Through the process of creating my myth I came to realize that a myth is more like a collective story that reflects themes and contemporary desires of the people of the time period and place the myth originated from.  Many myths that we read in our textbook were a combination of various oral traditions from cultures within the same general geographic area.  Through people migrating and travelling and changes occurring to these oral traditions they became representative of said cultures.  Many myths have similar elements, like human struggles, supernatural powers, and gods.  But one thing that I believe is central to all myths is a main theme or concept that teaches people a valuable lesson.  Even the most convoluted and confusing of myths contain such a concept and it is for this reason that having students create their own myth is a great teaching activity.  Students can explore their own creativity but still keep their myth narrative within the bounds of what is a myth.  This can help them learn some narrative structure and rules, as well as explore some themes and fantasy elements that may interest them.

I was very happy with how this assignment turned out.  The myth I created was a story that I had in my head for many years since I was a teenager.  The concepts were floating around my brain for some time but to actually put it onto paper and flesh out the story and main character were things I had wanted for some time.  Although my myth does not delve into the supernatural elements that many myths have I reckoned it closer to the battle of Troy from the Illiad.  Where it is a predominantly human based drama that unfolds on a grand scale, but in the end refines itself down to an emotional story set between only a few central characters.

Writing about poetry is much easier than writing poetry, In my opinion.  For me this is because I have a stronger ability to write analytical writing, and am less inclined to writing fiction.  To write poetry one needs a creative mind and the ability to conjure up imaginary or un-experienced phenomenon.  A certain knowledge of the english language, and ability to use vocabulary that sounds aesthetic and rhymes in a pleasing way is needed to write poetry in a way that is pleasing to read and to listen to.  In order to write about poetry it takes an entirely different skill set.  Namely the ability to think analytically about a text and to critically analyze it.  These are an entirely different set of skills it requires as a writer, than it takes in order write an aesthetically pleasing poem to read.

From this experience I learned that each writer has his or her own personal strengths and they need to take advantage of them and write what they are most comfortable with writing.  Not every writer is capable of being a George R.R. Martin or the next J.K. Rowling.  I personally am admittedly not a very capable fiction writer am much more fond of analytical writing, and there is nothing wrong with that.  If a student is an awesome all around writer that’s great, but if they prefer or are more talented at a certain writing discipline than they should pursue and strengthen whatever writing style and discipline they choose.

Hey all this is Jeff Ho, I'm in my late 20's and I love video games and as a result have created my own Youtube channel where I review and talk about my opinions on various games I’m playing.  My channel combines two of my greatest loves in my life namely writing and technology.  This will lead me into my first topic for my first post which is to answer the question “what role do I believe media technology should play in teaching at any level”.  And to answer that I believe it should play a significant role if not the largest possible role.  As a child I grew up in the LAUSD public school system.  As destitute this school system was back in the early 1990’s they did have computers as early as my first grade year in school.  I remember it well they had the old Macintosh computers with the screen only had 2 colors black and green.  Despite this I played educational games like Where is Carmen San Diego and Oregon Trail and little did I know how much of an impact this kind of rudimentary technology at the time would have on the rest of my life.  Now our world is run from our smartphones, technology is moving faster than ever and I was one of the first generations that grew up from a young age alongside computer technology having that incorporated into my school education.  It has greatly influenced my life and I believe I would not have my own Youtube channel today had I not experienced technology in the way I had when I was a young boy in school.  

The follow up question to this is “Have you witnessed any particularly effective or ineffective uses of media technology as a student?”.  And to this I say yes, those games I played back in the day on that old Macintosh computer in first grade.  Well a few years later when my family got our own home computer I remembered those games and asked my dad to buy them for me and he did.  I played them constantly when I was little and before I knew it i was able to type proficiently and had a decent understanding of how programs and operating systems worked just from playing some simple educational games on this old computer back in the early 1990’s.  Media and technology rules so many facets of people’s lives but also of children’s lives.  If people and especially educators can combine fun and learning using apps or games the potential benefits for kids is huge as they gain valuable skills and knowledge without feeling like it’s boring or hard work.