Shark Week

Most teachers know that kids learn better when they are engaged and excited about what they are studying.  A group of teacher bloggers came together this week to help your students take a BITE out of learning by celebrating SHARK WEEK!

I put together a freebie for you called "My Pet Shark..." It's a simple flip type book that gives the students a fun way to write about what they are learning about sharks.  This activity is variable so you can use it with younger as well as older students.  I have included 2 cover styles, and mixture of pages to choose from.

I printed my example copy with #Astrobrite paper.  I just love how it turned out!

Be sure to go for a swim and visit MRS. O Knows's Blog.  She has an amazing freebie for you too!

Every blog in the Shark Week Blog Hop features a jawesome freebie for you and your students- but hurry! Shark Week only lasts until Sunday, July 12  : )

An InLinkz Link-up

Bloglovin' for Teacher Bloggers

Are you new to Blogging, or aren't sure what Bloglovin' is?   You've come to the right place.

In 2013,  Bloglovin' took the place of Google Reader (A Blogspot feature).  If you didn't have Google Reader, you probably don't know what you're missing.  Google Reader gave Bloggers a way to follow each other, and be able to read posts via email.  It was a pretty cool tool because you could see at a glance what was new.

Bloglovin' is a FREE service that allows Bloggers to FOLLOW you!   It's a great tool which allows hour follows to keep up with your posts.

It's easy to sign up.   Go to www.Bloglovin.com

You have a choice to sign up using your Facebook login, or you can create an email login.

After you have completed the sign up process, you can go to Bloglovin and customize your settings. You will look for the pull down menu at the top right of the page.

You can add your logo, a description of your Blog, and link your Blog to Bloglovin.   Linking up your Blog to Bloglovin is important because this is how other Bloggers (fans, friends & followers) can follow you.  :)

Linking your Blog to Bloglovin requires confirming.  If you have a brand new Blog, it's a good idea to have one post on your page so that Bloglovin will link up properly.

Below the section in settings where you add your logo, description, and Blog - is a section for notifications: 

This section will give you control in what notices you receive, and how frequently you receive them. This is a nice feature.  If you're anything like me,  extra emails can become a deal breaker.  I like receiving my Bloglovin notices all in one email.

After you exit out of Settings, under the same pull down, you can start following other Blogs.

At the top of the Bloglovin page, you can click on the link to Find Blogs.  As shown in the screen shot above, the Blogs are put in categories.  If you know the name of the Blog you would like to find, you can type it into the search box.  (My Blog is under Crayonbox Learning... are you following me?)

Once you find the Blogs you would like to follow, click FOLLOW and start reading! :)

If you want to adjust which Blogs you follow, you will go back to the pull down menu, and select "EDIT BLOGS YOU FOLLOW."  Here, you can choose to mark it private so it isn't on your list of followed Blogs, put them in a group, and unfollow. 

If you'd like to add a Follow me on Bloglovin' Button on your Blog, the HTML code is below.  You can copy/paste it and put it into your HTML widget.  You'll edit the code marked in purple with your own Bloglovin URL

Copy/Paste code below into a new HTML widget.

<center><a title="Follow Me on Bloglovin" href="Your Bloglovin Here"><img border="0" alt="Follow on Bloglovin" src="http://www.crayonboxlearning.com/images/bloglovinbutton.png" /></a>