Weekend Update

Posted on

I just updated the site.  I added a few new anchor charts, and I made printables available on the read-aloud, reader’s notebook, and writer’s notebook pages.  Also, I’m now using an optimizer that’s supposed to make the pages load faster.  Hopefully, quality won’t be sacrificed.  If you notice a difference, let me know.

Enjoy! 🙂

Julie


Thumbprint Biography

Posted on

I might have a new favorite entry in my writer’s notebook! I finished my thumbprint biography last night, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I love the idea of doing this with older students, but I’m not going to lie. It took me a lot of trial and error to get my thumbprint blown up on the copier. If I can figure out how to streamline that, I may try to convince a teacher at my school to try this project with me. Here is my finished product:

20120222-163414.jpg


Literacy Station Files

Posted on

I just updated the literacy station page. This was for a couple of reasons.
1. I realized that although I didn’t need a visual of the downloadable files, visitors to the site could probably use a general idea of what they could download.
2. I was checking links today, and I realized that the kindergarten and first grade prompt cards were mixed up! This isn’t a huge issue. In theory, however, the cards should become increasingly difficult. Regardless, the links are fixed now! 🙂

In other news, I’m almost finished with my thumbprint biography. Can’t wait to share!


New anchor charts!

Posted on

When I read through my guestbook, it’s extremely clear that the most popular page on my site is the anchor charts page.  I found a small treasure trove of pictures that I (for some unknown reason) never uploaded, so there are tons of new anchor charts in this update!  There are also new classroom photos and literacy station photos, including a few of kids working with the Tic Tac Toe grids that are posted on the literacy station page.

The pages for my writer’s notebook and my reader’s notebook are being well-used too. I forgot to bring my notebooks home this weekend, but I’ve got several possibilities for entries swirling around in my head, so those sections will definitely be hit in the next update. 🙂


Pinterest Madness

Posted on

I should probably be in less shock by now, but I absolutely am not. I have been in love with Pinterest for many months, but I mostly use it to find recipes and crafty inspirations. (I love anything with glitter and a hot glue gun.)

Last week, some of my charts were pinned, and traffic on my site exploded. To cope with this, I finally took the personal domain plunge and installed a traffic tracker so that I could see how Pinterest was really affecting the traffic around here.

The data that tracker has collected in the last week has left me completely dumbfounded. I’ve had visitors from 49 of the 50 states (Rhode Island is still holding out), Washington DC, Puerto Rico, every province in Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Belgium, Serbia, Qatar, Peru, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, China, Croatia, and the United Arab Emirates!

I can’t help but feel like I’m being virtually punk’d….

Update: Rhode Island finally came around! France, Finland, Brazil, Albania, Venezuela, Thailand, Ukraine, Korea, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Taiwan, Ireland, Romania, Turkey, Denmark, Bermuda, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Argentina, Malaysia, Greece, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Morocco, Hungary, Kuwait, Belarus, Portugal, Moldova, Japan, Colombia, South Africa, Poland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Guatemala, Estonia, the Czech Republic, the Dutch Antilles, Pakistan, the Bahamas, Belize, Uganda, Montenegro, El Salvador, Aruba, Sudan, Jordan, New Caledonia, Sweden, Trinidad & Tobago, Bangladesh, Paraguay, Guam, Latvia, Bulgaria, Israel, Djibouti, Ecuador, Chile, Norway, Kenya, St. Kitts & Nevis, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Papua New Guinea, Austria, Niger, Lebanon, Russia, Slovenia, Palestine, Bahrain, Botswana, Macedonia, Panama, the Virgin Islands, Samoa, Jamaica, Malta, Yemen, Oman, Uruguay, Lithuania, Mauritius, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Barbados, Senegal, Iceland, Cambodia, and Nigeria also stopped by. I need a stronger word than dumbfounded…


Beginning Again

Posted on

As I migrate my site to it’s new hosting home, I’m starting fresh with the blog as well.  Using a WordPress blog will allow me to update from anywhere, so I won’t have to go so long between posts.  Starting over is never fun, but sometimes it’s absolutely necessary!