God of the Gaps

 

I have some experience with blogs, but I am not an expert, by any means. So, it was a little daunting when I found out that this class will focus on blogging, but it was certainly something I was intrigued about as well. After going over the reading in the Top Hat textbook, I have been given a new appreciation of blogs, especially within an educational setting. Blogs can be used as a portfolio in ways that assignment turned into a Dropbox cannot be. I think blogs can be a great tool to utilize within education. 

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Overall, I am proud of majority of my blogs posts. The last post about science and religion can use some tweaking to make it a bit better, but overall, the rest of them are something I am proud of. The only aspect of these blog posts that ever stress me out is figuring out the layout before they are posted. The writing aspect and sharing my writing does not usually affect me in any negative way, but I sometimes can get a little frustrated or stressed with perfecting the pictures, layout, and format of the post.

Writing has always been something I am passionate about, so I try my best with every post I write. I have thoroughly enjoyed this class, so the blogs posts have felt like an extension of that. I have appreciated writing them just as much, and I have worked hard on each of them. Typically, I am one to miss a few minor grammar errors within my writing, so I usually read my posts aloud, or I have someone else read them for me to help catch these errors. Sometimes, a few grammar mistakes slip through the cracks, but I do try my best to catch them. 

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Again, writing has always been something I love, and I have shared my works on a public forum before through  a writing blog and an online magazine. So, the thought of sharing my writing amongst fellow students has never really bothered me. If I did not have any experience sharing my writing in a public forum, it probably would make me a little uncomfortable, so it was lucky that I was given opportunities to share my writing beforehand.

The biggest adjustment for me has been differentiating between academic writing and blog writing in an educational setting, so I would love to talk more about ways to make blog writing flow better in a natural way. As an English major, my default is to write in MLA format, so I am still trying to combat that instinct. In my journalism class, I am also trying to overcome the instinct to write in MLA. Journalism does not require the same finesse in writing that English papers do, so it has also been an adjustment. I feel like blogs might be about finding that happy medium between English papers and journalistic writing.

So far, this class has taught me the importance of blogs. The value that blogs can possess in any setting is something I never really thought about, but this class has demonstrated that value and additional potential that blogs hold. I am very excited to continue working on this blog throughout the rest of the semester!