*Important*: Please set up your individual Blogger blog for this course. Here's how!

 Hi everyone. For this course, each student needs to set up a blog on Blogger, invite several others in the class to be 'co-authors', share your blog URL and the email associated with your blog, and then set the privacy to 'authors only'. Here's how, step by step:

1)  Go to blogger.com. Choose 'Create New Blog'. 

2) Sign in. If you already have a gmail account or any kind of google account, use your gmail. (Blogger is a google app, and google loves google.) 

If you don't have a gmail account, you can choose:

(a) to use another email, or

(b) to set up a google/ gmail account following the prompts given on screen ("Create Account").

3)  Choose a name for your blog that begins with your first name. (So my blog would start with "Susan" -- for example, "Susan's Math Explorations").

4)  Choose a URL (web address) for your blog that you will remember, and write it down.

5) You now have a Blogger blog, and should see a welcome dashboard screen like the one shown here! There are still a few steps left to get it looking nice...

6) From the list on the left side of your dashboard screen, choose "Themes". Please scroll down through the many theme choices and choose "Travel Studio" (see screen shot). I like using this 'legacy' theme because it has a nice table of contents that makes it easy to read blogs -- and you can customize it to look the way you like. (However if you feel strongly about choosing some other theme ... that can work too.)

7) Once you pick the theme, go ahead and "Customize" it using the button below the theme. (See screenshot). You can then choose one of many pre-made backgrounds and colour combinations, or even use one of your own photos as a background. Once you choose the background you'd like, don't forget to click on the small "save" icon in the bottom right corner of your screen (looks like an old fashioned floppy disc, for some reason!)

8) You have your blog! Use the back arrow to return to your dashboard and create your first "New Post" by clicking on the the orange "+ New Post" button. You can call this post "Hello world!" (the traditional way), or whatever you like. Type a title and a sentence or two. You can try adding a picture if you're ready to do so. Then publish. Go to "View Blog" (bottom left side of your dashboard screen in blue letters) and you can see your cool new blog!