Bloglovin' Giveaway and Liebster Award!

First of all, lets start out with the free stuff — who doesn’t like free stuff?! Because I am fairly new to the blog community and have just recently joined TPT (meaning I don’t have anything for sale yet), I’d like to give away something that I think every teacher will appreciate (especially in the weeks to come). All you have to do is follow my blog on Bloglovin’ and enter the Raffle Copter below and you have a chance to win a $10 Starbucks gift card!! Who doesn’t need coffee on those early morning commutes to the classroom?! So, get to it! And then come back for the rest of this post! :)a Rafflecopter giveawayFollow my blog with Bloglovin

Alright, now that that’s taken care of, we can move on to some other news. I was recently nominated for the Liebster Award by my fellow blogger and teacher Mrs. Smith over at Mrs. Smith's Class, as well as my friend Danielle over at Carolina Teacher. Thank you girls so much!! The Liebster Award is given to recognize new blogs and welcome them into the community. I am so happy to accept this award! 

To accept this award, I must: 

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

11 Random facts about me:

1. I always run out of shampoo before I run out of conditioner.

2. I need the volume on my TV and radio to be on "even" numbers. The OCD in me, I suppose...
3. I'm currently eating peanut butter M&M's -- I don't even like peanut butter.
4. I watched Scooby Doo on Netflix last night. Scooby was my childhood.
5. My favorite colors are teal/aqua/sea green and red.
6. The National Anthem makes me cry when I hear it.
7. I was a gymnast for three days when I was in elementary school. Needless to say, I wasn't too impressive.
8. I have a birthmark in the shape of Ohio on my leg. It unnoticeable until I get tan. Then it's like "whoa"....
9. I generally can't tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi, but I pretend like I can. 
10. I love country music. Love.
11. I may or may not have read every single book in "The Babysitter's Club" series before I was 10.

Questions for me to answer: 

1. Who is your hero and why?

I’m going to have to go with the Sunday School answer on this one. Jesus is definitely my hero. I don’t like to refer to people as my hero, but Jesus fits the bill.

2. What is your best management tool?

Recently I made a cute little magnet board courtesy of Pinterest. Cookie sheet, fabric, spray adhesive. Simple. I'm thinking of using it for taking lunch count. I saw a fellow teacher do this at the middle school I was working at during student teaching and it looked like it worked so well -- cuts down on a lot of unnecessary stress at the beginning of homeroom to have students be responsible for their own lunch count. All they have to do it place a magnet on the cookie sheet if they want lunch (that way all I have to do is count the magnets and enter the number of hot lunches into the computer instead of asking each student!) Here's a picture of my board (sans magnets right now):

3. What is an activity you do during the first week of school?

When I first started my middle school placement, my teacher had the students stage a “talk show” to get to know me. I can see myself using this to get to know the whole class. One student is the host, one is the announcer, and then the rest are audience members who ask questions to the guests (I was the guest). It’s fun and helpful for getting to know students and their personalities, and I found myself remembering students for the rest of the time I was there based on their answers/questions from the "talk show".

4. Do you play any musical instruments?

No. I took piano lessons for years and can’t play at all. Sad, really. 

5. What is your favorite subject to teach and why?

English of course! I really love teaching poetry because I love to see students reactions change when they realize that it’s not as boring as they thought.

6. Where would you take an all-expense paid vacation?

NYC. I’ve always wanted to go. I’ve been a ton of other places, but something about riding a dirty subway through Queens excites me. Call me crazy.

7. What advice would you give a first year teacher?

Well, since I’m a first year teacher myself, I don’t have much to offer. Be confident — that’s what I’ve learned so far.

8. What are your favorite blogs to read?

Tales of Teaching in Heels, The Brown Bag Teacher, Sweet Blessings, and E, Myself, & I :)

9. What are you doing when you aren’t blogging/teaching?

Reading, making late night trips to Waffle House with my friends, or shopping. Or Napping. Naps are wonderful.

10. What is your favorite easy recipe to make?

Ramen Noodles. ….You think I’m joking? I’m not. (My mom is no doubt cringing as she reads this...)

11. When did you know you wanted to be a teacher?

I always sort of "knew", but I concretely decided to pursue it as my career when I was a junior in high school. I wavered a bit during my first year (deciding to pursue nursing....even though I hate needles), but found my way back home shortly thereafter. I'm so glad I did -- teaching is truly what I was made to do. 

My Nominees:

The Brown Bag Teacher

Its Owl Good in Kindergarten

Loving Literacy

Teach, Bake, Love

Meatballs in the Middle

Questions for YOU to answer:

1. How/why did you become an Edublogger?
2. What is your favorite subject/topic to teach and why?
3. What is your favorite book?
4. School lunch or brown bag?
5. What’s the first thing you do after a long day of teaching?
6. How do you feel about heels in the classroom?
7. How do you keep track of your planning for the semester?
8. What is your favorite tech resource for teaching?
9. Classroom pets: yes or no
10. Do you realllly plan on your planning period? 
11. What is your favorite first week of school activity?

Happy Thursday, everybody! :)

-- Emily