How to Get The New Blogs You're Following to Show Up on Your Blog

Have you started following new people and blogs this summer?

 I know that with all the different rafflecopters and contests, I have started to follow a lot of fun people. But I need to take this one step farther and change the setting on my blog to show which blogs I've just added. 

Once I've changed that setting, their new posts will show up on my blog so I can go and check them out! 

Would you like to know how to do this? I know I have forgotten to do this and I suspect that some of you have too. 

So here are the steps that I follow to do this.  . . (if you have a better way, I'd love to hear about it!)

Go to your main screen in Blogger. Click on the words LAY OUT on the left hand side.

Find the words MY BLOG LIST and click on that.

Click the words MOST RECENTLY UPDATED.

Click ADD TO LIST.

Be sure the circle is filled in that says BLOGS I'M FOLLOWING.

Now in this spot you have some choices. Think about what you want to show on your blog. Do you want all the blogs to show that you follow or do you just want your favorites? 

If you want to have ALL of them show up, click the words ALL. If you want NONE of them to show up, go ahead and click NONE. (but then YOU will never be able to see the new things that others are posting!)

If you want to hand pick the ones that you want to show up, you can individually check each box beside the name of the blogs you want to show up. 

Now you are almost done. 

Click the word ADD.

And then finally, click SAVE!

That's it! Now you have a new and updated list of blogs that you like to follow or that you have just signed up to follow. 

That's pretty easy isn't it? Now each time you open your blog, you will see all of your new friends each time they post a message. How fun is that?

And just for fun and to make this post a little less technical and a little more homey. .. this is my daughter and I when we visited South Haven, Michigan this week. South Haven is on Lake Michigan and is oh so breath takingly beautiful!

 So is my daughter (I'm not biased or anything!) 

She lives in Houston and teaches in Pasadena. 

I had to take her back 

to the airport last night. (boo hoo!) 

However, on Sunday we are driving with her husband back to Houston for some extra time with them. 

So I'm not really that sad . .. yet!

Thanks for stopping by!

Patty

Yucky Word Verifications!

Do you hate those Word Verifications?

I do!

I get that they keep some predators out, but mainly they are a nusiance!

If you'd like to get rid of them, go to see Alyce at Blossom Heart

She has some great step by step directions on how to remove that from your blog.

She even has pictures too.

Gotta love pictures!



Patty

Help a friend reach 100! and Win!

Now that I have felt the love of reaching 100 followers, I'd like to help another friend reach that level of love! Go to visit Michelle at  Our Sweet Success

And while you're at it, take a look at Second Grade Sparkle She is looking for some new followers too. I just fixed this, because I noticed it wasn't working . .. now it is!

It's crazy at this time of year isn't it? I feel so scatterbrained and wonder if others are noticing it? You all know what I'm talking about. We think things are going smoothly and you take a minute to breathe, and then you realize you are way behind because there was something else you were suppose to do by a certain date! YIKES!

I have the best class possible this year. . . (even though lately, they are choosing to be more chatty than I've ever heard them!) and yet, I'm still doing the countdown to the end of the year. Not actually doing it, but I know that it's there!

And the class that is coming up next year, could be a nightmare  the reason I should retire THIS year. . . But I won't. I love this profession so much. . I'm here for a while longer!

But hey, tomorrow's Friday. . .Let it be shouted from the mountain tops. . . . . 

I love Fridays!!!! 

Patty

100 + more new blogs

I made it! I reached 100. .  in fact I'm over 100. Do you remember how that feels? All of you who are sitting at numbers so much higher than me?

It is exuberation! (is that a word?)

It's accomplishment! (Well I did work hard at finding all of you!)

It is worth telling you about so you can go find someone else who is needing this same feeling.

I have found some other blogs who would love to have you as a friend. Please stop in and visit them. And if you do add their blog to your list, please remember to update your blogs you follow so their name shows up when they post new messages. That IS how we see who to check out.

Here are some that you might be interested in:

Sandra at Classroom Companion
Ashley at live to learn
Kelley at Teacher Idea Factory
Jill at Tales From Second

Ok Friends, Let's share the love on this Wednesday in May!

Patty

blog help and a BABY on the way!

I still feel very new to this, BUT with the help of many others and some very good tutorials, I have been able to learn much more about cutsifying my blog. I went to Shabbyblogs.com for some free things. . . and ya all know we love free! I listened to her advice on how to change my header. . . and thus, I have something new to share! She advises going to Foto Flexer to add your photos. It was so very clear and easy to do. . . Thanks so much Shabby Blogs!

Whew! The report cards are done. . . and while they are on the computer in a program called Data Director, they still require a lot of assessments and checking ahead of time before I can enter all of the data. We have our report cards lined up with the common core standards which means a lot more things have to be checked and accounted for. It's much more informative, but it's a pain. . . thank goodness it's only 3 times a year since we are on trimesters.

I think I have shared this before, but my husband and I will be grandparents for the first time in early June. Perfect timing for teachers, (which our son and daughter-in-law are) except that we are in school until June 14th. . . I can see already that those last two weeks will feel really long when I would rather be holding that baby!!! I thought I'd share a picture of her with you. Each week she posts this on FB and changes the numbers to coordinate with the week. It's been a big hit with our friends and family.

I hope to make some more fun activities this week. But for now, I'm going to get my Easter decorations up in my home and enjoy this nice weather.

Hit counter for your blog

Would you like to add a counter to your blog?

 Would you like it to be free and easy to do?

Well, follow this link and it's as easy as pie! Plus you can choose many different styles to fit your STYLE!

Once you fill out the information, go to your layout. Click on the gadget where you want the counter to be. Go to the add html/java script spot and click on this. Add the code to the body of the box. . . . and wa la! you have a counter!

There are many other different free counters. All you need to do is google it and you'll find others that might appeal to you more than this one.


Patty

Blog Manners and a Valentine Freebie

I had some concerns about what was allowable and acceptable on blogs and I put the question out there. Teri from Mrs. Cupcake shared a link with me that I found very helpful. You can click on this link: blogging manners to see if you learn something new. This is from Lindsey at The Teacher's Wife. Inside this link Lindsey also sends you to another tip on blogging.  "Jen at Finally in First did a great post about Linky Party Etiquette  "  If you're new then I suggest you read these.  I had no idea and I'm glad that I found this resource. I don't want to be booted off here for doing something that is frowned upon. Thanks Teri for helping me out!

Now if you're like me, you may have spent the last couple days putting away Valentine's decorations and setting up St. Patrick's Day stuff (named after me of course. . . . St. Patty's day!!  bahahahahaha!) Well I have a freebie to share with you for Valentines. I'm sorry it's late, but my week has been busy, filled, extremely fun, but left me with no extra time to blog much.

These are Knock Knock jokes that I put on student's lockers. (I even think the older kids would get a giggle out of them too!) Copy off all the hearts, laminate them, then tape them together at the top so they see the Knock Knock colored part on the outside, but when they lift it up, the black and white part has the answer. Kids love jokes and what a great way to practice reading. It also shows you who your brighter kids are, since they are the ones who "GET" the joke part of it!

Click here for Valentine jokes

If you're LUVIN this freebie, let me know. I enjoy seeing my neighbors and meeting new friends.