What I learned with blogging

This school year, we were asked twice in two different courses to create a blog and share to the world our ideas. Blogging might look like an extra task to some but I think blogging gave me a different kind of learning experience.

Here are some of the things I got from the few months of blogging.

Blogging = Learning

Blogging encouraged me to read new things to share to people. I agree that is important to keep a theme on our blog; however, it doesn’t mean that we need to be talking about the same topic all the time. When we blog, we should try to continuously learn about things that are interesting to us and to others.

Blogging = Filtering

When we blog, we should know how to pause. Since everything is just within our fingertips, we might have the tendency to just spill out the beans. Blogging taught me to take a moment before pressing publish, to know whether what I typed down is what I want the public to get from me.

Blogging = Practice

The most important thing I got from blogging is constant practice. Blogging gave me an avenue to work on my writing skills. It made me realize that there are still so many things to learn, especially about grammar.

I enjoy blogging. Even though blogging takes about one hour of my time each week, blogging gives me benefits that are worth spending my hour for.

Word count = 243

Spring of hope

The weather is slowly getting nicer. I can see the snow melt and the grass starts to show up again on our yard. After almost six months of having to wear multiple layers of clothing and warm boots, we can again use our light comfortable clothes. This spring is really special to me because it will mark a new chapter in my life. I am expecting to finish school at the end of April. With only less than five weeks left to finish all the final projects, it is easy to get stressed. What I planned to do while I am in this stressing position is to just look forward to spring.

I know everyone copes with stress differently. I don’t actually enjoy hearing complains about workload. Each of us is busy in our own way. What I think we should work on is just spend more time working on stuff that needs to get done rather than spend extra hours ranting. If you're stressed right now, always remember the famous saying, “every dark cloud has a silver lining”. If you’re a pessimist, yours might go this way according to Larry Kersten, “Pessimism - Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but lightning kills hundreds of people each year who are trying to find it”.

When planning is not an option

Starting a business should involve tremendous amount of planning. Investing in a business is not like signing up for a crash course. You can’t just back out anytime you want, and still look good. Before starting a business venture, you must take time to measure risks, plan your resources, and assess even your personal strengths and weaknesses.

Investing in a business involves more than putting in your money for something. You should be mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for the business.

This week is our submission of our business plan for our Freelance business management class. When I was doing it, I felt like if it was a real business, I will probably take months before actually completing the plan. It is my money and effort that I am putting in so I want everything to be perfect, or at least planned for. Since it was a sole proprietorship that we prepared for, the project felt like a personal assessment of my strengths and weakness, and how I plan to market myself so I can have an income.  

Some may say nothing usually comes out according to plan. I would say that that’s why we need a plan. 

Planning prepares us even for the worst times. Creating a business plan is never an option; this is a must for all businesses. Nothing would be worst than going out for battle without a weapon. Business plans are businessman’s weapons. Make one if you plan to join the business sector’s battle. 

Word count: 249

iProcrastinate

The name of the application may have negative connotations but this Apple app is really a powerful tool to get you organized. I noticed that I like writing down the things that I need to do on a piece of paper. After completing a task, I usually cross it out. Well, this app can do more! The app allows me to do the following.

• List down the things that I need to do.
• Count how many days I have left before a deadline. This is a very good feature especially if I need to multitask. Knowing how many days I have left to work on something helps me set my priorities.
• Categorize my tasks. The app, allows me to categorize my tasks and name those categories with whatever name I want to call it.
• Add steps to my listed tasks. If the name of the task is not enough to make me remember what I need to do, I can list down some steps in order to complete the task.
• Attach files. This is an organizer helps save time by preparing all the files that I need by linking the file with the tasks. When you view a previously saved task with a linked file, you can just click the link to open the file.

This app is definitely a good tool for someone who is into freelancing. If you have an Apple computer, iPod, or iPhone, you should download this app to help you get organized!

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Take that extra step

Everyone has a different style of learning. Some learn visually, while others learn best when they listen. There are also those who learn by doing.

Learners should take time to discover their learning style. There are activities available through various media that enable learners to determine their learning style. By determining the styles that suit them, learners can spend more time using those styles. In return, they can learn faster and gain better understanding about the topics that they are working on.

Instructors and course designers should also take time to analyze their target learners. Through conducting learner analysis, designers and instructors will be able to develop courses that would provide learners the best learning experience. By tailoring the course to meet the learners’ profile, there would be a greater possibility of having higher grades, faster learning pace, and positive feedback.

Analyzing learning styles can be an added step to the learning process; however, always keep in mind that it is better to add that extra step than have a course that doesn’t work.

Word count: 174

Murder by numbers

Last Sunday, my boyfriend was trying to setup a universal remote control that he wanted to use with their television. The remote control came with a manual, but it wasn’t really useful. The manual failed to use numbers correctly. The manual did not use any numbers to imply order in the steps. At the same time, the manual also had so many numbers listed as codes that the users should try to setup their remote control. Each brand listed has more than five codes. The users needed to try and see which one would work.

Numbers, like words, are also tools in communicating. When numbers are used correctly, they can enhance our documents. Numbers allow us to create and observe order. Numbers help us create a more obvious flow in our documents. We can see this when we use page numbers, numbered lists, and graphs.

Numbers are helpful in analysis. Numbers are called the language of business. Business people make their decisions based on what the numbers tell them. 

As technical communicators, we need more than using words. It would also be to our advantage if we learn how to effectively use numbers.

Word count: 194

The Full Meal Called Life

My favorite quote when I am stressed is "stressed is desserts spelled backwards".

We are almost near the end of our program and everything seems to be overwhelming. There are a lot of projects to be done. The thought of needing to get a job after also scares me at times. It is easy to get stressed and cry, but I shouldn't. 

What I learned about being in school for more than 10 years is that we should never let stress eat us up. The stress that we get in school can’t kill us. That is only true if we don’t think about it so much that it affects our mental health. I would say I am the type of person who thinks that stressors are hurdles that I can overcome; I just need to continue to run, and soon I will see the finish line.

We can also think of stress as desserts. Life is the full meal and stress is just something that makes life complete and interesting. When everything seems to tire you out, try reading the poem “Don’t quit". Here is a link to the poem
http://www.thedontquitpoem.com/thePoem.htm.

Take time to breathe, and read some inspirational poems to help you keep on going.

Word count: 206 words

More than words

Words are very powerful tools for communication. It is important for us to widen our vocabulary; however, we need to remember that we need more than just words to communicate.

When I was still in grade school I always thought that our teacher grades our English essays depending on the words that we use. I felt that my classmate who used non-colloquial words get higher grades than us who tend to use words that are commonly used by people in our grade level.

As I grow older, I realized that we needed to look at words differently. We need to look at words base on how it can be used to effectively communicate.

Here are the top two things that I am continuously learning as I communicate with more people.

1. Keep it simple.

As communicators, we should use words as means to get our ideas across. It should never be a way to separate the educated from those who’ve never been to schools.

2. Everything is connected.

What I learned is that we should always check how the words we use relate to each other. It should always make sense to our target audience. Similar to film, the juxtaposition of shots creates a lot of impact on how a viewer interprets the film.

It is easy to learn new words. We can check the dictionary or read books. However, learning how to use these words to communicate will always be a lifelong learning experience for all of us.

Goodbye old library

Do you like going to the library? Don't worry this won't be a blog post about shutdowns of library. Going to the library is still one of the best options if you are trying to research on something. However, the widespread use of the Internet and other digital devices certainly had an effect on the number of people who use the library. Now, you can buy books online and even just read the digital copy.

Libraries are not behind as far as technology goes. Libraries are transforming at the same time digital books take over the market for print copies. I browsed through the Winnipeg library website looking for resources that I can use for my report. Luckily, I found that the library also has numerous collections of digital books that we can loan without even going to a library. They have e-books and audio books.  

The transformation of our libraries will benefit a lot of us because it will give us access to resource materials even outside the libraries. The addition of audio books will also benefit those who are visually impaired. Libraries will remain to be a part of everyone's learning. It is nice to know that our public libraries are up-to-date with these new learning media.

Word count: 209