I will
admit it-I have kept a few blogs in my day. Usually these blogs were my ramblings
on pop culture, so nothing terribly serious. But, this past semester, I started
a blog on my growing understanding of composition and rhetoric as part of a
class assignment. Despite the dread that comes with being graded on your
personal thoughts, my blog became something else to me. It became a place to
become an active scholar in the field of composition and rhetoric, a field that
I once scoffed at. Throughout graduate school, that attitude changed into one
of enthusiasm. That is why I am really excited to continue my blogging
adventures this semester, but with a twist. This semester, I will be looking at
how literacy theory interacts with composition. But, changes to the content of
the blog means that I have to change the formatting of the blog.
The
first and biggest change that I made was the name of the blog. The name was
previously “The Grad Student Chronicles” since it focused at first on my
responses to assigned readings. But, I neglected to change the name once it
transitioned into discussing my work as a composition teacher. I knew that I
had to rectify that mistake for this semester. The blog’s new and better name
is “The Composition Chronicles”. I chose this name for two simple reasons. The
first reason is that “chronicles” brings to my mind a diary or a journal
without being so blatant. The second reason is that all of my previous,
present, and future blog entries are tied to composition. So, I figured I would
just have composition in the title, so visitors to my blog will not be confused
about the subject matter. I know that blog titles need to be truthful or you
will have angry blog readers on your hands!
I
decided to keep my blogging activity on Blogger for a multitude of reasons. I
have done almost all of my blogging activity on Blogger, so I am extremely familiar
with it. Blogger also allows someone who wants to keep his or her blog simple
(like myself) to do so with no pressure. But, Blogger also allows you to learn
more about the different templates, so you can make the blog the way that you
want it. I really appreciate the fact that Blogger allows you that flexibility
since I have to have a small learning curve in regards to aesthetics. I also
like the mobile app option so I can, if I need to, blog on the go with my iPad
about my studies with literacy theory. Blogger also does pretty well with
allowing me to place videos and pictures in my blog. These additions may not
look the best, but they are functional and help to make the material more
accessible for the modern blog reader. Finally, I wanted to keep all of my previous
blog entries because they still have the subject matter of composition. Why
delete them when they are still relevant?
As
previously stated, I like to keep my blog simple. Too many frills would
ultimately lead to my own confusion, and if I am confused, then my readers will
be confused, which isn’t good. I would also worry about being able to update it
all the time. So, in regards to the theme, I decided to just tweak the theme
that I had already had. This theme, Simple, is the basic theme available on
Blogger but you can modify it to your heart’s content. My major changes
involved adding two columns (one on each side) and adding two more gadgets,
Labels and Favorite Links. The Labels gadget allows new readers of my blog to
see common trends in my content. The Favorite Links gadget is a handy tool that
allows me to highlight my favorite sites that may also interest my readers.
These gadgets and columns also go with my theme of making things simple. After
all, I am going to be discussing some heady stuff, so I need to make accessing
my content an easy and painless process. I have also changed the color to red.
Red also seems to bring up emotions like passion and excitement. Since I am passionate
and excited about sharing my love for composition and rhetoric, I figured it
would be a natural fit. Red also allows for the white font to stand out and be
easier to read. I also decided to do a minimal background design that wouldn’t
be distracting but still eye-catching.
In
order to continue this mission of keeping it simple, I have decided to not tab.
On the same page, I have also decided to only have one page. I have already
mentioned my concerns of being confused and tabbing would just be too
problematic right now. I am not opposed to it, but I don’t see the purpose for
it if I am just blogging. If I were to add a page about teaching or my CV in
the future, I would definitely have to have it.
Looking
through my decisions in updating my blog, one thing stands out: simplicity. I
want my blog to be simple. Now, some may see that as laziness. After all,
Blogger has so many cool options, so why should one stick with the basic theme?
But, I do the simple theme because I want my words to be the standout feature
of my blog, not some cool template. I think that goes along with my strong
written literacy and my weaker graphic literacy. But, as I continue to become
more literate with graphics, my blog can change. I also notice how important my
21st century literacy skills are to this blog. Not only do I mention
being excited about having new entries and media on my blog, but I also mention
the potential of using the app. Obviously, I feel extremely comfortable with
this skill set or else I wouldn’t mention it. But, I also prove with the
changes that I made to my previous blog that I am constantly improving my
literacy skills. This blog entry is only the beginning of my journey into
understanding literacy theory. Join me, won’t you?
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