Thing # 2: My Blog and Avatar are Born

Question 1: What previous experiences do you have with blogs, reading or writing?
     My previous experience with blogs is very minimal.  Every once in a while I would come across a blog on the internet when searching for something. I would read a few postings, but never felt compelled to post anything in return.

Question 2: How did you decide on your posting name and the name of your blog?
     I decided to use my actual name for my posting name with this blog because it will be easier for the professor to track my participation and give me credit for what I have completed.  If the professor is happy and has no problem tracking a student's progress, then the student will receive credit for completed work without a problem. Everyone is happy. 
    As for the name of my blog, I decided to make things simpler for everyone and drop my maiden name and the hyphen. Everyone knows me by that name anyways. It just makes things less complicated.   

Question 3: What was your experience in creating the blog? Was it hard for you or easy? Why?
     Creating this blog was hard for me.  In the instructions on how to create this blog using Google's tool Blogger, Dr. Wall stated that it would be "extremely easy to use."  Well, I must confess something about myself.  I am a complete klutz and nervous wreck when it comes to using new technology.  I tend to make every inconceivable simple mistake before finally getting it right.  For starters, I had trouble logging back into the new Goggle account I created for this project within minutes of opening it.  I tried about five times on my own before I asked for assistance from the professor.  It took her less than two minutes to figure it out. I was so embarrassed to discover that I misspelled my email address when I created it.  So, I had to close or delete that email account and recreate a new one I order for me to open this blogger.com site.  I also had trouble navigating the blogger.com site.  I kept getting frustrated because I kept forgetting where I had to go to create a post, preview it, and the like. Thankfully, I seem to have grasped how to function within the blogger site now. 
     Since the purpose of this project is to document our journey in Dr.  Sigears' and Dr. Wall's Blog Adventure, then I am going to be as forthcoming as possible about my struggles and successes.  I have waited so long to take graduate level classes that I am going to get my money's worth.  A major set back I had in creating this blog involved writing my posts.  I tried to sit at the computer and compose the my posts for Thing #1, but I had trouble in getting my thoughts together.  I kept getting frustrated because I could not stop revising what I just wrote and it did not flow as it should.  It was a mess.  The fourth habit of lifelong learning came back to haunt me, but I had a breakthrough.  It dawned on me to write as though I am journal writing. Blogging is just an electronic/ interactive form of journal writing.  I used to keep a journal many years ago and it was quite eye-opening how much I learned from it.

 
Question 4: How does your avatar reflect your personality? Did you create an avatar that looks like your real self or someone totally different? Why?
     My avatar was so fun to create.  I created it to make her look like me because I am just too literal that way. I am smiling because I am taking classes again.  I dressed my avatar in an outfit that I would wear to teach.  I like to mix a casual item like a jean jacket with a skirt and high heels to dress it up.  As a teacher, I could also dress it down with a pair of flats because there will be long days when earing high heels at school will not suffice. My avatar signifies my versatility and professional demeanor. You'll also notice a cat next to my avatar.  He represents our family pet, Darth Kitty, who we named in honor of our love for Star Wars.  Darth Kitty had to be included with my avatar because he has spent many hours next to me giving me moral support while I am typing away on the computer.