Literacy Loving Gals

The Unveiling of the New Blog Design!

We Literacy Loving Gals are absolutely loving our new blog design created by Kassie from Designs by Kassie!!

We can't thank her enough for all of her hard work, dedication and patience with us in organizing the various features needed to create an amazing blog design. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Kassie!! Anyone out there thinking about a blog makeover, Kassie is wonderful designer.

I decided to take a screenshot of our previous blog design to show you what we came up with during our Blogging PD back on July 1st. Below is the before picture.

Thank you to "A Little Piece of Africa" for the arrow graphics!

Since my partner and I are by no means blog designers, our creation was a tad underwhelming. With a ton of support from Kassie, though, we are ecstatic! The after is, of course, what you're viewing around this post.

We just wanted to share our happiness with everyone and give Kassie a shout-out on her behalf.

Organize Your Desktop

Hello Bloggers!

As I was blog hopping for organizational ideas to implement in my classroom, I came across, what I feel is, an amazing concept from Shayna over at Science Teaching Junkie. Her blog post is titled Organize Your Desktop, hence my title for this post. I wanted to pass on her easy tech tip, in case you are also in need of some organization to your desktop.

Let me start by saying, I'm the type of gal that likes things clean and organized. However, since this blog was born on July 1, 2014, I have ended up with screenshots taking over my desktop! Did this happen to anyone out there when you were a "newbie" at the start of your journey into Bloggersville? It's like my computer has crossed the threshold into the Chaos Zone! All of a sudden, I can't keep things straight. What is happening to me?

After some thought, I figured I'd deal with the chaos temporarily to knock off a few steps when accessing my files. For instance, a picture for a post- I find it easier to just attach a file straight from my desktop, instead of locating a folder, that's inside another folder which contains the picture I want to use. Here's a PERFECT example, the picture above from Shayna's blog- that picture is sitting on my desktop as I type. After all is said and done, yes, I'll remove it. Nevertheless, the files I need frequently will most likely remain on my desktop.

In any case, Shayna created a file in PowerPoint with all of her adorable backgrounds and clip art frames, then titled each frame with whatever fit her needs and saved the file as an image. That image became her desktop backdrop. Please click HERE to read her detailed post.

I generated my own backdrop and wasn't originally going to show you because I quickly added a background and frames for my own use. I didn't pay attention to where I got the clip art in order to credit the wonderful people who created the designs. However, I took the time to go back into my files, so I could credit those who deserve credit. My quick creation is below and it's working like a charm for me.

Background: Mindi Vandagriff; All Frames: Graphics from the Pond; Round Purple Label: Kady Did Designs

I'll get more creative down the road, but for now, I've taken steps to leave the Chaos Zone. Serenity now! If any of you are Seinfeld fans, I may have put a smile on your face. ;)

Have an organized day!

"Sunday Letters"- Take 1

I'm linking up with Michelle over at BigTime Literacy for some Sunday Morning Letters. Here are a few of my Letters.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

August Currently

I'm linking up with Farley for her August Currently. Stop by Oh Boy, 4th Grade to link up! :)

Listening: After a long day at the zoo visiting the animals and running for shelter from the rain, it's wonderful to hear the sound of precious silence while I sit on my comfy couch. :)

Loving: After trying to grow my hair out for the past two and a half years, I finally asked myself, "Why?" I have curly hair, so short is simple. I'm loving my new haircut and a few highlights to brighten my look.

Thinking: I have so much to do before school starts, like organize the playroom, donate toys that are no longer touched by the kids and squeeze in one last camping trip!

Wanting: We have some new teachers starting at school this year because of additional sections of various grade levels being added. I'm fortunate enough to mentor 2 of the new teachers and 1 of the second-year teachers in our building. Looking forward to meeting the newbies on Monday, July 11th at the Mentor-Mentee Luncheon!

Needing: My previous Reading Room I shared with another Reading Specialist is now becoming a 2nd grade classroom. I'll be in a new, much smaller room this year. I need to get in there and organize ASAP!

1st Day You & Kids: I can't believe I go back to work two weeks from today for a Teacher's Institute. The kids will be returning close behind us.

Summer, please slow down!

Another Edition of Five for Friday!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs' Five for Friday to share about my exciting week of happenings. :)

I've successfully ended my 31-day Blogging Challenge with Michelle over at BigTime Literacy on Thursday, July 31, 2014! Take a peek at her amazing blog. I attended Michelle's Blogging PD in my district on July 1, 2014 to learn more about starting up a blog. On that day our blog, Literacy Loving Gals, was born, as Michelle would say. ;) The Blogging PD participants were given a calendar with prompts for each day in July and challenged to post something every day. Well, I conquered the challenge! I posted my thoughts and ideas for each prompt for 31 days straight. I have learned a lot about the time and energy it takes blog. I have a new found appreciation for all of you bloggers out there! My journey has just begun and I'm ecstatic to see what happens. :)

Thoughts of opening a Teacher Pay Teachers store have been in the back of my mind for some time now. I've made a total of 10 literacy-related products thus far to upload in a TpT store one day. Well, one day happened! As of Wednesday, July 30, 2014, I now have a Teacher Pay Teachers Store! My next step is to actually download the products I've created, though. I haven't done that, yet. LOL! I feel I'm at least heading in the right direction. Any tips out there from TpT store owners? ;)

There are countless teacher bloggers online that are fabulous at what they do, so I decided to add a tab on Literacy Loving Gals titled "Blog with Us". I got the idea from Michelle over at BigTime Literacy because she has the same tab. I made sure to ask for her blessing before I added it on our blog. Anyway, The Gals would love for you to publicize your blog on our "Blog with Us" tab! Take a peek at the tab to see what it's about. Also, check out BigTime Literacy's tab. Add your button on her blog as well. It couldn't hurt to spread your name around Bloggersville! ;)

If you're a fan of linking up with other blogs, check out "Letters from the Teacher's Desk" Linky Party hosted by BigTime Literacy. During the month of August, it will take place on Sunday the 3rd and Sunday the 17th. Click HERE for more information. Can you tell I'm a big fan of Michelle?! ;)

I received two new books in the mail yesterday and one last week from Amazon. I love getting books in the mail. Starting today, I'll be diving into them one by one to further prepare for the school year. Can't wait to learn something new!