Mid Semester Point- Mayday! Mayday!

How am I doing in CT101? What grade do I believe I am maintaining? 

Ct101 has been a really fun, engaging, and mentally stimulating class thus far. As a political science major, I’m very used to writing-intensive papers and the actual workload is a lot! but CT101 has allowed me to release my creative juices. I feel like the assignments are becoming more intense but in a good way. It’s forcing me to think and analyze each assignment in a different way, surely different than I’m used to because each assignment tackles something creatively different. I’ve utilized what I’ve learned so far as well as trying my own hand (whether I figure it out or not) to create interesting blog posts. I feel like overall I’m doing “okay” in CT101. I definitely started off stronger in the beginning but as the weeks have gone by I think a lot of people can relate to this feeling of being burned out by the semester, online learning, and what’s going on in the world. I know I can maintain an A but it requires me to be a bit more vocal and active, which is something I plan to work on for the second half of this semester.

What have I learned the most? What is my greatest learned asset in this class so far?

I think besides learning how to use BlackBoard Commons and obvious technical skills I think the knowledge I’ve acquired thus far is the greatest asset. The knowledge about the “digital world” I find to be beneficial for someone who is very new to this. Learning about intricate details, things I didn’t even think of as being significant such as domain names for example. At the end of the class I know I’ll always have this knowledge and can go on to building my own website if I chose to or even show someone else how to. Something I found to be equally satisfying is learning how to actually blog. Writing down my thoughts, opinions, and ideas I’ve found to be therapeutic but has also helped to strengthen my writing skills. I appreciate this kind of digital journaling.

What skills have I developed, cultivated, and displayed regularly in my posts?

Other than sharpening my writing skills through blogging, another layer I can identify is the story-telling abilities I’ve applied to each post. I’m essentially narrating what’s going on in my head in a healthy way. I’ve also developed the ability to make gifs/memes and the technical aspect that comes with that: animating them, embedding them, etc. and I think that shows in my post. I learned on a minor level through a very late all-nighter, determination, and a lot of music how to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, as well as hyperlinking things in my post, embedding videos so of which I need to incorporate more into my post.

How do I assess my performance through self-reflection in this class?

Honestly, I think self-reflecting is a well-needed skill and it’s one I use often, but, this class has shown me looking back at previous blog posts can help me to improve my future ones even if it’s the simplest thing. So let me reflect here on the work I’ve done so far.

Blog Post 1 – my very first post asked me to think about my slice of happiness on the internet but it was also my first blog post which is a bit obvious. I enjoyed the content but I think it was “chaotic” in the flow of the post.

Blog Post 2 – in this post I not only got to make my first animated gif but I improved in the flow of my post. I preferred how I wrote this blog and how each gif connected back to each of my thoughts.

Blog Post 3 – my third post I can safely say I got the flow how I want my post a bit more down pact – telling my narrative! however, I think I’m also getting a bit too comfortable with this pattern and need to branch out just to try and mix it up and make more interesting posts.

Blog Post 4 – this was one of my favorite but very frustrating assignments because I took a leap of faith to try something completely out of my comfort zone. I don’t think my blog post was done well enough to me but I think it’s cause I spent the majority of the time trying to get the 80s theme Sci-fi VHS tape to be perfect (as far as perfect goes) especially cause I never used Adobe applications. I see where I need to balance between the blog and if I have to create something . . . alas progress!

Blog Post 5 – this is my least favorite assignment in part cause I struggled with trying to figure out domain names. I tried my best and think I finally came up with good ones but it wasn’t easy, but I did include more hyperlinks which is an improvement.

Between these 5 blog posts and the one on The Internets Own Boy, I have improved my writing skills, the flow of blog posts, using more media forms but I need to try to push the boundaries more and try embedding videos for example.

What do I know now that I did not know before taking this class?

For one thing, I had no idea how to blog, or even create memes/gifs even though I use them every day. Pretty much everything I’ve learned so far is something I didn’t know how to do before.

Do I see my weekly blogging work expanding creatively? If so, please explain –  or am I stuck in a loop where my posts seem to look the same most of the time, how will I change that?

Indeed I see my blogs expanding creatively in terms of trying to include more media and but I also feel like I’m stuck in a bit of a loop where my post has this certain flow or look to it and I would like to change it up but I’m not sure how to go about doing it. I think trying to use other media or playing around with the format, adding catchy titles and such can help. It’s a work in progress but any suggestions are welcomed!

Almost done with this semester . . . I look forward to the next set of assignments and my website to come and hopefully with all this reflection I create something really creative and cool.