Liebster Award Nomination

 
Wow! So...I was SHOCKED when I got the news that I had been nominated for the Liebster Award Nomination by Sara at Dare to be Different- Teach. First off, I have not kept my blog up to par like I should have. I absolutely LOVE following other blogs & am on Bloglovin' (fab. app) daily. I guess I just feel like I am unsure of what to post about. Then, there's the time factor...anyone else in the same boat? Regardless of the load of excuses I could come up with, I know I could do better. I see tons of posts with things teachers have made & what not & I make things, but instead of blogging about it...I usually give it a quick picture on Instagram. My blog in no way looks how I want it to look. All this HTML coding scares the bejesus out of me. I could play around with it, but I'm honestly scared I'll mess something up. So..whoever wants to redo my blog--I'm open for offers! Ha! Anyways...back to the award!

To accept the award I have to do a few things:

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

• Teaching's a Hoot!
• I {Heart} Teaching
• Teaching in a Small Town
• Tackling Third Grade & Other Shenanigans
• 3rd Grade Times

11 questions posted by my nominator:
1. What is your favorite subject to teach?

• I LOVE teaching math! I could really teach math ALL day! I always find myself going over my schedule with my math because there is always that chance to take someone farther or ask more questions. I currently teach math through investigations. It is amazing to see how much students grow throughout the school year!

2. Do you collect anything & what?

• I don't really collect anything... =(

3. Do you / Have you played an instrument?

• I have not played an instrument. Boo! I was a softball player as I grew up. My daddy coached me each year, and I loved spending all my time with him! Looking back, I really wish I would have learned to play the piano.

4. What is the last book you have read?

• I spend way too much time on Pinterest and Bloglovin'. I tend to spend all my time that I would reading a book on there. =/ The last book I have read would have to be Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I read this at the end of the school year to my students. (An AMAZING book!!)

5. What is your favorite genre of music?

• Country, by far. I am a country girl at heart. I love everything about fishing, riding 4-wheelers, etc. I can belt out a mean Miranda Lambert song(not really, I stink at singing) and Luke Bryan is extremely easy on the eyes. =)

6. Why did you become a teacher?

• I worked at an after-school care program in my teen years. While there, I realized making a difference in the lives of little ones was something I felt I was being called to do. I was an aide to a little boy with Down Syndrome that forever changed my life. I have always played school with my stuffed animals growing up & what not, and think I have been meant to be a teacher. I started college with a major in Elementary Education and Special Education and never looked back!
  
   (an oldie, but a goody)

7. What do you think about year-round school?

• My husband went to a year-round school, and he said he loved it. I am not really sure about it. I think it sounds great going 9 weeks then having 3 weeks off or what not, but I would have to research about the students retaining their learning and what not. My husband said it must of not been that great because he didn't learn anything (HA!...I kid with him constantly about his grammar & spelling. I'm constantly correcting his texts. He is a downright country boy and doesn’t think twice about using double negatives and the word ain't. Bless him.), but he did like it. The school he went to no longer is a year round school, and it is in the same system I teach now.

8. Do you consider yourself organized?

• I do. I LOVE a clean house and classroom. I'm not OCD about it, but it makes me feel so much better to have everything in its own place. Funny thing is, I was not like that growing up. My room constantly was a hot mess. So y'all with teenagers...there is HOPE I tell ya.

9. Are you a salty or sweet snacker?

• sweet ALL the way!

10. What is your favorite season of the year?

• I have my pros and cons about each season. I think my favorite season is fall. I am a HUGE Alabama fan (Roll Tide!), and my birthday is in the fall. Plus, the weather is fab. and I love the cute clothes that are worn in the fall.
  

11. What is your favorite candle scent?

• I don't have a favorite. I go into the store and smell a plethora of candles to find the one I like that day and get it. It changes all the time.

11 random facts about myself:

1. My second toe is longer than my big toe. Apparently, that means I'm going to be the boss of my family. Too bad my husband's toe is too.
2. I lost my engagement ring. Awful. It was heartbreaking. Someone must be enjoying it I guess. =( I lost it at the mall. I had a ton of hangers on my hand to try on & think it came off when I took the hangers off my hand to try on. Boo! Many tears have been shed over this thing!

3. I love the owl theme!
4. I have Invisalign..until August, I hope!
5. I've had braces before. I'm living proof of why you should wear your retainer!
6. I just got married a few months ago!

7. I have a stepdaughter named Isabella. (see picture above)
8. I'm loving anything antique and vintage.
9. I'm not a fan of steak. If I had to eat it, I would. I just wouldn't order it at a restaurant. My hubby thinks I'm a weirdo.
10. I love reality TV...I love shows about crazy people. Ha! I love Dr. Phil & Intervention.
11. My first concert was N' Sync. Justin Timberlake is still the bomb.com.

11 questions about my nominees:

1. What was your favorite TV show growing up?
2. Who is your favorite celebrity and why?
3. What is the housework that you hate the most?
4. What is your favorite children's book?
5. What is your favorite flower?
6. If you could get free airfare - What country would you visit?
7. What was your favorite subject in school?
8.Do you like to plan things out in detail or be spontaneous?
9. If you could learn one random skill, what would you learn?
10. What are some of your favorite educational websites?
11. What were you doing at 6:00 PM yesterday?

Thanks Sara for the nomination! This was fun!

Classroom Setup

I've finally gotten things settled enough to take some pictures of my classroom. It's a good thing because school starts MONDAY! I still have a few organizing things and paperwork to do so I will probably be back at the school tomorrow to try to keep my head above water. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

This is my desk area.

This area is the computer area. It is also where I can hang the million anchor charts I make throughout the year. The bees on the computer are for the students to take down their number when they have completed FastMath. On the left of the computers is where the students get their read to someone materials for the Daily 4.

This is the fluency section of my classroom on the left. It includes timers, books on CD, fluency games, and books on tape. The right side holds all of my math games and materials.

These are more math manipulatives and materials.

 This is my closet area where the students put their bookbags and turn in their classwork and homework. Did you notice the O missing from homework? I obviously didn't realize it had fallen down when I took the picture. =/

These are where the students get to give their peers "Bucket Fillers". It's an activity that goes with a book I read at the beginning of the year to give compliments to each other. They LOVE it! Who doesn't love a compliment?

This is the job chart. Can you tell my classroom is a smorgasbord? I love to many things to make it only one theme. I do have an abundance of owls and peace signs this year though. =) Oh..and excuse the top of the broom.

This is my reading nook and Boggle/ Vocabulary board. I am SO excited to use Boggle this year. I'm hoping my students love it. On the left of the bulletin board there will be the weekly vocabulary words with the cover of the book we read.

Math board, homework board, and Daily Data board. Students answer questions about themselves with Daily Data and we graph it and show the data in various ways throughout the week based on the question. (Ex. I like Science, I like Math. If the student likes both, their number goes in the middle. If the student doesn't like either, they stay on the outside.)

This is the Daily 4 board I use for rotations. Most let the students choose, but I have certain things I need the students to work on and it helps with not having a student choose the listening/fluency center every time. That Hercules movie is still sitting there when my future stepdaughter came with me to my room this summer.

This is the word work center. You can get a glimpse of the morning starter. It was all setup for meet the teacher day when I took this picture.

This is part of word work. I got those cute chalk circles from a Groupon deal. I LOVE Groupon!

This is my Add It Up section of my room. It is Boggle with math! I also have letters to change it to Multiply it Up & Take it Away. Students work on adding as many numbers as they can.

This is my Hoot of the Week board. As you can tell, I'm the first Hoot of the Week to give the students an idea on what they will be doing when it is their turn.

Don't you just love Pinterest? That's where I found this idea. I am using bookshelves with my grouped desks this year to help with organization. One teacher last year used this setup last year & she loved it. Those boxes with numbers are the students supply boxes. All of their markers, crayons, etc. go in there. The shelves will hold their math student activity books and reading binders.

And that's it! I need to get a picture of the whole room looking in, my door decorated and the outside of my classroom where students hang up work. This will have to do for now! =) I'm SUPER excited about this year!

Slacker!

Wow! I was a TOTAL slacker on my blog last year! I really hope I can do a better job this school year, but when there are so many things to get done, I have to pick and choose. I just don't know how many other bloggers do it! I've had a crazy & time consuming summer to say the least. I moved into my own place! I absolutely love my house, but geez Louise, it has been a lot of work! We're finally settled somewhat, and I can do some other things that I've been wanting to do. I guess I can just pick up from here & start with what I've been up to this past week or so. I got back into my classroom about 2 weeks ago and have spent a few days in there. It's still not student ready by any means, but it has made some progress from the huge mess I made it into. Every year I say I'm not going to redo my room again, but then...I get on things like PINTEREST (teacher's heaven) & find way too many ideas. My classroom has always been a smorgasbord (or however you say that). I'm always too indecisive to stick with one theme. This year, I'm starting to move to a major theme. I still have different things in there because I just love everything! This year my major theme is OWLS! I have fallen in love with all the cute owl things. Last year, I had a few owl things in my room, but not as many as this year. I can't wait to show you my final room when I get done with it. I can't believe I only have one more week from tomorrow that school starts back. We had an even longer summer this year because of a legislation passing that school cannot start before Aug. 20 (for students). It still always seems to fly by as does the school year too though. Here are a few pictures of what has been going on this past week or so!

I made a few bucket seats from Pinterest for the classroom. I also had to make one for my too cute future stepdaughter, Isabella! She loves hers so I'm hoping my students love them too!

This is a cute and organized sign I also saw on the fabulous Pinterest! I'm planning on using student numbers that are attached to magnet strips. The students will put up their magnet in the mornings as a means to take attendance and move their number throughout the day as necessary. Can you see the cute owls on the ribbon?



Bull and I went on a 6 day trip to the BEACH! It was FABULOUS to say the least! This picture was before dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company in Destin, FL. We had so much fun with his cousins and then with my family. I didn't want to leave!

These two stinkers as my adorable nephews. We got to stay with them in Destin! This was on the dolphin cruise we took! It was fun! The kiddos didn't get to see the dolphins as much as I would've wanted them too because their fins would just come out of the water, but it was still fun. We all sure missed Miss Bello Boo! She got to go to the beach earlier this month with Bull's parents though.

We also celebrated Nana's (Bull's mom) birthday! We all went out for Mexican to celebrate. These beauties are Isabella, Sophie, and Ella. Sophie and Ella are my future nieces. Aren't they PRECIOUS? That little one cracks me up big time!

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep you more up to date than I have being. You all know we have what we PLAN on doing and what we ACTUALLY get done. Pinky Promise, I'm going to TRY! =)



Desoto Caverns

Our class recently took a field trip to Desoto Caverns. We got to enjoy the extremely fun maze with children running everyone making their way through. Then we moved onto rock climbing where my sweet friends tried their hardest to stay latched onto the wall! After that, we got to enjoy the astounding cave. We all enjoyed learning about its rich history! If you’d like to find out about it..visit here. Finally, we got the pan for gems through the water. Overall, we had a exceptionally fun-filled day and loved every bit of it! Here are some pictures to prove our enjoyment! =)