Pick a Gadget, Any Gadget

This blog is so great, you get to choose what the layout is.  What does that mean?  You get to choose where stuff is laid out on your blog.  You can also add "gadgets" to make your blog your own.  Below is an example of a layout.
Remember:  anytime you have a dark gray bar on the left side of something, that means you have the ability to move it up or down.  

Gadgets:   used to enhance their personal web experiences, or the web experiences of visitors to their personal sites. Ex: subscribe to blog, page views,  translator, share to social media, etc.  There are over 1,000 gadgets you could add.  

Add, remove, edit gadgets on your blog. Click and drag to rearrange gadgets. To change columns and widths, use the Template Designer.

Above is an example of a layout.  It's actually of my classroom blog.  Check out my next post to see how to change the layout format.

Enhancing Your Blog With Pages

Pages:  An example from my blog.

I use pages to help whomever visits my blog find everything they may need related to school in general and to my classroom.  You can add new pages and title them anything you want by clicking "New Page" at the top.  These pages option is found by clicking on the orange B(blogger button) in the top right corner of your blog.  Then clicking on the icon that looks like papers.  If you would like to see how I specifically use these pages and/or what info I put on them, check out my blog.  Just follow the link.  Once pages are created, you can change the order in which they appear by clicking on the gray bar on the left hand side of the page and just dragging it up or down into the position you choose.  Then "save arrangement" in the top right hand part of your blog.  

What Do They Mean By Overview?

Alrighty, an overview.  It's what makes you feel good!

New post:  allows you to write a new post

Overview:  allows you to see stats as far as total page views and other stats that make you feel good about yourself and the time you have put into the blog.

Your Blog!

So, you've now created a blog.  Congratulations and welcome to the 21st Century!  Glad to have you.  Well, now what? 



Once created, you will get a page that has the following on it.  You can click on start posting to begin.  The orange pencil button will do the same thing.  The pages button in the middle left will allow you to see all your posts (although at this moment you have none) Lastly, the view blog button will let you do just that and see what everyone else will see.  

The picture to the left are things that you will need when posting to your blog.
Labels: this allows you to tie keywords to your posts and let's people search your blog for what they need.
Schedule: allows you to set a time in which your post will be published on your blog. Ex: I schedule mine to post as soon as school gets out. Or you could write posts in advance and then choose when they are actually posted to your blog.
Permalink: Is the link in which to find the blog. You can customize this if you choose to something else. But why?
Location: You can add your location to your blog if you choose.
Options: Allows your readers to comment or not. It also has some other mumbo jumbo that you don't really need to worry about.


All the other buttons above your posts are similar to when creating documents in things such as word.

With the above buttons, you can add text, change the font, font color, font size and more.  The link button allows you to add links to websites.  I use the link button to post worksheets or things that I've used in the classroom.  It usually is linked to dropbox.com for worksheets.  The one to the right of link allows you to add pictures.  I usually use google pics to spice up my blog and/or reinforce something discussed that day in class.  

  The one that is like a movie director's sign will allow you to embed video directly into your blog.  It'll allow video's to be watched directly on the blog instead of going to another site.  Not all videos are able to be "embedded" though.  

  I think the rest are pretty self-explanatory and you have probably used at some point in your life.  

Let's Do This!

Now, you have the basic requirements, so let's make a B-L-O-G!  Aren't you excited?  I am!  Random fact, since I started my blog in October I have had almost 3,000 views.  That's only about 2,998 more than assign a day got in 5 years.  Last month alone I had over 400 views.  Someone is looking at it!  My time isn't being wasted and yours won't either if you use your blog, advertise it, push it, encourage it and UPDATE IT!

Alright, so now what.....Go to www.blogger.com and hit create a blog!

Above:

*Choose a title for your blog

*Choose an address on the web for your blog.

*Then choose a template (this can be changed anytime)

*Then click create blog!

**Note:  If your address is the same as someone else, you will have to choose another.

How to Get Started

So, now what?  You are here and wondering what the heck can we accomplish in 20 minutes?  Well, hopefully making a blog about making a blog will help!  So, these are some of the things that you will need to get started and be successful at doing what I'm doing with posting assignments and such.  You won't need all of it if you are looking to use the blog differently.

What you need to make the blog work:

*google account (mandatory)

*dropbox account (optional)

*scanner/scanning app (optional but recommended)

I like having a dropbox for various reasons to use along with my blog better than google drive or another type of site like it. If you want to know the reasons then ask. Otherwise, I won't waste your time.

I use the app called turboscan. It costs $1.99.  Best two bucks you will ever spend. Well, not really but close. It's available on iPhone only currently, but there are other options if you have an android phone, maybe Handy Scanner will work. It's free initially, try it and see if you like it.

What is a Blog?

blog

bläg/

noun

1. 1.

   a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis.

Well, now that we got that out of the way.....It is an easy way to update your students, parents, fans about what is going on in your classroom.  I have looked at creating web pages and have determined this to be much easier and geared towards what I'm trying to accomplish.