Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Blogging Bootcamp

I want to publicly thank my dear friend, teacher BFF, and other two peas half, Jen Jones, from Hello Literacy  for single-handedly launching me into the blogosphere. Jen has been encouraging me for well over a year to join her with so many of you in this amazing on-line virtual learning community. With her patience, tutoring and incredible support, I finally made the leap. What an incredible opportunity this is already proven to be by providing me the opportunity to  meet so many wonderful like-minded educators who are committed to best practice literacy instruction for our children. Gosh, what was I waiting for????  Just in case there were any of you out there who are following blogs and have been itching to start one. I wanted to share a little bit about my technology learning curve that took place this past week which we have now coined Blogging Bootcamp!



Blogging  bootcamp began when I packed up my bags, including with my laptop and ipad, and flew from California to North Carolina to move in with Jen and her family for the week. Her school  Lake Myra was still in session. Having heard so much about Jen's experiences supporting her staff, my first and foremost priority was to visit her school and meet all the wonderful students, teachers and administrators I have heard so much about. What a fantastic experience! There's nothing like a  North Carolina welcome. Check out the link above to Lake Myra if you want to know more about it. Here's just a sample of some of the anchor charts and student work I was able to see.








As you can see, the walls were teaming with anchor charts and colorful displays of student work. It was truly a magical place. I want to extend my thanks and gratitude to all the staff for welcoming to their wonderful school.

My week was a whirl-wind of to-dos. In five short days, I learned the ins and outs, how-to's, tips and tricks of how to start a blog and set up a Teachers Pay Teachers store. I thought it would be fun to share with you what was accomplished during my stay in order to get this blog up and running. Each night after work, Jen and I would collaborate on my blog design, import templates, graphics, fonts and gadgets to get mylifeasaliteracycoach up and running. Jen would then assign me a list of things to accomplish the following day, and I would set to work on my "homework assignment" and  in turn create a list of a bazillion questions. It was quite a collaborative exchange and learning experience for both of us.

So here's a short list of the tasks we accomplished to make this blog grow from a whisper of a dream to a reality...


All you need to know to get you blogging or Blogging Bootcamp 101
  • Set up a Pay Pal account and link it to my Teachers Pay Teachers store
  • Set up a membership at Teachers Pay Teachers
  • Selected a name for the blog and set it up through blogger.com
  • Set up a dropbox account
  • Downloaded dropbox to my computer
  • Downloaded Jing by Techsmith
  • Purchased clipart at Melonheadz (aren't they the cutest)
  • Purchased fonts at kevinandamanda.com
  • Downloaded Jen's fonts at helloliteracy (aren't they darling)
  • Downloaded Jen's borders at helloliteracy ( just adorable)
  • Purchased sets of borders from Mr. Magician (he was so nice & easy to work with)
  • Purchased the colorful alphabet for my blog header at Lettering Delights
  • Created the template for the blog
  • Created the banner 
  • Created follow me on TpT button
  • Created the hellotwopeas button
  • Signed up for bloglovin
  • Added the follow me on  bloglovin gadget
  • Added links to favorite authors 
  • Created first product (a list of on-line literacy resources)  for TpT
  • Created first thumbnail for first product 
  • Learned how to resize thumbnail (so it would be under 200 mb)
  • Wrote free product description and uploaded first freebie to TPT
  • Signed up for a Twitter account
  • Updated my google+ account 
  • Uploaded pictures from my phone to blog
  • Learned how to take a screen shot using my phone
  • Replied to comments
  • Followed other bloggers back on Bloglovin'
  • Set up a webpage with GoDaddy
  • Link my TpT store with GoDaddy
Good Luck and Happy Blogging!
Kathi





11 comments:

  1. Good luck with your new endevour! I love your list of things to do. I've been thinking of starting up a TPT store and your steps are really helpful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much. I hope I have helped you get a kick start.
      Kathi

      Delete
  2. Oh my gosh, you are amazing! You did all that?? In 5 days?
    I'm so thrilled to have another amazing literacy coach to learn from! Jen has been my go to girl for all things Common Core. My first stop when I needed an example, an answer, or clarification. What an amazing friend, too!

    I love your Two Peas in a Pod store and am following you on Bloglovin AND by email so I never miss a post! Ha!

    Best of luck to you and I can't wait to see all the wonderful things you share!

    Linda
    AroundtheKampfire

    ReplyDelete
  3. Linda,
    YOU are the one that is amazing. I have been a Tpt follower of yours for quite some time. YOU are so creative! I have a lot to learn from all of you who are so successful on TpT. Thanks for following along.
    Kathi

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just discovered your new blog through Jen's blog. Congratulations- I haven't been brave enough to try to tackle the blogging world yet. Sounds like you had a perfect tutoring session and learned lots. Can't wait to hear all the great ideas you have to share. I definitely will be following your blog. I'm from NC as well and hope I can attend the NC conference and Jen's session on Bootcamp Blogging. Thanks also for your first TpT freebie- can't wait to check out all of great links. Look forward to seeing more products from you soon. Come back to NC as often as you can!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your blog looks amazing! I'm now following you on Bloglovin and your TpT store. I'm looking forward to all that you have to share! I'm also new to blogging and it's so much work. I tip my hat off to you for all that you accomplished at the Blogging Bootcamp. We need one in Minneapolis! I'm trying to be patient, but mostly feel like pulling my hair out :) For now, I'll just try to calmly go through your checklist and see what I can get done.
    Thanks,

    Mai

    Diary of a Grumpy Teacher

    huynhmaip@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Kathi...do you see how many teachers you are reaching? And making a difference in the lives of teachers and students? Sooo proud of you! Keep it up!
    Jen❤

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love your blog! I've nominated you for a Liebster Award. Head over to my blog to check it out! :)

    Cathy

    www.mrswhitehead.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats on your own blog!! Can't wait to follow you :) Literacy coach is a dream job of mine. PS - Congrats on your award nomination :) Just found your blog through it. Cute! I'm your newest follower.

    Lauren
    The Sweetest Thing
    Follow me on Bloglovin'!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am following you on Bloglovin. Congratulations on your new blog! I've nominated you for the Liebster Award. Check out my blog at www.myflippedclassroom.blogspot.com

    Can't wait to read more of your posts!

    Jennifer :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Kathi,
    I just found your blog! It looks great!!I am exhausted after reading all that you did in this post! ha! I'd love you to stop over and follow mine if you get a chance!
    Carolyn
    Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together

    ReplyDelete