Instructions For My Digital Notebook

When Michelle Heidenrich Barnes invited Liz Steinglass to Today's Little Ditty, an intriguing ditty challenge evolved. One of Liz's favorite poems, "Instructions for the Field", in her new book, Soccerverse, became the mentor text for the project.  For the writing challenge, each writer was asked to write a poem giving instructions to an inanimate object about how to do its job.

Since I am designing several digital galleries of artistic expressions, I decided to write a poem about an interactive digital notebook. My digital notebook in Google Docs is a companion piece to my poetry journals. It is my sacred space to record thoughts, add images, and create digital inspirations as a risk taker of thought. It is the place where I ponder, reflect, and "find my voice". Because it is an important part of my writing life, I have created templates for other writers to hone their writing skills during professional development.

Stage 1: Create the poem after many drafts in my digital notebook. 

Stage 2: Create a digital inspiration, an image poem, to add a different perspective.  I decided to change the name of the title and add one of my nature photos as a signature logo.

Digital Tools Used: 
Google Docs-Interactive Digital Notebook, Blogger, FotoJet, PicMonkey, iPhone, iPhotos, Preview

Question:
Do I keep the simple design in pink or the swirled background digital inspiration with the signature logo to submit to the challenge?

✎

Not only will I offer this post and poem to Michelle Heidenrich Barnes' challenge at her May 2019 Padlet but add it to the Tuesday Slice of Life at Two Writing Teachers.

My other blogs on digital design that I referred to when writing this post:

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/05/digital-design.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/08/digital-poetry-in-classroom.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/08/digital-expressions.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2016/08/crafting-digital-media_18.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2016/09/play-think-write-digitally.html

https://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2017/04/digioetry-is.html

March Musings 2018 #1: Embrace Hope

Writing is a daily practice, an opening of my heart to the whispers of my soul.  My writerly life is energized by what I see, what my mind imagines, and what my reactions are to life. Most of the time I am energized by the interaction of pen with paper. There are other times that I am stupefied why my words cannot be woven into articulate thoughts but determination, perseverance, and a measure of hope drive me to continue my journey. 

On the heels of the 6th Annual February Poem Project that I just completed, I am ready to take up the March SOLSC 18. My thoughts will switch between reflections in prose and poetic forms. Fearlessly, I hope to continue to hone my writing craft through daily writing.

"What a journey it has been and the end is not in sight."

from The Journey by Lea Salonga

As I start my new writing journey with Two Writing Teachers, I embrace hope, my 2018 one word, and look forward to connecting with established writing friends and making some new ones.

Day 1, Part 2 can be found here.

Discovery

In my attempt to clear a path this March and savor the single, simple moments of each day, I created a new look for this blog and for my Wonderopolis Wonder Lead Ambassador site. Actually, the computer issue disaster that I experienced earlier this month precipitated the move to create a new identity for Beyond LiteracyLink. 

With the Wonderopolis Wonder Ground launching tomorrow, I was asked to populate my site with content. Wondering what the digital visuals for both Beyond LiteracyLink and my Wonder Lead Ambassador site should be led me to discover the bigger picture of design and the details needed. 

Brainstorming Ideas On What I Vision a Site Should Look Like:

Clean, simple style showing a creative flair 

     with varied, engaging content to share-

     colors and fonts visually appealing

     digital compositions conveying meaning

     and multiple texts worth your reading

Why the Site Needs To Be All of the Above:
When creating a blog site, I feel that matching the site to your identity is key. For my Beyond LiteracyLink blog site, I challenged myself to design a clean, bright screen splashing color across a page, much like voice that rises from within and boldly announces its entry into the world. On some days my mood is quiet and reflective so muted, watercolor-like digital compositions suit me, but on other days a bold expressive approach is important. My Wonder Lead Ambassador site hopes to be a place for educators to find wonder and inspiration.

Reflection:
I feel that the new designs invite "voice" to make its entrance and be received by teacher and colleagues as learners across the world. I would love to hear your comments on whether the styles I chose are ones that capture my thoughts as they splash across a page. 

What Readers Can Discover at the Wonder Ground:
The Wonder Ground is a site to "help educators make the most of Wonderopolis" so the creative team is working diligently to prepare for the launch. They encourage teachers to log in and visit the wonders of Wonderopolis. Once the site goes live, teachers can share lesson plans, blogs, and resources with colleagues and students. The Wonder Ground will be a "valuable portal for educators everywhere" and provide the inspiration to continue to bring children into a world of wonder.

Digital literacy is alive and breathing life into lessons, learnings, and life daily. 

Be Inspired. Create!

Today, I am writing on the topic of discovery for DigiLit Sunday under the leadership of Margaret Simon. In my own journey of discovery, digitally creating meaningful content is important.

This post marks the twentieth one of my Clearing a Path series for the March SOLSC-Day 20. In this piece, I talk about creating new designs to bring a new look to my blog sites. 

Press On!

It was a long walk from one town to the next but the warmth of the sun on a mild winter day spurred me on. Persistence and stamina carried me straight through to the junior high school I taught at many years ago. I caught glimpse of a huge piece of artwork on the side of the building. As I approached, a slogan, Many colors, one country, stared right at me. Diversity defines the community but unification was the announced message. Would this beautiful piece of street art serve to be a signal to all that a body of students united can bring about change? Press on, I say. 

Upon reflection, persistence led me on. Each step brought me closer to my destination. Students also need to be persistent in order to succeed. I think that the artwork you see to the right was an act of artistic persistence. Now, it is a beautiful reminder to a community that many voices can be one, united in purpose. 

I digitalized the photo to the right with the app Walaxy to bring the energy of the artistry to a new level. I hope my composition exemplified the passion of the young artists.

Today is Poetry Friday and the delightful poet, Irene Latham, is showcasing the Poetry Friday Round-up here. 

Irene has been very busy lately since she launched her new book, Fresh Delicious: Poems from the Farmer's Market. My post, Admire, honoring her poetic soul can be accessed here.

Today's blog post marks the eleventh one of my Clearing a Path Series for the March SOLSC. My walk from my dentist's office to the next town allowed me to reminisce about the early days of teaching and find a new message to ponder. A path was cleared toward reflection while providing meaningful exercise. I feel in order to move forward one must fully engage mind, body, and spirit.

Please visit Two Writing Teachers here to read how other educators are capturing a slice of life today.