Liebster Award

Happy Tuesday y'all! Today has been a whirlwind of a day! During conference time today I checked my personal email on my phone and learned I've been nominated a Liebster Award!

Thank you Colleen from Literacy Loving Gals for considering me! The Liebster Award is for bloggers with less than 200 followers. I got a nomination for this award earlier this year by my blogging buddy Angela from Southern Fried Teachin but never wrote my post! Shame on me I know. School and person craziness combined with being sick didn't work out in my favor. I'm just so glad people take time to read my little slice of the teacher bloggy universe!

1. Why and how long ago did you start blogging? 

I started my blog in June 2013. I had been blog stalking for a couple of years and loved seeing all the pictures, creativity, and passion from other bloggers. Teaching like any profession isn't perfect, but I can honestly say I LOVE what I do. I decided to take the plunge and start sharing my teaching ideas. There's something so recharging being connected with other teachers who share you commitment and excitement. 

2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?

Authenticity. What you see is what you get. Sometimes I ramble in a post. Sometimes the grammar and punctuation aren't perfect. These things are fine with me. My goal is to always keep it real whether it's through a blog post or face to face. We're all unique and one of a kind teachers, so I think our blogs should reflect that as well.

3. Is there something you learned late in your blogging journey you wished you knew before?

Since I still consider myself a blogging newbie I'm not too sure. I will say though I wish I'd gotten a custom blog design from day one. 

4. What is your favorite past time other than blogging?

I love to travel! I've always enjoyed visited new places and trying new things. My two favorite places to visit are New Orleans and San Francisco. 

5. How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog?

My goal is one post per week, so about 1-2 hours. One of my favorite weekend activities is scrolling through my Bloglovin feed.

6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?

Oh man this is a tough question. I love seeing pictures of classrooms and students working together. I also love reading about linky parties. 

7. Where does your blog inspiration come from?

My inspiration comes from my day to day classroom experiences. I love using technology in the classroom, so I also get some inspiration to share when I try a new app with the minis.

8.Which post that you've written are you most proud of?

My favorite posts are the ones I've written after attending an EdCamp because I always learn something I think is amazing and can't wait to share it.

9. Is there any post you have been planning to do, but have postponed it for a while now?

Definitely! I had these grand plans of doing a blog post about organization with materials from Dollar Tree and how I rotate math station. Maybe one day I'll actually get them finished.

10. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?

Two things: I love how blogging keeps me excited about teaching, and I love when you connect with another blogger and it's like y'all have been buddies for the longest time.

11.Which recipe, project, or idea on my blog would you be most likely to try yourself? 

This is so not teaching related, but Colleen mentioned boxing on her post. I'd probably fail hard at boxing but I'd love to try it one day!

Whew! That was a mouthful. Here are my nominations:

1. Chantelle from Little Learners

2. Natalie from Tales From Miss D

3. Alexis from Mrs. Hudgens Hears a Who

4. The Inspired Owl's Corner

Quick side note: There are supposed to be 11 nominations, but I've searched high and low for almost two hours! There are lots of fabulous bloggers who have already been nominated.

The rules for accepting a nomination:

*Insert drum roll here*

1. In your post, link back to the blogger who nominated you as a thank you and "shout out."

2. Answer the 11 questions given to you (the ones I answered above).

3. Nominate 11 blogs of your choice that each have less than 200 followers.  Provide them with 11 questions to answer or have them answer the questions above.

4. Let your nominees know that they've been nominated and provide them with a link to your post so that they can accept.

5. Send your nominator a link to your post so that s/he can learn more about you as well! 

Sunday Savings

Hey everyone! I know it's still Saturday, but I ran across a new linky to participate in! One of my favorite things besides seeing all the ideas from blogging is linky parties. This is my first time linking up with Nicole from All Things Apple for the Sunday Savings linky.

My store is all 15% off! With any purchase I'll throw in your choice of one of my QR code listening stations. Simply contact me and enjoy your goodies!

We're learning all about money right now, and my counting coins task cards have been a great resource. I've heard and seen some serious discussions from my minis while working in math stations this week. I must say I'm impressed at how much they got into the activities.

There are 48 cards divided into three sets. The first set is counting a collection of coins. Set two is comparing two collections of coins, and set three is coin word problems.

Don't forget to link up and share your Sunday savings!

Parent Conference Scheduling

Happy Sunday teacher friends! I'm anxiously awaiting the new season of The Walking Dead to start in about 30 minutes! Believe it or not, I do watch something else besides The Real Housewives. :)

Have you heard of Doodle? It's a great resource for scheduling parent-teacher conferences. It's both quick and easy for teachers to schedule and parents to sign up. I've been using Doodle for the last three years. Trying to accommodate everyone with paper copies sent home took more time and I found myself constantly switching things to get it right.

 I'm going to take you through a quick tutorial to get your started. The first step is giving your event a name. Location and description are left blank because I think both of those things would be self explanatory to parents.

Select as many dates as you'd like. Click the double arrow to move to the next month.

You enter what times you have available for conferences for the dates you selected. This is part of Doodle will take you the most time since you tailor the schedule to fit your needs.

You'll notice at first you only see three different time slots. Simply click on add further time slots for any date. Our parent conference night is the 29th, so I kept adding more time slots until I had what I needed.

Pay close attention to your settings before you finalize your schedule. The options are self explanatory. Always make sure you choose only one participant per option and limit what they can pick. I like the hidden poll option because sometimes not everyone needs to know what other are doing. Not everything is always everyone's business know what I mean?

I always choose to send the invitation myself.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy your now ready to share with parents! The time is takes me from start to finish is less than 10 minutes.Doodle will email you an admin link. Keep it handy just in case you need to make changes. The participation link goes out to all your parents. 

Remind your parents to include their name when they sign up and hit submit to lock in their preferred time. When a parent participates you'll get an email from Doodle. From that point I go back to my admin link to see what times have been taken.

Shout out to my techie-fied parents this year! They are rocking and rolling with technology! I should clarify that I do send out the traditional paper forms for conferences, but it is by request only. I explain online sign up is easier for both parents and myself. Confirmation for a conference via a paper form takes longer to get back to parents, plus the date and time they want might get taken quickly.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Ready, Set, Listen!

Hi teacher friends! I hope you all had a great weekend and marvelous Monday. My district designated today as our state fair day so I got to sleep in a little! I wanted to share the link to my first ever Limeades for Learning grant that's now live to get my minis some new working headphones.
I'd greatly appreciate it if y'all could spread the word and vote.

We currently have mismatched and some nonworking headphones in our classroom. The few sets we do have are now starting to fall apart. It's frustrating for both the minis and myself when instructional time is lost because of no headphones. 

Thanks for all your help!

October Currently

Even though it's still warm in Texas, I'm excited for October to finally arrive! October through December is always one of my favorite times of year. A new month means another currently link up with Farley.

Listening- Besides It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown there is one more MUST WATCH for October...

Hocus Pocus! I've always loved this movie during October! As soon as I settle down for the night this movie will be watched until I fall asleep.

Loving- Earlier on Instagram I posted a pic of our bulletin board with our candy corn art.

Thinking- This Saturday I'll be running my 6th 5k. I've got my pink tutu, pink sunglasses, and pink knee high socks ready! If (big if at this point) I have time I'll make a blinged out tank top to wear.

My other thought is should I carve a pumpkin. I'm 30 years old with no children of my own, but I've always loved pumpkin carving. I want to carve a neat design I've seen on Pinterest and put it on my porch. Any thoughts on this teacher friends?

Wanting and Needing go hand in hand- I DESPISE laundry more than any household chore. I'd rather do a sink full of dishes than laundry.

Trick or Treat-Who doesn't love a good pumpkin pie? Last year I found this yummy recipe on Pinterest. Believe me when I tell y'all it's sooooo good! Healthy and no bake? Yes please!

Don't forget to link up with Farley and share your currently.

What's Cookin' In Your Class?

Happy fall y'all! I couldn't wait to start pulling out the October classroom decor today! The wonderful Tamara from Mrs. Russell's Room has started a new monthly linky called What's Cookin' In Your Class. I'm so excited to be linking up and sharing some of what's happening with my minis.

My TpT store has only been open for a week. Needless to say I don't have that many products yet, but no worries I'll start building it up little by little.

I finally got my October listening center prepped and ready for use today! The minis love scanning the QR codes and listening to the stories.

Head on over to my store to grab these for your class.

The minis have also been reviewing common and proper nouns during learning stations this week.

Next week we begin learning all about money and counting coins. I'll use these posters as a refresher when the minis start doing their money math stations. 

Don't forget to link up and share what's cookin' in your classroom!