. 

     That was the day the poultry kingdom fell and never regained power in the world. 

      

Author's Note: My story was loosely based on the children's nursery rhyme "Lady Bird Lady Bird Fly Away Home". You can find it in "The Nursery Rhyme Book" as seen at the top of the post. In the original nursery rhyme, a birds how caught on fire. All of her children had left except for Ann. She hid under a pudding pan. I used to love writing fiction stories as a kid, but since starting my journalism major I haven't written anything other than news in a long time. My crazy creative side came out while writing this and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of writing it. I kept the two characters from the original but everything else was thrown out the window. It was really fun incorporating dialogue throughout the story too. I love taking simple short stories or rhymes and then expanding on it to create an elaborate tale. I chose those images because I wanted to show that Ann didn't look like her mom at all, and she didn't act like her either. I was told after the fact that I chose a rooster instead of a chicken for the Queen. 

Bibliography:

Book: The Nursery Rhyme Book

Author: Unknown 

Editor: Andrew Lang 

Illustrator: L. Leslie Brooke

Year: 1897

Digital Release: August 6th, 2008

Web Source: The Nursery Rhyme Book

     

Favorite Places

My Favorite Places

I am heavily involved in different activities at the University of Oklahoma, so it's no surprise two out of my three favorite places are at OU.

Gaylord Memorial Stadium

This is my fourth year playing the saxophone for the Pride of Oklahoma. It was a dream come true when I stepped out onto Owen Field my freshmen year of college.
Here are some of our past performances: https://www.youtube.com/user/oupridetresona

Gaylord Memorial Stadium

 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Gaylord_Family_Oklahoma_Memorial_Stadium_from_SEC.jpg

My roommates and I before a game.

My roommate and I goofing around after practice.

Part of the sax section showing off our eye black.

Studio A Gaylord Hall

Another activity I'm heavily involved with is OU Nightly. It is a nightly newscast produced and ran by OU Students. I have done everything from run a camera all the way to anchoring a newscast. This program has helped me get ready for the real world. To see some of our previous shows check out our website. ounightly.com

ounightly.com

Cheesing it up after a great newscast.

I'm ready to deliver updated news at the end of the newscast.

Doing a live shot before show time.

Sallisaw, Oklahoma

Last but certainly not least is my home town of Sallisaw, OK. My family has lived there for at least 5 generations. I have a great family that loves and supports me no matter what. Both of my parents are elementary school principals and my brother is a senior in high school.

My family in our car.

Goofy Christmas picture.

My mom, brother, and I when we were younger.

A very 90's Christmas.

Comment Wall

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