Sunday, February 24, 2013

FREE PHOTO CARDS, PLACE VALUE, & BLOGGING TIP




Busy, busy weekend! So much to do.......
and it's already Sunday! Yikes! I'm spending entirely too much time on blogging and creating, that I'm not getting anything else done that I should be. But....oh well, I'm having fun! I say that I need to figure out a way to manage my time more wisely, but yea right?....That never happens, cause I always seem to find more things to do!

So before I give you your Sunday Blogging Tip......I will share my two freebies with you that have been tying up my time this weekend! 




 This was a quicky creation, but was much needed in my classroom, and has been on my to-do list! I teach a multi-level classroom, grades 1-5, and my two fifth graders are really struggling with place value. I will laminate this on cardstock and use a dry-erase marker to write in numbers so that these students can practice daily. 


You can get it at Math Monday Blog Hop or {here}.




This is the creation that took up so much of my time, but I am very happy with the ending results. I'm not completely satisfied with the cover, but it is the content that counts!! I have searched everywhere for photo cards to teach my beginning language kids two word labeling and have not been able to find what I need! So in the blogging world, I've learned........

If you can't find it.....create it!!! RIGHT?
So, I did just that! And they are just what I was looking for! 

When teaching kids beginning language, we teach them ball, cake, jet, dog, shoes, ice cream, cat, hat, soup, etc. and that's what we are supposed to do, but once they master one word labeling, we must then begin to teach them two word labeling. 

Ex. Rather than cake, teach them to label white or chocolate cake.
Rather than ball, teach them basketball, soccer ball, and football.
Rather than shoes, teach them boots and tennis shoes. 

You get the jist! With these photo cards, you can teach your students to differentiate between 42 different categories. There are  3 photo cards included for each category.
Classroom freebies




Now, for "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays".........

Today's tip will be how to add "Labels" to your blog! For the longest time, I saw this on other blogs and never knew how to do it! Now that I know, I will show you! Labels are much like an index. It makes it very easy for your readers to see the content of your blog and allow them to easily find what they are looking for.  


To Create Your Labels:

Step 1: After you write your post, click on "Labels." You will see it to the right of your post under "Post settings" as you see here>>

Step 2: Type in keywords to describe your post (e.g. Linky Party, giveaway, freebie, Currently, Addition, Fractions, St. Patrick's Day, etc.). Separate each with a comma. 

Step 3: Click done, then publish your post. 

That's it.....you're done!!

**Blogger will automatically store the labels you have used so that for future posts including the same labels, you will only have to click on them and will not have to type them in every time. 

**NOW.....this happened to me. If you notice that your labels are appearing underneath your post, but are not appearing in your sidebar labels, you will need to do this. 


Step 4: Click on the edit tool icon below your labels on your live blog page, or go to the "layout" of your blog design and click edit from there. The "configure labels" screen below will appear like the one below. Deselect "selected labels" by selecting "all labels." All of your labels will now automatically appear in your labels on your sidebar. 

Step 5: Optional--You can also choose from this window how you want your labels to look. You can choose "list" or "cloud," "alphabetically" or "by frequency," and whether you want to show the number of posts by each label. 




If you don't have the labels gadget in your sidebar, this is how you can add it. Go to:
>design (in the top right corner of your blog)
>layout (left sidebar)
>add a gadget

When the "add a gadget" screen appears, scroll down to labels. Click on it and add. 

Give it a title, and click save. 

You can hold down your cursor and drag the labels gadget where you want it positioned in your sidebar. 


I will be out of my class four days next week and be MIA! Yes, 4 days! I'm a little worried about that! I shouldn't be, because I have two fabulous aides and a great substitute coming in, but I just hate being away that many days! It should be worth it though......I'm attending a 4-day hands-on Autism training in Las Vegas. I am hoping to learn lots to bring back and share!  

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7 comments:

  1. I'm a "budding blogger" and I'm loving your tips! I was wondering how to do labels. Thank you for sharing your tips and tricks with us! I'll check back often.

    Heather
    All the Dots

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Heather, glad to hear you found my blogging tips useful and hopefully you have "LABELS" now. Let me know if you run into any troubles. Welcome to blogging!

      ~Traci

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  2. I'm so excited I found your blog! I'm a K-2 SPED teacher and I LOVE finding other SPED blogs! Thanks for the photo classifying cards, I have a couple kids who could really benefit from these :)

    Lisa
    The Lower Elementary Cottage

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so excited that other students can benefit from these photo cards!! And happy to find another SPED blog too!

      ~Traci

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  3. A custom photo cards from RUVAcards is the perfect way to celebrate a holiday or any special occasion.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am a recent subscriber to your blog and I love what I've read and seen. I do have one question. I just downloaded your place value chart and I love how it is color coded-it does make it stand out. I do have a question-is there any way to get it without all the squiggly border? My students would find that distracting. I find that a lot of teachers tend to add borders, etc that make the product "look nice", but it very distracting for some students. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cynthia, I have the new chart ready for you without the border! What is your email so I can send it to you?

      Delete

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