One Lovely Blog Award

I was nominated by the Jayme from Teach Talk Inspire for the One Lovely Blog Award! I love following her blog, she is such an inspiration! 

I am so humbled that my blog has received this award from Jayme because I had been dreaming of starting this little blog for about two years...but life got busy! Finally, back in December, over my school's winter break, I told myself it was finally time to get started and I am so glad I made that decision! This world of teacher bloggers it so friendly and I love connecting with teachers from all over the world to get great ideas I can use with my own kids!
To accept this award I need to give 10 facts about myself so that you can get to know this girl behind the blog!
1) I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in 1st Grade! I would make my babysitter play school with me each day when I got home AND I would even give her homework. I was a mean little 7 year old teacher!
2) I ran in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in Washington D.C. It was my first half-marathon and it was a beautiful run, not to mention the cute Tiffany's necklace they give you when you cross the finish line :)
3) I am obsessed with peanut butter and pickles...I mean not together. I have loved those two things (separately) since I was little. I ate PB&J sandwiches every day for lunch all the way through high school. 

4) With an A, with an A, with an A-L-P, with a P, with a P, with a P-H-A, with a P, with a P, with a P-H-I...ALPHA PHI! Yep that's right, I joined Alpha Phi as a sophomore in college. Any other Alpha Phi teachers out there?!?!
5) My first plane ride was not until I was 22 years old! Not because I am scared of planes, we just drove everywhere because the vacations we planned were always less than a 7 hour drive from our home. 
6) It rained on our wedding day BUT as you know, a knot that becomes wet is extremely hard to untie. Therefore when you "tie the knot" on a rainy day your marriage is supposedly hard to unravel so my husband and I are lucky!
7) I would move to to Waco, Texas just so I could have Joanna and Chip design my home for me. I love them! Any other Fixer Upper HGTV fans out there? 
8) My first trip to the west coast was for our first wedding anniversary! It was a blast and I loved California.  
9) I am TERRIFIED of snakes! I think 90% of my nightmares have to do with snakes! It's their fangs that really creep me out.
10) I really want to go on a hot air ballon! We tried to while we were in California on our anniversary trip but the weather didn't cooperate. 
Thank you so much for stopping by and reading a little more about me! I now nominate these wonderful and inspire blogs for the One Lovely Blog Award: 
Allyson from Going Strong in 2nd Grade Jill from ABC's and Polkadots Breanna from A Pinch of Primary Amanda from A Traveled Teacher Page & Cristy from Kindergarten Squared Tess from The Krafty Teacher Nicole from Why Pencils Have Erasers

To accept the 'One Lovely Blog Award' please comment below and post ten facts about you on your own blog. Then send the love to a few other bloggers that you love by nominating them! 

Liebster Award!

I am happy to announce that I have been nominated for a Liebster Award by Melanie at Confessions of a Kodaly Music Teacher! Thank you so much for your nomination! It means so much to me! :)

If you haven't heard about the Liebster Award, it is awarded to blogs with growing audiences. It is also to acknowledge up and coming blogs and share them with the rest of our blogging community! 

So what exactly is a Liebster? Liebster is a German word and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, pleasant, valued, and endearing.  I am so flattered to be chosen for this awesome recognition as part of the blogging community. After all, teachers are neat, sweet, and hard to beat! :)  

To accept this award I need to answer 11 questions. So it's Q&A TIME! 

1.  Why and how long ago did you start blogging?
I started my blog only a few months ago to connect with other teachers! I love sharing ideas and always find inspiration in connecting with other educators. Learning from other educators keeps me motivated. Not to mention, connecting with other bloggers benefits my students because I gather inspiration from other teachers from all over the world. 

2.  What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?
Engagement! The ideas I share on my blog are focused around engagement! I want my students to be collaborative, creative thinkers. So when I plan lessons I try to make sure my students are communicating and collaborating with other students as much as possible. I do this to provide opportunities in the classroom that allows students the chance to practice important social skills.  I believe the more students talk about their experiences and knowledge the more they will retain information and become more accountable for their own learning. I always strive to create life long learners in my classroom.

3.  Is there something you learned late in your blogging journey you wished you knew before?
That connecting with other teachers through blogging is so empowering.  I wish I had known this earlier, so I wouldn't have waited so long to start my own blog!

4.  What is your favorite pastime other than blogging?
Spending time with family and friends, decorating, and gettin' crafty! 

5.  How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog/TPT?
Not nearly enough time on my blog. I usually spend the majority of time on TPT products because I love creating activities for my classroom. Once I have had time to create and use my own TPT products, I finally get around to blogging about them! 

6.  What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?
Really anything about teaching! I enjoy reading about strategies that work in other classrooms so I can reflect on how they could be used in my own classroom. I also like to get new picture book recommendations from others bloggerss. 

7.  Where does your blog inspiration come from?
My inspiration comes my own classroom. I love sharing what I have done that works well for my students. I also enjoy linking up with other educators for inspiration.

8.  Which post that you've written are you most proud of?
I think I'm most proud of my Virginia is for Book Lovers post because it was my very first blog hop! It was so energizing to connect with other bloggers from Virginia and it shed light on how much I can grow as an educator by blogging with other teachers. Not to mention, I also love the book The Adventures of Beekle! 

9.  Is there any post you have been planning to do, but have been postponing it for a while now?
I have been wanting to share about a clock activity I recently did in my classroom, so I am hoping to get to that next! I have just been busy preparing for the arrival of our first baby!

10.  What is your favorite aspect of blogging?

My favorite aspect of blogging is linking up with other bloggers through blog hops and linky parties. Through hops and linky parties I am learn from other's ideas.  As Dr. Seuss says "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go!" Through blogging and reading others blogs I can help my students go more places! 

11.  Which idea from a blog would you like to try yourself?
I am actually getting ready to have my students work on using their senses when writing poetry this coming week, after being inspire by Carla's post at Comprehension Connection.

Now it's time to get to know some more bloggers!

I now nominate these fantastic teachers for the Liebster Award:

1. Stacy at Made with Love
2. Amy at Teach! Sparkle! Smile!
3. Julie at Creatively Crazy with Learning
4. Jayme at Teach Talk Inspire
5. Melinda at Tales of a Sassy Teacher
6. Miss M at Crayons, Pencils, and Students...Oh My
7. Mrs. Richardson at Happy Days in Fourth Grade
8. Breanna at Learning, Labs, and Lattes
9. Jessica at Row into Learning
10. Miss Giraffe at Miss Giraffe's Class
11. Christina at Whale-Come to 2nd Grade

The rules for receiving this award are to:

1. Link back to the blog that nominated you.
2. Answer the 11 questions posted by the nominator. 
3. Nominated 5-11 people (blogs with less that 200 followers) and link them in your post.
4. Contact the nominees and let them know that they have been nominated on your blog.

Thanks for stopping by!