The thing I simultaneously get the most joy and experience the most frustration from in the process of creating my ePortfolio is playing with my website’s settings. I am using WordPress, a platform that I don’t have a lot of experience working with. There is a rush of exhilaration when I figure out how to make something work. That is what keeps me motivated to continue working with it. I’m like that golfer who can shoot an infuriating 120 on a par 72 golf course, but will come back the very next weekend to plunk down 60 more bucks for another green fee because he sank one impressive putt. The majority of my time working with the platform features me pulling my hair and gnashing my teeth with an occasional celebratory fist pump.
I’m even less certain about the content of my posts. When trying to reflect on and write about my own learning, I search for themes to express and narratives to impart, and it usually just winds up reading like a mishmash of disjointed ideas. But then I can turn my attention to customizing my site in WordPress or scouring Google images for the perfect graphic to accompany a post, and for a minute, I’m distracted, entertained, and the sense of not knowing what the hell I’m doing abates. Exhale.
Viewing my extremely talented team members’ sites is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, each of their sites have numerous characteristics that inspire in me great ideas for how I might incorporate them into my site; on the other hand, they are difficult to measure up to. April’s is super clean, easy to read, and she makes use of design technique in which one image scrolls on top of anther to create a layered effect. Very impressive. Michael’s is extremely rich in content and does an amazing job showcasing the work of his students. Chad’s is fun in a slightly quirky kind of way. He uses graphics expertly and is a talented writer. His blog page keeps going and going. I have lots to envy and learn from these teammates.
Learning That Fits 