Hello everyone! I am pleased and very excited to announce that Jameson from
Lessons with Coffee recently nominated me for a Liebster Award. Getting a blogger award is a great way to learn more about fellow bloggers and I'm honored to be receiving it.
As many of you know, the Liebster Award is for up and coming blogs that have less than 200 followers. So what is a Liebster you may ask? A Liebster is a German word that means sweetest, kindest, dearest, cute, endearing, etc. Such a thoughtful award :)
Here are rules to accept this award:
(1) Link Back to the Person that Nominated You
Thank you Jameson!
(2) Answer the questions from you nominator
1. Do you like your handwriting? I get a lot of compliments on my handwriting, but I don't particularly see why people like it. I know that my handwriting is neat but I prefer many others over my own.
Here is a sample of my handwriting:
2. Are you a get to work early, or stay after school late teacher? I'm both actually, haha... I'm usually the first person to work and the last person to leave on most days. I've become friends with the day and night custodians and the secretary. Everyday, I drive a little more than 40 miles to teach. Since I live Ohio and drive through the heart of the snow belt, I like to give myself some travel time just in case the weather is bad or there is a traffic jam. When I arrive to work early, I usually make myself a cup of hot tea and grade papers until I have team meetings for a half an hour before school starts. At the end of day, I then prepare for the next days lesson.
3. Talk for a second about one initiative that your school has adopted that you either loath or love. Our school district recently got grant funds to focus on blended learning. When I heard about it I had to join in. With technology being such an import part in my students lives, I feel that I need to keep up all of the changes. Throughout the school year, I will be creating a blended learning course
4. What is one new thing (or thing if you are new) that you really want to try in your classroom this year? Hmm the choices... Every year I'm coming up with new things to implement in my classroom. Since I am switching grade levels and am teaching a new subject, I find myself coming up with even more things this year. One of things that I will be implementing is piggybacking off of Ladybug Teacher Files. I am going to do my own version of the Great Pencil Challenge, I'm really excited about it. The reason why I decided to do this is because I am teaching 35 minute science classes and am worried about the time constraints.
5. How do you handle substitutes? When I do take a day off, which isn't often, I am very meticulous and find the when I'm taking a day off or working with a substitute, I leave such descriptive details that a random person off the street could teach my lessons. When working with other substitutes, I try to be as helpful as possible. I understand that they may not be familiar with the policies of the building or that particular classroom.
6. What is your favorite kind of candy? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, I could eat a bag in one sitting if given the option.
7. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their smile. A smile tells me how friendly a person is. If its a kind smile, I am more likely to say hello.
8. What are you reading now and how do you like it? For fun, I have been working my way through the James Patterson's, The Woman's Murder Club series. I like the series because its interesting, keeps my attention and is an easy read when I'm really tired. For professional use, I've been reading "Teaching Science with Interactive Notebooks," by Kellie Marcarelli. Over the past year, I've been using science notebooks in my classroom and love them. The book gives a lot of examples and illustrations for ideas to use in the future.
9. Do you have any special talents? I would like to say that I do, but unfortunately I don't
10. Is there a YOUTUBE video that you always show kids (I am selfish here and going to do You Tube time everyday...I need a play list! lol)? It depends on the subject, for history, I love showing the daily clip of what happened on this day, it always gives the kids something's to talk about.
(3) Share 11 Random Facts About Yourself
1. I have a cat named Crookshanks that is named after Harry Potter. She is quite the character and knows her name. When you say it she makes peculiar sounds that are not meows.
2. I am a workaholic, hardly a day goes by when I'm not working on something. Not only do I work throughout the school year in my teaching job, I also work full time (over 40 hour a week) running a summer camp with 235 kids and 23 counselors. I also try to find time in my busy summer schedule to blog and create Tpt products. My husband says that if I wasn't working I wouldn't know what to do with myself, which is probably true.
3. I am quite short, 5' 1" and a half to be exact. I gotta add in that extra half of an inch to make me feel taller. Many if not all of my students are taller then me.
4. I religiously watch Cleveland Indians baseball during the summer. Win or lose, I am a diehard fan! If I'm not at the game (which I would rather prefer to go), chances are I'm watching it at home. Go Tribe!!
5. I come from a very musical family. My dad performed in musicals and shows in high school and college and passed the love of the theater to me. Hardly a day goes by when I'm not humming or signing to a song. I recently saw the Book of Mormon when the tour came to Playhouse Square. The show was hilarious! I loved every minute of it. There are not many shows that I haven't seen that I love in some way.
6. I love diet coke... I know it's not good for me and that pop in general is bad, but I love to drink a can a day. I can't help it, its where I get my caffeine fix since I don't actually drink coffee.
7. My siblings are I are really close. They are my friends for life. My sister is 14 months younger then me, my brother is 14 months younger than her, and my sister is 2 years younger than him. All in all, there are 4 of us in 5 years. All of my friends are friends with my siblings and my siblings friends are my friends.
8. I met my husband on a set-up (unknown to me) at a No Doubt and Paramore concert.
9. I have a Simpson's clock in my office at home that chimes clips from the show every hour. I really enjoy those clips even though I have heard them hundred of times. Although I have not watched the show in years, the clock reminds me of my childhood, growing up watching the show and quoting Bart Simpson.
10. I love to read books. I usually finish a book at least a book a week.
11. Most mornings I don't need an alarm clock to wake me up. My internal clock wakes me up about 15 minutes before the alarm rings everyday.
(4) Nominate Five More Blogs with Less Than 200 Followers
(5) Pose Questions for Your Nominees
1. When was the first moment you realized that you wanted to be an educator?
2. What's your favorite season of the year?
3. What was the name of your favorite teacher and why?
4. What's your favorite food?
5. Do you love or loathe exercise?
6. What is the most watched movie/DVD in your collection?
7. Do you collect anything, if so what?
8. What is one skill or hobby that you have always wanted to learn?
9. Why did you decide to start blogging?
10. What's the first thing you would do if you won the lottery?
Welp, that's all for now. Thanks for sticking around till the end. Oh, and if you're interesting in knowing my answers the the questions I gave to my nominees, just ask :)
