0 Some Helpful Links for Blogging

I am posting some links below for those of you that want/need more help with your blogs.  I especially like the blog post that contains the "10 Writing Tips All Bloggers must Adhere to."  I am not the only one who cares about spelling and grammar, please take some time to check out the links below.

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/successful%20blog

• Spice Up Your Blog's Guest Post by Ken Myers, "10 Writing Tips All Bloggers Must Adhere to."

• Blogger Buster offers a free e-book on Blogging Basics.  You can download it right into your Google Docs account.  Check the table of contents first to see what you want to know.

• It is pretty neat to see who and how many people are viweing your blog.  Check out some of the gadgets below, that you can add to your blog!  (At least one is required as part of your blog design grade)

                 Cluster Maps -*Make sure you follow directions on the page to put on your blog!

                 Hit Counter -Show off your page hits count with the simple counter to count the number of page views of your profile or any web page. (* Copy & Paste code into the HTML Gadget on your Blogger Layout)

                Page Hits- Show off your page hits count with the simple counter. It remembers the URL of the page that contains it and starts displaying number of page views immediately.

               Visit Counter - Simple Black and White Counter.  Copy & Paste the code into the html gadget on your blogger layout.

0 Blog Links

Click Here and paste in your URL

0 Creating Your "About Me"

Hello 7th graders! I'm sorry I am missing you today.  Please follow the directions of Mr. Frazier and below.  You are creating your "About Me" section on your blog.  When you finish you will have a few options to start planning the creation of your blog and your first post.

• Log in to Google Apps
• Take out the packet I gave you during class one and go to the About Me example
• Follow the directions on this page to create an "About Me" that speaks to your readers.  Use humor and creativity.  Show how interesting of a person you are! Make sure to break each section up like the example, because that is how it will be pasted into Blogger. Do not use your last name or personal info like addresses please.

Here are some examples of the "About Me" section

Christo's Blog

Iheart Organizing Blog

http://blogs.goaj.org/gamekid/about-2/

http://lauren2110gs.edublogs.org/about-me/

http://jadensawesomeblog.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html

http://www.blogger.com/profile/02403934389697665281

When you are done, please be sure to drag and drop this doc into your tech folder so I can give you credit for it.

Next, I would like you to either watch some of the blogger videos below, or take a packet on creating your first blog post. I want you to start brainstorming ideas for your first post.  

Find images you like and save them to your P-Drive (save links to a Google Doc) Figure out what your blog will be called and what it will be about. Do research, check out other blogs, Google Blog Search Click Here- start planning your blog. I want you ready to create after the quiz next week! Stick a post it to the back board with any questions you have for me.

Have a great weekend!!

Video Links Below:

How to Create a Blog

Creating A Blog Tutorial

Writing and Publishing Your First Blog Post

0 What is a Blog?

Blog Links and Blog Search

"Zoe's Blog"

"About Me Examples"

0 Blogs to Check Out

Please explore a variety of blogs to get ideas for creating your own. Pay attention to the design, the topic, and images.  What do you like or dislike.  Please take your time looking at each one. Take the links below to see the lists!

List of  Student Blogs Click Here!!

List of all 2012-2013 blogs

Click Here to see a list of other cool blogs around the internet!

0 Email Activator

image source: techcrunch.com

Today, I am having my 7th graders take a link to Padlet (formally Wall Wisher) to complete an activator in preparation for their school email accounts.

7th Grade please click here

I will have them post to the wall to answer the following questions;

1.) The last time you used email, what did you use it for?

2.) What should an email in school sound like & look like?

0 Google Demo Slam: Epic Docs Animation

Since my seventh graders will be logging in to their School Google accounts for the first time this year I thought this video would be a great activator to get them excited about Google.  It's yet another example of the amazing things you can do with Google Docs!