Blogging Maintenance

School started back up this week, so this is my last blogging nuts and bolts post of the summer. So, a few reminders: 

Now is a really good time to refresh your sidebar. When was the last time you went through and made sure all the gadgets were working? Is there anything there that's out of date? You should check it out periodically, so why not now? (Or find a time of year when things are slow for you and set yourself a reminder to do it then.) 

I've spent this summer trying to figure out how to help those bloggers who can't log in to comment on Blogger. If you've had this issue and figured out how to fix it, why not write your own blog post about it? I guarantee there are bloggers who would appreciate the insights. 

I collected all my blogging nuts and bolts posts into a page with a link at the top of this page. Feel free to reference it whenever you have need. 

And if there's any topic that you would like me to address, let me know in the comments. If I can answer the question, I will. Vacation weeks throughout the school year I will be in need of topics to blog about. Also, I'll need topics for next summer.

Happy beginning of the school year to those who celebrate. 

Unsurprising Turn of Events

Just a little post today to link to an article: Opinion | Executive Order on Vaccines Bypasses Evidence-Based Process That Has Kept Kids Safe.

If I had more time, I'd spend it writing a longer post bemoaning the anti-vaxxers. I might even have pondered the anti-science people and how the regime is pandering to them (although, I think many of them believe some of this stuff). There are studies that show right-wingers are more likely to react to things from a position of fear, and the whole anti-vaccination push feeds into those fears. 

I have such high hopes for myself when it comes to writing Tuesday blog posts, and then when it's time to write the post, I chicken out. Maybe next week? 

I might be a bit scarce this week as school started, and, well, I have a feeling this week is going to be kind of busy for me. Explanations should be forthcoming next week.

The Next Step

Step 1: Complete oval to desired width of sweater. 

✅ Complete.

Step 2: For back of sweater, continue working the top half of the oval until the color of yarn is the same color as the outer round of the front oval. 

While working the top half, flatten the side of the oval. 

And... That's my next little puzzle. I know the basic formula. As I get to the edge, I work shorter stitches. Each row I'll start further back as the edge becomes flat rather than curvy. But I have to eyeball it, and this is not quite right. 

I have some wiggle room as this part will be in the seam. 

Anyway, the back needs a bit more length while the front is going to have a deeper neckline. I kind of have it worked out in my head, but we'll have to see if the actual physical piece works out the way I planned. 

At least I have now completed the ovals. Now it's just a matter of figuring out how to assemble them. Progress. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases
• Second Sock Syndrome
• The Wavy Second Side
• Which Way Now?
• Vacation Crochet
• Modifications
• Pondering
• Summer Crochet
• Slow Going
• Doing the Math

The Color Quizzes: What's White?

I bet you thought we were done. Nope, not quite. There is another color we have not hit yet (via Quizly). White. 

What's White?

I got 19 out of 21. A few of these weren't as obvious as you'd think. How did you do? Let me know in the comments.

Teacher Reels 13

School starts back up next week. Now that I've had the summer to kind of cleanse my palate (so to speak), it's time to remember what I'm in for. (Not that I'll necessarily have work next week, but...) This is a Thursday 13.

1. Mr. Jahn @JahnifestDestiny

Can confirm, sometimes it's just fun to listen to them talk. 

2. Amanda & Zach Smith @amandasindallas

How was your day? Nice he gets to give a snapshot. I could totally see a kid doing this.

3. Educator Andrea @educatorandrea

"Wandering around asking people for Cheetos and Takis while we're reading about the Holocaust..." Been there.

4. MyTeacherFace @MyTeacherFace

Sometimes we can say the weirdest things. Teenagers...

5. Mr. Firth @Mister_Firth

Sometimes we really are in tune with the kiddos.

6. Gabe Dannenbring @gabedannenbring24

"Stop touching each other." Yup. And "It's on the board." Said frequently. 

7. Sam Salem @samuelsleeves

He's a sub and a comedian. And I absolutely want to do this. (The thing in the video, not being a comedian. I'm no comedian.) 

8. Mr. Moore Taught Me @MrMooreTaughtMe

Yup, everyone absolutely chimes in. Well, the ones that we're not talking to.

9. Levi Hawk @levihawk_teaching 

They absolutely think they're hiding their phones. They're not. They're obvious.

10. Coach Russo @MrRussoHealth

I mean, I haven't seen a dab in a while, but the rest of this...

11. Talana @Talanagram

Can confirm. Asking a class to quiet down does not work. 

12. Gregisms @Gregisms

The elementary kids say the darndest things.

13. Philip Lindsay @Mr_lindsay

I have yet to meet a student who says they're locking in actually lock in.

Why do I do this job again? 

Feed Reader Accessible

Whenever I get a comment from a blogger I have not met before, the first thing I do is to add them to my Feedly. (I talked about this last year.) Whether or not we end up regularly interacting, it's easier to have access to the latest posts without my having to search for them every time. (I especially do this in April, because otherwise I would not be able to keep up.) 

But this doesn't always work. 

I already wrote about how I can't do this if I can't find a link to the blogger's blog. But I ran into another issue not that long ago. I easily found the blogger's blog, but Feedly could not add the blog to my roll. 

Uh oh... 

When I'm visiting other blogs, I use my feed reader. They're all collected in one place for me. I don't have to go searching. I don't have to keep track of anyone's schedule. If a blogger who's been dormant suddenly reappears, I see the post. If a blogger took some time off, I'm not hitting up their blog daily only to find no new post. 

The system isn't foolproof. Sometimes the feed reader won't update in a timely fashion. I generally have my posts publish at 6 AM Pacific Time. I've had my posts show up hours later. But generally, to keep up with dozens of blogs, the system works well enough. 

Unless I can't add the blog to my feed reader. 

I went looking for an alternative. Did the blogger have an email subscription? No? 

So, how am I supposed to remember to check this blog? I'm going to have to hope that they comment on my blog when they have a new post?

This is why today I'm asking you: is your blog is available to add to a feed reader? 

It is generally a good idea to have ways for a reader to keep up with your blog. If you look at my sidebar, you'll see several options for mine. 

"Subscribe To" is one of the options when setting up things for the sidebar. "Follow By Email" is via Follow It. I created an account, and they provided this graphic for the sidebar. (I did a post about adding gadgets to the sidebar a while ago.) 

The "Followers" is also a selection in the sidebar tools. "Follow on feedly" and "Follow me on bloglovin'" I got from both of those readers. If you click either of them, it'll help you add my blog to your account there (or you could set up an account there to follow my blog and all the other blogs you follow). 

Since everyone blogs differently, I've tried to have as many options as I know about so other bloggers can keep track of me easily. (If there's another option I don't have, please let me know in the comments so I can add it there.) 

And so, it might be time to check to see if your blog can be accessed by the feed readers. 

Is your RSS enabled? Blogger help has an article for your reference. 

Go into "Settings" and scroll down to "Site Feed". 

As you can see, I have "Full" enabled. You have a choice:

"Full" means that if someone goes to the feed reader, they can see my full post. "Until Jump Break" and "Short" mean that the feed reader only shows a short portion of the post. I generally click through and go to the actual post on the blog, because you can't leave comments on the feed reader. But, some might just read the post and not interact, so I can see why some might not want to enable "Full". 

And that should do it. It's easy enough to check that it works by uploading your blog to the feed reader of your choice. (It's a good idea to do this as it's a good check for you. I've caught issues with my blog a few times.) 

Do you use a feed reader? How do you keep track of the blogs you follow? 

Women Losing Jobs

Why were July's jobs numbers so terrible? Because women are losing jobs. Women lost 32,000 jobs in July while men gained 9,000. 

I guess making America great again means relegating women back to housework. 

Remind me why feminists are the problem.