Liebster Award and Nominations

My friend Jessica over at 3rd Grade Things nominated me for a Liebster Award! I love to blog but haven't really branched out into the blogging community, so now is my chance! This award is given to "up and coming" bloggers who have less than 200 followers (yeah, I've got 1! haha)

In order to accept, I must
1. Link back to the blog that nominated me (check the above link or look for her cute little owl button on the right side of my page)
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers.
3. Answer the questions posted by my nominator.
4. Share 11 random facts about myself.
5. Create 11 questions for my nominees.
6. Contact my nominees to let them know I nominated them so they can restart the process!

So, in order of appearance on the checklist:
1. Click the link above or look for Jessica's cute little owl button on the right side of my page to see her awesome new blog that has great idea for more than just 3rd grade!

2. This is the hard one for me; I'm so awkward at making new friends! But here goes:

+Miss D'Amore at The Second Grade Safari has a cute blog with lots of craftivities for little hands to make! She posted a comment on another blog I follow, so I clicked her link, and I was super impressed with some of her idea!

+ The anonymous teacher at 4th Grade in Ya Face has some cute bulletin board ideas, even though my kiddos aren't quite old enough for them, but what I really loved (and why I pinned her to my 'school' board months ago) is her Volume Song she wrote for "Call Me Maybe." It's CUTE.

+  Another Second Grade blog I love is Teacherific. I've pinned some of her stuff before (like her math anchor charts!) and I love her take on the Daily 5.

+ This fabulous teacher at Confessions of a Primary Teacher has a ton of organizational tools. (Can I just say that I love her anchor charts, too! Are we seeing a pattern?)

+ Brittany and Melissa at Frugal in First have lots of freebies and even more great ideas. I love their Gus the Plus and Linus the Minus anchor charts!


3. My questions/answers from Jessica:

1. What is your most memorable "Kids Say the Darndest Things!" moment from your classroom? 

I actually have a list of these so I can look back and laugh when I need a pick-me-up. My very first year teaching all students in the county were required to write a report and present it orally for a grade. Members from a group that donated a lot of money to the school system visited some of the classrooms to listen to the reports. Of course that day I had one of those visitors in my class, and one of mine ended his report about dinosaurs with, "Now remember, if the dinosaurs ever do come back, you have to watch out for the little ones. They bite!" Everyone laughed and I made sure I mentioned loud enough for our visitors to hear me tell the student that I noticed his ad-libbing at the end! 

2. What is your favorite thing to do during the summer? 

I would say, "the internet" but for the last two years it's been specifically "Pin things on my Pinterest boards." :-) Check it out!

3. If you could go on a shopping spree for your classroom at no cost to you - which store would you go to? (You can only pick one!) 

Only one!?!? If it's at no cost, then Lakeshore Learning! They have such great workstation activities and dependable, sturdy resources. I only shop there when they're have a great sale and I can get free shipping, so to actually set foot in one of their stores and not have to worry about cost would probably be my heaven!

4. If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be? 

I love love love my school! Third time's a charm, right? To make it even better, I wish that it was built in a way that I would get to see more of what's going on in different grade levels more often. We are all in separate "wings" and I don't ever take enough time to go visit the Kindergarten and 4th/5th grade hallways. The trip is always worth it, though! 

5. Where did you graduate from college?

I graduated Roanoke College in 2007. Go Maroons! I wanted to be close enough to attend my home church on Sundays, but still far enough away to get the feel of living on my own. 

6. What is your favorite food? 

Chicken! Right now my favorite is Bojangles' Supreme chicken strips.

7. Who lives in your household with you? (Count your fur babies if you have any!) 

My husband and I have two beautiful miniature schnauzer pups, Tobias (black) and Elsie (white).

8. If you could spend the day with anyone - past or present - who would it be? 

I would love to spend a day with Apostle Paul... after his conversion of course, and preferably on day he wasn't in prison or being chased by an angry mob! I love reading the letters he sent to the new churches as recorded in the New Testament, and I think he was such a confident, well-spoken man who truly had a heart for God. He was humble, self-sacrificing, and inspiring to many people back then, as well as today, and I'd love to chat with him about his influence in the world.

9. Who is your favorite author? 

Tied right now between Mo Willems (Don't Let the Pigeon... and Knuffle Bunny are two of my favorites of his) and Kevin Henkes (I not-so-secretly want to name my firstborn child Chrysanthemum if it were a girl!)

10. How long and what grades have you taught? 

This year will be my fourth year in 2nd grade. Before coming back to my home county, I taught a self-contained SPED (Emotional Disabilities) class of students K-5 for three years.

11. What is your favorite thing to blog about, or to read blogs about? 

I love getting new ideas to make things, and I love sharing things that I've made.

4. My 11 facts:
I just have to say, "Wow. 11 is a big number."

Alrighty...
-When I was really little I loved my dog, Arnie, and my older sister convinced me I could become a Black Lab (like him) when I grew up. I cried the day I realized I couldn't.
-After my first day of Kindergarten, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I spent many moments sitting in my classrooms throughout the years, visualizing what I would do differently if it were my room.
-Most of my friends today are people I've been friends with since middle school. I have zero friends from college. The rest are from work and/or church.
-Honestly, college wasn't that great for me. A lot of people say it's the best time of your life, but all I could think while I was there was "If this is as good as it gets, then my life is going to be terrible!" Luckily, it got better!
-I am the Children's Programs Director at my church, which means I plan all of the kid/youth events. VBS is my favorite! I also teach the teenagers' Sunday School class and love to poke my head in youth group on Wednesday nights... they hate when I play Devil's Advocate!
-My husband and I moved up to northern Virginia for his job. We stayed 6 months and I hated it. Sometimes, now, I wish we could go back. I feel like I "failed" that part of my life and I'd like a do-over.
-I am one of those teachers that a lot of other teachers secretly hate because of my control issues. I have no problem staying late and putting in extra time to make sure everything is perfect. I hate to admit that I'm an over-achiever. Even the janitor at school makes fun of me for it.
-I have a craft blog, Creator's Masterpiece where I post crafty things I make.
-The last 4 facts I'll throw into one paragraph:
My husband and I breed miniature schnauzers. We had the best-behaved child/dog, Sophie, and her most adorable mate, Alex, and decided they would make beautiful, smart puppies. (btw, we were right!) She had her 3rd litter the day after Christmas this past year, and one of the pups got stuck and the ER vet accidentally ripped something inside of her while getting him out and she died a couple of days later. Then, 8 of the 9 puppies died throughout the week, although we were bottle feeding them every 2 hours (luckily my husband and I were both off work, as well as my little sister, for the first couple of weeks). Unluckily, our male, Alex, was hit by a car exactly 1 week after Sophie died. I was SO mad at him for getting in the road- not a habit of his- but with Sophie gone I guess he had nobody to tell him not to do it! We decided to keep the one dog that did survive. We named him Tobias, which means "the goodness of God." We feel so blessed that he lived; it made the transition from Sophie and Alex much easier than it would've been. All of that happened the last week of December, and in February we bought Elsie, a white female. She is SUPER hyper compared to Toby's relaxed attitude, but they both bring joy into our lives and I can't even remember what it's like to not have them around. If they grow up to be healthy and well-behaved, we will probably try our hand at breeding again.


5. 11 questions for my nominees:
1. Why did you originally create your blog?
2. What do you enjoy most about teaching?
3. Do you have any pets?
4. What is one teaching supply you can't live without?
5. What's the best advice you've ever received?
6. If you could pick any grade level to teach, would you switch?
7. How much time to you generally spend lesson-planning?
8. What's your favorite book?
9. What's the best advice would you offer to a first year teacher?
10. Where is your favorite vacation spot?
11. If you were the captain of a pirate ship and your crew was made up of one type of animal, what animal would you want them to be?

6. Consider it done!

I hope you enjoyed this autobiography I seemed to have written, haha! And I definitely hope you go check out my nominees' blogs!