Reflections

When I first heard that we had to keep up with a professional blog, I rolled my eyes and sighed. I thought that this would just be extra work, surely something that I would forget. I soon learned that the blog wouldn't be as bad as I thought it was going to be. I took back my eye-rolling and sighing. I liked doing the blogs, and I liked seeing other people's blogs. 

The blogs posts helped me connect the readings to the questions being asked. Sometimes, what I read does not stay in my mind, it just floats out and so the blogs helped me remember what I had read. The blogs also gave me a way to be creative. I felt like I wasn't being judged on what I said, and this allowed my voice to shine through. I feel like sometimes people are afraid to write because they feel like everything is being graded and judged, so they develop this fear of writing because they think it won't be perfect. I did not feel that way when writing for this blog.

Nominations for Bloscars:

1.) Professionalism - Emily: Emily always had such a professional voice, and the way her blog was set up was very polished. 

2.) Design - Kacey: Kacey's design of her blog was very easy to follow. She always had relevant pictures and links, and the picture at the top of her blog made it feel personal to her. 

3.) Creativity: Adam: Adam's blog talked about some very different things at times. He asked ( and answered) questions that I hadn't even thought of. He also included some creative videos and links that related well to the topic at hand.

4.) People's Choice: Taylor: Taylor's blog was appealing because it was very easy to read. She said things that a lot of other people were probably thinking, and her voice was very powerful.

Infographical Ashley

I decided to create an infographic using the website piktochart.com. Upon entering the website, I was given the choice of picking a free template to use. There were so many to choose from! Once I decided on one to use, I had to think of a topic. Sadly, I had none. But then it hit me. How about I do something on myself? Yes! An infographic on Ashley. Once I had that decided, I chose a picture and the facts that I wanted to display.

My experience creating this infographic was a pleasant one. The template made putting everything together super easy and fun. I enjoyed all of the options I had. I really liked being able to change the colors and shapes of everything, even if I did not create the original template.

I feel like this would be a good resource to use in the classroom. Students could create infographics on whatever topic they decide on. I feel like giving students a choice on what they create makes the project more important to the student because it is something they care about personally. Infographics are a fun way to get down information without creating a long paper. Writing is still involved with creating the infographic (I still had to write down captions and headings), but it was fun to be creative and have a visual for my thoughts. For the students who prefer things to be visual, this website/project could be a great alternative.