Thursday, July 11, 2013

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:


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

12 comments:

  1. I happens to nominate you for the Liebster Award as well! I love your blog! You are a wonderful writer! I am on my ipad and can't link up, but check out my blog to check out the award post :)

    Lil Bit Country in the Classroom
    -Jessie

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  2. Thank you for the award!! :) I am now following you on Bloglovin! :)

    www.elementaryendeavors.weebly.com

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    1. You're so welcome! I just love your blog cuteness you've got going on over there. Keep it up! :)

      Emily

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  3. I would also love to go to NYC!!! Not so sure about the dirty subway ride, but definitely would love to see the Statue of Liberty. :)

    I think the Rafflecopter went too fast and put my Pinterest name wrong, just in case. :) I Pinned under Maria here's the pin. ;)

    http://pinterest.com/pin/256986722459882749/
    Keeping my fingers and toes crossed. :)
    Maria

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    1. I'd love to see the Statue of Liberty too -- honestly I don't like dirty things, but NYC sounds so fun! Dirt and all. haha. Thanks so much for entering my giveaway -- good luck!!

      Emily

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  4. Emily- Congratulations! I loved this. :) So many things you said were so me! :) I took piano lessons for YEARS and tried so hard- and nothing. :( I took gymnastics for a week after my mom paid for the year- until the coach "maked" me do a split by pushing me down. :( Done. I LOVE teaching poetry with my kids, and love Jesus, naps, and country music! So there you go. I loved reading all your stories- and your haircut is adorable. :)
    Carolyn
    Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together

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    1. Carolyn -- we're soul sisters!!! Haha. I took piano lessons for about 5 years. I know where middle "C" is, and I know that "D" is in the doghouse. That's pathetic, right? LOL
      Thanks so much -- this hair is SO much easier than longer hair! :)

      Emily

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  5. Cool information. I went ahead and nominated you as well, should you have time to answer the questions.

    http://teacherinthecity.com/?p=67

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    1. Thanks so much!! I can't get over all the love I'm getting here at my blog. I'll head over and check out your questions!

      Emily

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  6. Hi Emily! I'm starting my first year of teaching in THREE WEEKS!!! Can you describe your game show for me? What kinds of procedures and questions did you use?

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    1. Hi Aly!!!

      I have to admit that the talk show wasn't my idea, but my supervising teacher's -- the way it works is like this:

      Ask for a volunteer to be the "host" (explain that the host will ask questions and interview guests and audience members throughout the show) --- you can probably get a feel for who will really get into the character --- it's more fun if the "Host" really has fun with it.

      Ask the host to choose a few random students to be "guests" (or you can choose them yourself -- you can even be a guest!), explaining that, just like in a real talk show, they will be interviewed by the host (who has to come up with the questions on his/her own) -- some students will be too shy to do this and that's okay -- they can be members of the audience.

      Whoever isn't a guest is a member of the audience -- the job of the audience is, just like in a real talk show, to ask questions of the guests and host.

      Arrange the desks so that there is one in front for the host, and 4-5 off to the side for his/her guests. The rest of the desks were put together in the back of the room for the audience.

      Then, it's up to the host to start the show -- he invites his guests to the stage and just has fun with asking questions. The point is just to get to know your students and get them to feel comfortable with each other. The more the students get into it (the more YOU get into it), the more fun it will be!

      Hope this helps -- it really is a fun activity.

      Emily

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