Liebster Award!

Hello All! I have been nominated for my first Blog Award and I am  honored and super excited ! I love blogging and finding new ideas from so many other teacher bloggers. I have learned SOOO much since I started last year!! Thank you so much for nominating me Portia from Tidbits From Ms. Pitts!!

 

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. So, what is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. I love it and am happy to be part of it!!

Here is the criteria that I need to follow:

1.  Link back to the blog that nominated me. 
2. Answer the questions posted for me by my nominator.
3.  Share 11 random facts about myself.
4.  Create 11 questions for my nominees.
5.  Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers. 
6.  Contact my nominees to let them know that I nominated them.


So here goes...
1. Why did you decide to become a teacher?
I have always wanted to be teacher since as far back as I can remember. I used to make my little brother sit and be the student while I "taught" him. :)
2. What are a few of your favorite TV shows?
I am not much of a sitcom fan but I LOVE some reality T.V.! My fave right now has to be Big Brother! (sorry to admit that)
3. How are you spending your summer break?
I just had my mom visit from Idaho and now we are gearing up for a week in Biloxi, MS where we met up with ALL my family. We do it ever year and have a blast!
4. What educational websites or apps do you like for your students to utilize?
I like to use:
bookadventure.com
reading.ecb.org
coolmath-games.com
spellingcity.com
abcya.com
funbrain.com
ixl.com5. Where are your favorite places to shop? I really like NY and Co. for work clothes, Old Navy and Gap for casual. For household I love Pottery Barn, Etsy, Target and Michael's.
6. What is your pet peeve? When parents actually think that I am the one treating their child unfair or it is my fault that they are misbehaving in class. Urks me to no end!!
7. What makes the state you live in a great place to visit? The beaches!
8. What is your favorite subject to teach? Why? Reading, I love to watch the children grow in their abilities and their love for reading! I try really hard to show them how much fun it is to read and how they can learn so much from just doing it!
9. What's one new thing you are going to implement this new school year? Why? Using a student dictionary. I have wanted to for awhile and never have. I think it will be a huge help for the spelling strugglers.
10. How do you manage grading papers where you are not left with stacks upon stacks? I grade the most important ones and then just check off on the others.
11. What random act of kindness have done in 2013? Well, I enjoy cooking and I am always making things for others.  I bring in the office staff goodies during the summer and I bring my teacher friends lunch from dinner leftovers during the school year.

11 Random Facts About Me:
1. I love to make things (crafts, sew, decorate, etc)
2. I love to eat healthy and try new recipes
3. I enjoy working out (yes I really do) :)
4. I ran a marathon (Marine Corps Marathon) two years ago
5. I am married to a Marine (could have figured that out huh?)
6. I was the first person in all my family to go to college
7. I love shopping and fashion
8. I was a stay at home mom with both my kids before I was a teacher
9. I love action movies
10. I adore Pintrest
11. I have 2 tattoo's

My Nominees
 Fun in Second Grade
Life, Love, Literacy
The Sweetest Thing
Simple in Second

 Questions for my Nominees:
1. What is your favorite thing to do in the summer?
2. What grades have you taught and which do you like the best? Why?
3. What are some of your hobbies outside of teaching?
4. Do you like to travel? If yes, where are places you have been?
5. How do you use technology in the classroom?
6. Do you like/not like the new Common Core?
7. What kinds of movies do you like or have seen lately?
8. Are you a city or a country person?
9. How do you get the attention of your class?
10. How many hours a week do you spend working at home during the school year?
11. If you were not a teacher what would you be?

I can't wait to hear all your answers! Thanks again Portia!!

Creating a Collage

Well...I finally figured it out! I now know how to create a collage in a super simple way rather than the tedious work of saving each slide and uploading one at a time! (And I didn't even have to ask my 14 year old son!) Thanks to a tip from a fellow Second Grade blogger Kristen over  at http://teachntex.blogspot.com/ (LOVE her blog, lots of great ideas!) who sent me to another fellow blogger Jivey and her tutorial on how to make them here http://ideasbyjivey.blogspot.com/2013/07/throwback-thursday.html
If you haven't visited them yet you are missing out! I just made this from one of my previews in just a few minutes.....

I know it would save SOO much time if there are more slides! 

Thanks Kristin and Jivey!

Social Studies for K-3

Here is a new unit I created to use for K-3 Social Studies Community, Rights, Responsibilities, Rules and Laws. Great for start of the new school year (yikes, already!) Yes, if you are like me you are already planning your little heart out and trying your hardest to get organized!!
Check it out and let me know what you think......

Monday Made it!

Hey there! Sorry I have not been blogging this week. My mom is in town visiting and that means we have been...... SHOPPING!! It was also my youngest son's birthday party so I have been busy getting ready for that (welllll ok, no THAT busy since Chuck E Cheese was in charge) but you know, a little busy. :)
So, I was browsing around and decided to link up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It.
Anyway, my son wanted a Wrestling cake sooooo (enter Pintrest) and voila! Here is how it turned out.......

Not too bad! :)

Let me know what ya think and don't forget to link up!!

My Family Wall

Since I blogged about the  gallery wall I made  in a previous post I felt I needed to show it! It all started when I wanted to decorate our loft with some cutsie ideas I found on Pintrest. Of course the hubby was NOT buying it. I wanted cute, he wanted movie or sports theme, (uh no) is what I was thinking! So I came up with an idea to compromise and take things from each of us to make a family wall. I hit up etsy and found the perfect stuff! I did maps from where each of our grandparents where from, cool prints from the cities we grew up in, a NY Giants (ugh) print for his home team, U of AZ from where I went to school, and a family print with our names and birthdates. I am not done and still am going to add more. I want to add some old family pictures like of grandparents, a Marine Corps print that is still being shipped, a teacher print (of course he! he!) etc. All in all in turned out pretty cute and I was so proud of myself for doing it! Yay summer! All prints are from etsy.........

 

Let me know what you think!!

Bloglovin Craziness!!

Well, I am not sure about all the new craze but I figured I would go along since I don't want to be left in the dust. I will do it now and then figure it out later! (Isn't that always the case!) :)
Follow my blog with Bloglovin

My first ever July Currently Linky Party

Yay! I finally figured out how to do it! Sorry it took so long for those who posted after me. I was having technical difficulties! He! He!

*I am listening to my boys (hubby and 8 year old, 14 year old is out) have dinner without me since I am trying to figure this Linky Party out!
* I just finished (or mostly finished) decorating my loft. I did a family wall like a gallery wall all of prints from where we are from and all about. Will post soon. And made some super cute pillows with some fabric I bought. Turned out fabulous!
*I am thinking of all the stuff I still need to do around the house before my mom comes to visit on Tuesday.
* I am wanting to have all the energy to do it when all I want to do is relaaaaxx!!
*I am really needing a glass of wine. Thanks to my hubby who just brought me one. :)
* I cannot do it all in one day, tomorrow I will take some breaks and time for myself. After all it is SUMMER!!
Head on over to Oh' Boy Fourth Grade at......

 ...to join in! Thanks Farley!!