A Liebster! Woot! Woot!

I have the honor of receiving a Liebster award from Heather at Smack Dab in the Middle. A Liebster is an award given to bloggers who have less than 200 hundred followers to welcome them to blogging. 

I definitely qualify. This isn't my first Liebster, but after taking a few months of hiatus I lost the majority of my followers :( Fear not! I'm back and this time am determined to make this blog happen!

Heather has some questions for me to answer. Here we go!

1. What grade do you teach? What grades have you taught? How long have you been teaching? 
I teach 8th grade Language Arts. I've taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade before. This is my 11th year teaching.  

2. What book do you read to your class each year without fail?  There are a few standard books that we read every year including The Giver by Lois Lowry.  The kids start off completely confused and not really into it but by the end they're committed and are so upset by some of the events in the book.

3. If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing?  I think I would just be a mom. The best thing that ever happened was having my daughter, Avery. I love spending time with her and living her little Toddler Life.

4. What's one thing you're just dying to buy for your classroom?  An assistant for myself. If I could afford to pay someone (or not! HA!) to be my assistant I would jump on it. There are so many things to do and just not enough hours in the school day. 

5. What's your non-teaching guilty pleasure?  Unfortunately, for my husband, it's shopping. More specifically online shopping. It's bad. 

6. Favorite book that is not teaching related?  Phillipa Gregory novels. Oh! And Jodi Picoult!!! Certain authors just do it for me. I've already made a post about John Green but I guess he's under the teaching related category? Maybe Gillian Flynn too. Gone Girl is crazy good. Seriously this was not a good question for a Language Arts teacher. I love to read. I'm going to stop answering this question now.
7. What's one thing on your bucket list?  When I turned 30 (gulp!) I made a bucket list and did pretty much everything on it. I don't really have anything left. I do want to have another baby :)

8. Favorite restaurant?  I love eating and food. Living in Texas though Mexican restaurants are the way to go! 

9. Who would play you in a movie about your life?  Natalie Portman? I don't know. Maybe I'm still living in John Green-land

10. What's one thing you could eat everyday?  Chocolate and coffee. I know it's not healthy or anything but yeah. I'm in and good with it. Maybe some tasty pastries to boot.

11. What inspired you to begin blogging?  I started blogging a few years because I'm also a knitter. I have another blog Adventures in Knitting that I started because I wanted to share my knitting highs and lows with other knitters. I've always liked writing and it's a creative expression for me. After working on that blog for awhile I realized I needed an outlet for my life as a middle school teacher. So, here we are!

11 Random Facts about ME.

• I'm a knitter
• I'm a mom- but I didn't have her until I was 33
• I have to start every day with coffee (this is how I know I'm addicted now)
• I'm a huge procrastinator
• I work best under pressure
• People think I'm organized, but I'm not (really- I'm not!)
• I can't stay up past 8:30 anymore. Toddler Life is hard y'all!
• Online shopping- yeah I know I mentioned it already but it's true
• I know the lyrics to Sophia the First, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Doc McStuffins
• I'm kind of obsessed with shoes. What's sad is that I don't wear them all. I'm really in love with my Tieks! They cost a pretty penny (Mr. Bush was not happy) but I wear them almost. every. day. I used to wear heels constantly but now that I'm at a school with two floors, it's more important that I don't break my neck walking up and down them. So I usually wear my Tieks or have them in my bag for when I need to trek all over the building.
• I also love office supplies. I could spend all day walking up and down the office supply aisles at Target or inside a Staples.

Well that's a little bit about me! I've nominated five more blogs for a Liebster. Have fun with this!

• Middle School is Awesome
• Surviving and Thriving: Teaching Middle School Social Studies
• Teaching Teens in the 21st
• Teaching High School Math
• Language Arts Bliss

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to my blog as the one who nominated you.
2. Nominate five blogs with fewer than two hundred followers.
3. Answer the questions posted.
4. Share eleven random facts about yourself.
5. Contact your nominees to let them know they have been nominated.

Another Liebster(!!!) and News

I'm so excited to be nominated {another} Liebster Award! As many of you all know a Liebster Award is an award given to bloggers with less than 200 followers to recognize one another! This Liebster Award is from Lil' Bit Country in the Classroom.

Liebster Awards do come with a few guidelines (I don't really like to call them rules):

1. Link back to the blog that nominated you
2. Answer the questions that the person who nominated you asked
3. Share 11 random facts about yourself
4. Nominate some great blogs with less than 200 followers! (My favorite!)
5. Present 11 questions for your nominees to answer

Let's get to it!

1. What is your favorite sports team?

Easy. Dallas Cowboys. It's actually a love-hate relationship with them. Anyone who follows football can probably understand why. In the end, I'm going to love them but sometimes they just make me so darn mad!

2. What is your perfect weekend?

The perfect weekend is spending time with my husband and daughter. It really doesn't matter what we're doing. He's away on business during the week, so the weekends are super valuable family time for us.

3. What is a must have at your desk?

Something that is a must at my desk is a drink! Coffee in the morning, then water, and after lunch a Diet Coke.

4. What is your favorite professional book?

My favorite professional book(s) would be Readicide by Kelly Gallagher, The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, In the Middle by Nancie Atwell, and Teaching Reading in Middle School by Laura Robb Very good! Gosh, I could keep going. These are books I read and reread. 

5. What would a utopian society be like to you?

I teach the The Giver by Lois Lowry every year. I do not want to be part of a Utopian society! 

6. Name three things you would bring to a deserted island?

After watching Naked and Afraid on the Discovery Channel, I've decided I would make sure I had clothes on and bring:

• A lighter (there's no way I'm going to figure out how to start a fire otherwise)
• A person who has survival skills (I have none so I need to bring an expert)
• Sunblock!

7. If you could mentor a first year teacher, what would be the first thing you would tell him/her?

If you have questions, no matter how dumb you think they are, ASK!

8. What is your hobby?

I knit!

9. What would you be if you weren't a teacher?

I would probably want to be a journalist. I find that life exciting!

10. If you could move anywhere in the U.S. where would you move?

I love living in Texas. I don't think I would want to go anywhere else.

11. Who is your favorite president?

Abraham Lincoln. I am uhb-sessed with Abraham Lincoln. I find him to be a super fascinating person in history. I also think that he was a monumental figure. 

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I am the least coordinated person on the planet
2. I played the saxophone in high school
3. I am horrible at math (like really bad)
4. I've been to Paris and did not have a great time
5. I like taking bubble baths- they relax me
6. My favorite movies are the ones from the 1940s
7. My favorite actor is Cary Grant
8. My favorite actress is Katharine Hepburn
9. I love the movie Gone With the Wind and have seen it countless times. I have lines memorized. I'll quote them. That will be annoying to people.
10. I'm susceptible to motion sickness. You don't want to be in the backseat on a windy road with me! Or a boat...
11. I love office supplies and used to work at Staples

My Nominees are:

• Teaching 5th-8th
• The Short and Sassy Teacher
• IBTEACHNU Language Arts
• Amy in Education
• Texas Middle School Teacher Connection

Questions for My Nominees:

1. If you could go anywhere, where would it be? (This doesn't have to be a real place)
2. What's your favorite sport?
3. What's your guilty pleasure?
4. What's your favorite word?
5. What's your favorite part of starting the school year?
6. What's the worst thing about starting the school year?
7. Is the glass half empty or half full?
8. What advice would you give to teachers for starting the new school year?
9. What's the last book you read?
10. What is your favorite professional book?
11. What's your favorite flower?

The News of the Day:

During my training today, I received a phone call from my principal asking if I would be the new Language Arts department chair. So, after some thinking and talking with him I accepted and officially can say that I am the new Language Arts department chair at my middle school! Our former department chair was given an assistant principal job at another middle school last week. Add this to my back to school craziness! This is definitely going to be some year!

Thanks for all the bag recommendations. I went with the Cindy Tote from Thirty-One. Hopefully, this will help me contain all my junk!

Have a great week everyone!

Me? Nominated for a Liebster?!?

I'm finally back from a long week at the beach and in the car traveling and what should I see in my inbox but a message that I've been nominated for a Liebster by Miss Brigotti over at Write in the Middle! I'm so excited about this!!

So, what is a Liebster exactly? Well, it is an award for bloggers with less than 200 followers to recognize new blogs. When I first started this blog about a month ago, I just wanted it to be a place for me to share classroom ideas and to be a good example for what I expect my students to do this year on their own blogs. This has become something much bigger! I enjoy reading all the blogs I come across and getting inspired from all the ideas. 

As part of accepting this nomination I have 11 questions that Miss Brigotti made up for me to answer as a Q&A. At the end, I'll nominate 5 more blogs for this award. To accept my nomination, you must answer the questions I ask, tell us 11 things you want to share about yourself, nominate 5 fellow bloggers with less than 200 followers, and make sure you contact them!

Miss Brigotti's 11 questions for me:

1. What made you decide you wanted to be a teacher?

I've always wanted to be a teacher. My aunt taught elementary school and I used to go with her to help in her classroom during the summer. I've always loved the act of teaching. I used to play school with my brother. I had fantastic 7th and 11th grade English teachers! They made me want to do what they did.

2. What was the hardest thing about your first year?

I guess the hardest part of my first year was not realizing that they really don't teach you everything you need to know about teaching in college and learning how to really teach.

3. The funniest thing a child ever said to me was...

I teach middle school so I get funny things every. single. day. I wish I would have kept a journal of funny sayings from kids from the first year of teaching to now. It would be fun to look back on it and be reminded of that student. 

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

To allow the 8th grade Language Arts classes to have a 90 (I'll take 70 minute) minute block of time. 45 minutes does not do a Reading/Writing Workshop justice!!

5. What's your favorite hobby?

I love to knit. I taught myself to knit my first year of teaching. I needed a way to de-stress. I never knew  how stressful teaching could be and knitting allowed me to relax after the day.

6. Tell me three things you couldn't live without.

-Starbucks

-Cell phone

-iPad

7. Where would you go on your dream vacation?

Anywhere in a warm, tropical climate with sandy beaches and crystal clear water.

8. What was the most valuable advice you ever received?

I can't really think of any one piece of advice that stands out. I know I've received advice over the years. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. 

9. What classroom supply will you NOT share with your students?

I will not share my stapler with my students. Somehow it will end up broken before the end of the year. They have a stapler they're allowed to use.

10. What color pen do you grade with?

It's usually green, purple, or blue.

11. If someone gave you a grant to help start a school, what would you name it?

Miss Brigotti, these are hard questions! I have absolutely no idea. I'm not sure I would want that.

11 Random Things About Me:

1. My favorite color is red but I wear mainly blues and greens.

2. I love online shopping. 

3. I'm a high heel fanatic! 

4. I love going to libraries and bookstores just to look at all the books even though I get most of my books on my iPad.

5. Target is my favorite store (who doesn't love Target!?)

6. I become a culinary genius in the summer when I have time to cook but can't seem to manage during the school year.

7. Pinterest is my crack.

8. I've only taught at one other school.

9. I'm not a perfectionist in my own life but when it comes to school I am.

10. People think I'm organized but I'm not!

11. My favorite season is Fall.

Questions for Nominees:
1. How long have you been teaching?
2. What's your favorite teaching moment?
3. What's your favorite blogging site? (it doesn't have to be related to teaching)
4. What is your favorite place to buy things for your classroom?
5. What advice would you give new teachers?
6. What three things are always in your teaching bag?
7. What's your teaching style?
8. What do you love most/worst about teaching?
9. What's your favorite piece of technology to use in the classroom? How do you use it?
10. What could you not live without in your classroom?
11. What do you love to do when you aren't teaching?

Blogs I'm Nominating:

2 Peas and a Dog
i run read teach

Mentoring in the Middle
Tales of Teaching in Heels
Middle School Teacher to Literacy Coach

Go check out these blogs! I enjoy reading them. I'm catching up on blog happenings from last week this week. So we'll see what all I can get done!