My New Friend, Canva

I have a new tech tool friend in Canva. I played around with Canva a little during the winter holiday break, but revisited it recently with a purpose in mind. I wanted to change my header for this blog, since my image of the bluebird really did not have a thing to do with "technology". Not to say that I don't like bird-watching, but knew it that it was a temporary image when I posted it. Canva allows users that are not as creative in designing a easy way to feel inspired. I was able to use one of their designs, add an old image I already had, and tweak it a bit. I think you need to give it a look. It is free to sign up and it amazingly easy to use. I am now happy to say good-bye to my sweet, little bluebird header! Hope you like the changes!
  bye now!

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Posted in blogger, canva, design, header, Tools

Another Smackdown

What is it about Smackdowns that draws me in? I like the rapid pace of sharing tech tools and new emerging technologies, but also that it gives you so many resources at one spot! This one is definitely one you don't want to miss. You will hear from host +Matt Gomez. +Sam Patterson, +Jon Samuelson, +Jeff Bradbury, and +Jeff Herb. Love the list of linked tools here.  The video podcast can be seen and heard on YouTube if you want to add it to your Playlist or Subscribe. By the way, if you are a Google Blogger, I am using my iPad app to write this post. It is my first try on the Blogger app. Anxious to see if it works!

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Posted in blogger, ipad, resources, smackdown, technology, Tools

Make a PDF or Book from your BLOG!

Teachers! This is such a great reason to create a CLASS BLOG next year. You can put the class blog into a PDF or Book as an EOY memoir to take home. Students also can download a PDF of their SCHOOL blogs that they posted during the year. I would make sure that they completed an EOY entry with a final reflecion of the school year and their choice of the most valuable learning. I found this from Richard Byrne’s great website. He has some great ideas that are easy to implement. If you have a blog, follow his steps to download it. I will be using Blogbooker for mine, since I use Blogger. Thank you Richard!

Free Technology for Teachers: Three Ways to Your Blog Into a Book

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Posted in Blog, blogger, Blogging, blogs, bookmaker, end of year, pdf

Learning More about Blogger

Wow, I managed to fit in some time today (Saturday) to preview the Getting Started guide with Blogger. What I discovered is that I already knew the basics and needed to by past that guide. There is a section that is called Blogger Help which was more where I was. I don't think that I am advanced at blogs, but do know a bit. I went through the more dynamic templates to see about changing mine for a more wider display, but after going through the entire choices of templates, I decided I preferred then one I had in the beginning, even though it is not as wide as I would like. I even played around with the HTML code to see if I could change the width, but I never managed to get it right. I was able to sort my layout and add a few other gadgets that was available. I want to try and put my Twitter feed on it, but the one available was not working. The one thing that my blog does not have is multiple pages. I am wondering what other page I would possibly need. Maybe I will view other blogs, to get some ideas. Now my next task will be to locate positive benefits from blogging. Until next post, see ya!

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Posted in blogger, Getting started, Guide, Help

Blogger, my first tool

I committed to learning a new tool each month, so my first most important tool I have decided to improve on is my blog. I experimented with blogging while teaching years ago in my classroom. But, much has changed and I want to become more proficient with Blogger since I will be using it to post my 10 tools for my challenge this year. I am using a template, which I thought would be best to learn. Now, I am wanting to make some design changes such as increasing the width however, the template limits you. That is so frustrating! I will not let that get the best of me. I located a Blogger Getting Started Guide and plan to go through that step by step. I hope you will like some of my changes. If anyone can suggest a way to override this template to increase the width, please leave a comment. Thanks. I hope to post some good articles on blogging in the classroom for my next post.

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Posted in blogger, Blogging, Challenge, Guide

New Year Goals (2013)

Wow, it's now 2013! Hope everyone has committed to some awesome goals for the New Year. I have several that I will accomplish this year. One is to be more consistent in posting to my blogs. In fact, this is my first attempt to take care of that resolution. I wanted to share a couple of my goals that I hope will bring me joy and improve my life. You know when you post your intentions on the web, it makes you more accountable, so here goes.

1. I was told about the "lpm" (Living Proof Ministries) blog from a teacher friend in Bridge City. This is the second year for the event for anyone who would like to jump on board and commit to memorizing 2 scriptures of your choice per month. You can read about the details and how you can register with your commitment on the LPM blog. Be sure to follow the instructions with your scripture's book, chapter, and verse.

2. Today, I read about an opportunity to improve my tech skills by committing to learn 10 new tools in 2013. It's called "Take the 10 Tools Challenge" from Jane Hart's blog called "Learning in the Social Workplace." Part of the requirement is to make a monthly post on a blog about your experiences with the new tool. (This will definitely help improve my blog posting commitment LOL) I hope to have other LCM teachers and staff join me in this challenge for 2013. I will post the tools on this blog and also add them on phale's 23 Tech Things blog too. Please visit these links to check on my progress.

3. I will not go into detail on my personal goals to eat healthy and exercise more. This, I'm sure is the most popular New Year's Resolutions every year and probably the one that is not fulfilled.

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Posted in 2013, blogger, Challenge, Living Proof Ministries, New Year's Goal, Resolution, Web Tools