Weekly Summary-Week 1-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
The first week of school is always a toss-up. Sometimes, classes take it easy, and the first class or two is just syllabus reading and introductory information. In other classes, teachers jump right in, sometimes even having a quiz the next class! For DS106, I would say that it’s a mix of the two, there were some highs and some lows, and as many easy actions as frustrating feats.
Monday
Monday is the day that I created all of the various social media accounts, except for my Google Account, which I already had. Before this class, I never used any personal social media accounts, even though I visited Twitter and Instagram frequently. I did need to create my YouTube channel, which took just a few clicks through my Google Account. Creating all of the accounts was quite easy. I suppose if it was too difficult, the platforms wouldn’t be as popular or used by all ages of people. I made my Twitter and Instagram accounts have the same username (FCMaisano), which makes it easier for me to remember and others to find. Both my Google Account and SoundCloud have “Francesca Maisano” as the username. I also created my domain on Monday, which was also easier than I thought it would be. I chose my name to be my domain, as that is something that is not class-specific and something that I probably won’t regret doing. It’s francescamaisano.com.
Funny story-my friend sent me a text I don’t even think 10 minutes after I made my Instagram account saying that she was surprised that I made an Instagram, and that she was my first follower. I hadn’t told anybody about my accounts yet! Apparently, Instagram told her that I made an account, as I am in her contacts. I’m still not sure how that works, but we’re following each other now!
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I actually got up the courage and creativity to actually post to my accounts. As I never had social media before, it was a new experience for me, and I wanted to make sure that what I posted I wouldn’t look back on and wonder what I was thinking! Twitter and Instagram were fairly easy, as it was just saying hi on Twitter and posting a simple picture on Instagram. YouTube, on the other hand, was not. I didn’t want to post just me in front of the camera, as I have never done a video like that before and wasn’t sure how it would turn out, with just my computer camera, bad lightning, and inexperience in front of the camera. I wanted to include pictures and things that represent me, so I went with a voice-over video. I used Audacity, which is a program that I have used in school for many years, and the video function on the Photos app on Windows, since Windows got rid of Movie Maker. I used pictures I had of my pets on my phone and pictures I took that day of UMW. I also found pictures on Google that were “labeled for reuse with modification”. I was very careful to check each picture for its original source, and cite it in the video description. I didn’t want to get copyright claimed! Making the video wasn’t too frustrating. The biggest issue was getting an audio take I liked then syncing up the pictures. After ,I said my hello on SoundCloud afterwards, which was also not difficult and was an easy way to end the introductory posts. It helped that I already made basically an audio post already on YouTube, just with pictures and a video added there. Finally, I also joined Slack. I wasn’t able to do it the day before, for whatever reason, but with the link Professor Bond sent out on Tuesday, I was able to do so.
Hello DS106 classmates! I'm excited for this class and to get to know all of you! #ds106
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) August 28, 2018
Now, after all of the introductory posts I made, I made my first WordPress subdomain post. Creating the subdomain also was easier than I thought it would be. It was also easier than I thought it would be to create the first post and embed the other social media posts. What was really frustrating to me was trying to use the categories and tags, and edit the front page of my subdomain. I’m not technology-inept, but it definitely felt like I was! It drove me crazy! Adjusting the initial theme and set-up for my use was far harder than I thought it should be, though that it probably just my inexperience talking. After deleting categories, adding categories, renaming categories, and making many mistakes in the process, I have gotten it to where I’m okay with it.
The last thing I did on Friday was make my first Daily Create on Tuesday. I spent a bit of time on thinking about my short scary story, and then posted it to Twitter. Again, using Twitter is easier than I thought it would be.
As I lay in bed, I see in the moonlight a white glint on my desk. Horror fills my body. Oh No! My credit card bill! Was it due today? The brightness mocks me as my clock quietly ticks away, reminding me of the passing moments that might cost me. @ds106dc #tdc2421 #ds106
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) August 29, 2018
Wednesday
On Wednesday, I made my second post on this site, talking about the theme of this class. The making and editing of the post was quite straightforward.
I also made my second Daily Create. I found posting a picture, as well as using a caption on Twitter, just as easy as just simply typing something out.
I am the Blanketed Crusader! Now, where's my mask… @ds106dc #tdc2422 #ds106 pic.twitter.com/aMq1cc0cRE
— Francesca Maisano (@FCMaisano) August 30, 2018
Thursday
I had some frustrations on Thursday. I didn’t post anything on Daily Create or this subdomain. A huge reasons was because I couldn’t access this subdomain. I could access my main domain, and my subdomain popped up when I googled it, but when I clicked on it in Google or typed the URL in, it said the IP address could not be found. I tried looking on WordPress support, but I couldn’t find my specific problem nor the answer to it. I had to email Professor Bond to see if he could help. At the end of the day, I went to bed just hoping that it would work the next day.
Friday
On Friday, I woke up and checked my email to see if Professor Bond mad responded again. He did, and said that I should be able to access it now. Sure enough, it was (and still is) working again. I don’t know what was wrong or how it was fixed. I am just glad that it is working! What I did Friday was write this blog post and go back and fix alink on my Social Media post. I put down for my SoundCloud link my SoundCloud home page(?) instead of the link to my first post, so I just wanted to fix that before I added any more posts to SoundCloud.
This week has been a good learning experience for me. I feel more comfortable with using the different platforms, even if I do need to do some more experimentation with them. I also feel more comfortable with this class and what it expects. I have also found that I like to write longer blog posts, like the one I posted on Wednesday and this one! It’s enjoyable for me to write, especially when it is on a subject I like, like folklore, or something easy to talk about, like my week in review. Hopefully this is as easy to read as it was for me to talk about! I am quiet in-person, but apparently quite talkative on paper!
Overall, I enjoyed this week, and I look forward to seeing what next week brings!
About The Author
