Blogging Tutorial 101





De Anza High School

Today marked another big milestone on my   long road to Columbia University. I, along with  about ten other ILCers gathered together in the computer lab of De Anza High School to take part in a tutorial on blogging and a few other key elements we would need to know for the trip.

The day did not start off exactly how most of us would have wanted it to, sadly. Right from the beginning we had trouble with the internet access at the school. None of us could get connection to the Wi-Fi. Worse of all was that many of us could also not get the Ethernet connection to work with our laptops.  Consequently, after almost thirty minutes of failed attempts to get the internet access to work for our laptops, the majority of us were forced to use the slow, out dated school computers.

Once our technical problems were semi-resolved, Don  began with many important details about blogging, including the all essential do's and do not do's. Various pictures and few grammatical errors are a great way to help create a good blog. Aside from tips on what to write about, Don also gave us a very detailed and informative presentation on the proper form for the blog post, including: correct font size, spacing and format. We were also taught how to add both images and videos to make our post look even better and interesting. The one thing that was most emphasized was that we should always double check our final work. I very much agree with this because it is something that should always be done to ensure the most professional looking work as possible. 

 

After, Don began giving us an informative lesson on photography. He discussed why a camera, even the simplest point-and-shoot camera, has a much better lens than that of a normal phone camera.  Therefore, a picture taken with a camera will be much better than one taken with a phone. It is the reason why some cameras can cost more than $10,000 while a phone can average from free- $200. Next he discussed with us some of the basic organizations techniques for our photos, files, documents etc. I found these to be very helpful considering the amount of photos and documents, considering the amount we will probably be keeping on our laptops when we head back east. Don also taught us some photo editing tricks in order to get an outstanding looking image, such as cropping and photo image resolution. 


Everyone hard at work improving their blogging skills

With new invigorating knowledge about blogging and photography, Don gave us all the assignment of creating a practice blog post. Before this tutorial I had no idea of how to make a nice, professional looking blog post. However, after attending the tutorial session, I found myself knowing exactly what and how to do the key things for creating a good blog post.

 

Towards the end, Don began going over some the key events that would be coming up in the next couple of weeks, including: dinners, city council meetings and school board meetings. He also addressed what would be expected of each of us at those events. Lastly he talked about some of the things we would need to pack for our trip. He handed out a very detailed checklist (which I found extremely useful) for all of us to get the basic idea of what we would and would not need. Some of the items, we were told, we could buy once at our respective schools. Along with that Don also explained that he could loan out many of the items on the checklist. Along with a pack list, he also said there were going to be things that we would need to practice for, such as doing laundry or learning to use the programs on our laptops. Thankfully for me I have, slowly through the years, gained much practice with doing laundry.  

 

Enjoying every minute of blogging practice

After attending this tutorial I felt more confident in my blogging skills as well as my photography skills. When I first walked through the computer lab doors at De Anza High School, I had absolutely no idea how to do half of the things Don taught us all. I really learned a lot by attending this tutorial and found it to be an extremely educational experience. Throughout the entire tutorial, with each new topic, the thoughts of all the possible adventures  that are soon to be had began coming to my mind. New York is a very large and incredible  place to visit. With countless landmarks and sites,  I  am fully sure that will never run out of material to take photos of nor stories to be told. This idea makes my mind race and my excitement elevate to the point where I can not wait until the day I leave for Columbia and officially begin one of the greatest adventures I will ever have in my life.