After telling myself repeatedly that I would never have my own blog, I finally have a reason to start one. I love blogs; I actually keep up with quite a few on my own, and consider some of the people that I have met while reading and posting comments to be friends. There is something wonderful about knowing that there are people in the world with whom I have things in common. But I was always a little too scared to start my own blog. I didn't really want to blog about my life. First, I am not sure that I do enough things to make any blog I would write about myself interesting. Second, I value a certain amount of privacy and anonymity in my life, and having a blog felt a little too much like letting strangers into my house. But now the internal debate I have been having about starting a blog is over. I am killing two birds with one stone, completing a class assignment and getting used to a new form of media.
Creating a blog is a lot easier than I thought it would be. When I first saw the page that pops up when you want to create a blog, I was a little intimidated. New technology and I don't always get along. There is very little commitment involved with reading another person's blog, but writing a blog felt like another thing entirely. I feel like I have a responsibility to post something of quality, something other people will feel is worth reading.
But the steps to create a blog were pretty easy. I decided to stick with simplicity. I'll have more time to develop something creative after I get used to the basics. At least that made the name of my blog easy to decide on; it is just my name, followed by what the blog is about-- the 23 Things. My posting name is my own name. I just wanted to keep it simple, and easy to remember.
The best part of creating the blog so far has been creating my avatar. After playing around with her a lot, I finally decided that it would be better to leave her looking like me. I am pretty happy with who I am (most days), and dressing my avatar up as something or someone else just seemed a little silly. I might change her outfit every once in a while, or give her a new background, but the general look will stay the same. I have never been good at pretending to be someone I am not, and that part of my personality apparently extends to creating a realistic avatar.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Thing 1: Beginning a Journey to Conquer My Inabilities with Technology
Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be! I never thought I would have my own blog, but here it is. Maybe this class will go by smoothly. I have already heard that it is fun, and that you learn A LOT. I am excited about being able to play with my blog, and finally having topics that are worth posting about.
I usually have a little bit of trouble (a gross under exaggeration) with technology when I first start using it, so it often takes me a lot longer to adjust to using different types of programs or gadgets than my friends. Hopefully, this class will help me get over my reticence to use different technology. This is my next goal for continuing the process of lifelong learning.
I always love to learn new things, but usually I bite off a little more than I can chew and plunge right in without making any type of plan for how I am going to learn or how much I want to learn. My biggest problem with lifelong learning is Habit 1- Learning with the End in Mind. I'll use one of my past learning "failures" (it is hard to call it a failure- I did learn something). At the time I was volunteering with an applied behavior analysis (ABA) group for autistic children ages 3-8. Most of the children I was working with were nonverbal and used American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate. Naturally, I felt that it would help my relationship with "my kids" if I knew ASL. I made this decision during a point in my life when I had a lot of down time. It was between semesters in high school and the only thing that I had to do was show up to ABA twice a week. I NEEDED something to do. So I just jumped right into the work. I didn't set up a schedule, and I gave little thought to what would happen after my winter break was over. The result was that I finished one or two lessons of a free ASL program developed by a professor at CSU Sacramento before I got caught up with school, and family, and volunteering, and the millions of other little things that we all have to do. I still want to complete the program, but every time I start, the result is the same-- I let LIFE get in the way. I can't commit to following through.
Another part of lifelong learning that I have trouble with is being able to find the right tools. Most specifically, finding someone who can help me learn what I want to learn. I am the type of person who learns best by being taught. It makes me more comfortable to be with an expert who can guide me toward whatever goal I have. Finding an expert is easy if there is already a framework set up for me to learn something, like when I have a class at school. Usually a teacher is chosen by the time I begin a class, so I know who to go to if I have a problem. When I have to find my own expert it is another story entirely. Who am I, a young, inexperienced, naive girl of twenty to ask an expert for their help? Why would anyone have time for me? And even if they do, how do I even ask for help? Admit it, experts can be intimidating!
The funny thing is, the easiest habit of lifelong learning for me to follow is teaching an mentoring others. I don't like to ask for help, but I sure don't mind giving it. When I finally made the decision to study education in college, I was the only person I know who was surprised. The most common phrase I heard when I told people that I was going into special education was "I knew you would end up a teacher!" This exclamation was typically followed by a chuckle that I found incredibly infuriating at the time.
The funny thing is, I have always been a teacher. My favorite extracurricular activities when I was in grade school were running a Daisy Girl Scout troop, teaching Sunday school, tutoring English and working at an ABA therapy group. I may have seemed like a fairly boring adolescent, but I was happy teaching other people.
This ties into habit 7 1/2, play. I always learn better when I am having fun. Thankfully, I finally realized that the only way I would learn anything would be to love what I was learning. When I love what I am learning, then learning isn't work. It is an adventure.
I am sure that this class is definitely going to be an adventure. My goal is to be comfortable using new technology by the end of the semester. I may not be successful with every project that we do, although I certainly hope that is the case, but I don't want to be afraid of trying something with technology just because of a fear that something will go wrong. I hope that by taking a class on technology, I can build up the confidence to tackle any new technology that can help me continue to be a lifelong learner.
P.S.If anyone wants to learn ASL, and has a little (or a lot) more drive than I do, I highly recommend the program; the first twenty lessons are free and you learn vocabulary by most common usage. Just send me a comment if you want the link.
I usually have a little bit of trouble (a gross under exaggeration) with technology when I first start using it, so it often takes me a lot longer to adjust to using different types of programs or gadgets than my friends. Hopefully, this class will help me get over my reticence to use different technology. This is my next goal for continuing the process of lifelong learning.
I always love to learn new things, but usually I bite off a little more than I can chew and plunge right in without making any type of plan for how I am going to learn or how much I want to learn. My biggest problem with lifelong learning is Habit 1- Learning with the End in Mind. I'll use one of my past learning "failures" (it is hard to call it a failure- I did learn something). At the time I was volunteering with an applied behavior analysis (ABA) group for autistic children ages 3-8. Most of the children I was working with were nonverbal and used American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate. Naturally, I felt that it would help my relationship with "my kids" if I knew ASL. I made this decision during a point in my life when I had a lot of down time. It was between semesters in high school and the only thing that I had to do was show up to ABA twice a week. I NEEDED something to do. So I just jumped right into the work. I didn't set up a schedule, and I gave little thought to what would happen after my winter break was over. The result was that I finished one or two lessons of a free ASL program developed by a professor at CSU Sacramento before I got caught up with school, and family, and volunteering, and the millions of other little things that we all have to do. I still want to complete the program, but every time I start, the result is the same-- I let LIFE get in the way. I can't commit to following through.
Another part of lifelong learning that I have trouble with is being able to find the right tools. Most specifically, finding someone who can help me learn what I want to learn. I am the type of person who learns best by being taught. It makes me more comfortable to be with an expert who can guide me toward whatever goal I have. Finding an expert is easy if there is already a framework set up for me to learn something, like when I have a class at school. Usually a teacher is chosen by the time I begin a class, so I know who to go to if I have a problem. When I have to find my own expert it is another story entirely. Who am I, a young, inexperienced, naive girl of twenty to ask an expert for their help? Why would anyone have time for me? And even if they do, how do I even ask for help? Admit it, experts can be intimidating!
The funny thing is, the easiest habit of lifelong learning for me to follow is teaching an mentoring others. I don't like to ask for help, but I sure don't mind giving it. When I finally made the decision to study education in college, I was the only person I know who was surprised. The most common phrase I heard when I told people that I was going into special education was "I knew you would end up a teacher!" This exclamation was typically followed by a chuckle that I found incredibly infuriating at the time.
The funny thing is, I have always been a teacher. My favorite extracurricular activities when I was in grade school were running a Daisy Girl Scout troop, teaching Sunday school, tutoring English and working at an ABA therapy group. I may have seemed like a fairly boring adolescent, but I was happy teaching other people.
This ties into habit 7 1/2, play. I always learn better when I am having fun. Thankfully, I finally realized that the only way I would learn anything would be to love what I was learning. When I love what I am learning, then learning isn't work. It is an adventure.
I am sure that this class is definitely going to be an adventure. My goal is to be comfortable using new technology by the end of the semester. I may not be successful with every project that we do, although I certainly hope that is the case, but I don't want to be afraid of trying something with technology just because of a fear that something will go wrong. I hope that by taking a class on technology, I can build up the confidence to tackle any new technology that can help me continue to be a lifelong learner.
P.S.If anyone wants to learn ASL, and has a little (or a lot) more drive than I do, I highly recommend the program; the first twenty lessons are free and you learn vocabulary by most common usage. Just send me a comment if you want the link.
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