Reflection #1 : The Birth of a Blog

So, 3 days ago we kicked off our first official lesson in Pedagogy in Education by learning how to set up our own blogs. It is intended to be an e-portfolio. A definite first for many of us including myself. In our blogs, my classmates and I are required to do write ups on our personal reflections on our classes each week - 9 in total. I'll be the first to admit I did find it a tad bit overwhelming as I'd never come across an assignment like this before so far in my course. I had never been much of a writer so I thought it would be a little challenging for me to produce good posts. Nevertheless, I know this is definitely a good practice for me as a future educator to constantly be an active thinker and be bold to express my opinions. Sooner or later, like it or not, this was bound to happen. On the bright side, it's finally time to face the writing phobia that seems to haunt most of us. No better time like the present, right ? :)

Setting up a blog seemed like child's play compared to actually writing the posts. So my friends and I were pretty optimistic about getting it done in a jiffy. Little did we know, that it was actually way easier said than done. The entire process of creating our blog (including downloading Windows Live Writer) took approximately 1 and a half hours long! I kid you not. The gods of technology just didn't seem to be in our favour that day. Despite being in such a high tech class (Uniec Virtual Lab) and using such cutting edge technology like our Lenovo Yoga Tablets, we ironically found ourselves plunged in technological misery. We had to face some rather unfortunate technical problems during the process of setting up our blogs. Pop out windows never seemed to end. Passwords for email accounts were rudely refused. Privacy settings demanded our meticulous attention. What seemed to work for others, unfairly did not for some. It took all we had to keep our sanity in check.

 *please let it work, please let it work (inserts praying emoji here)

Yeah Sherenne, we totally feel you :p

Fortunately, our lecturer, Madam Ng found a way to give us solutions to the problems we encountered. Since most of us had similar problems, we were all actively moving about the class trying to help our our friends once we learned the method to all the madness. 'Monkey see, monkey do' seemed to be our motto for that day. In hindsight, it was actually  a really easy and straight-forward process....provided you knew all the computer tricks :p Oh well, now you know who to turn to anytime you need a hand in setting up your own blog. After what my classmates and I went through, we're so expert we could probably host a class all about it. (don't worry it will definitely be way less than the 1 and 1/2 hours we took)

Word, bro

Jokes aside, I'd prefer to think of this experience as a stepping stone in our progress to teaching. In the education world especially, there will definitely be a lot more new challenges that we face everyday and we all are bound to make mistakes. However, what's important is that we learn from those mistakes and challenges and try to impart whatever we have learnt on  to others. Sharing is caring after all :) 

This class also gave us a chance to learn a thing or two about patience. As future educators, we have to brace ourselves for a whole lot of stressful moments and frustrating problems. We can't decide what happens to us, but we can decide how we react to it. I think patience is one of the most important assets a teacher should have. Good things come to those who wait. We should also always learn to make the best out of the worst situations. Admist all the complaining and grunting, I found that I actually got a chance to bond more with my classmates and make new friends. Common sources of frustrations seem to work wonders on unity. Sharing the joy and utmost relief once the whole blog process was finally over with them, was without a doubt, my favourite part of the day. 

Looking forward to see you guys next week and hear your reflections as well! :)