The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. So, what is a Liebster? The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. Blogging is about building a community and it's a great way to connect with other bloggers and help spread the word about newer bloggers/blogs.
To accept this nomination I must do the following:
1. Link back to the blog that nominated me
2. Nominate 5 - 11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers
3. Answer the questions posted by my nominator
4. Share 11 random facts about myself
5. Create 11 questions for my nominees
6. Contact my nominees to let them know I nominated them
Questions from Nominator...
1. What are you most excited about this school year?
I am pretty excited to be teaching math again. I taught social studies last year instead of math. I enjoyed it a lot, but I am very glad to be returning to math. I am excited about adding P.A.L.S. to our intervention time. It is new to me, but I am very excited to see how it works out.
2. If you had an unlimited budget, what would you do to your classroom? For instance, would you buy a SMARTboard, or get rid of desks, and use tables, decorate, etc?
I filled out some grants this spring to get Chrome Books for my classroom. (I won't here about them till the end of the month... fingers are crossed!) So much of our curriculum is online and having the technology to support it would be AMAZING!!! I would also buy books for my classroom and some lab/classroom supplies. My kids always seem to enjoy pulling books off of my shelf to read.
3. If you could spend your summer anywhere, where would it be?
I would be somewhere there is a beach. I love the Island of St. John, but anywhere that has a beautiful ocean would be fine with me. I would also love some mountains near by. ☺
4. What is your favorite thing about blogging?
I am an introvert by nature and not out spoken at school at all. I love that with blogging I have to opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas about teaching with others without really having to stand up in front of anyone and talk. (I am fine in front of kids. It is just adults that make me nervous)
5. What is your #1 teacher must-have (please include a link to the product if you can!)?
This is a tough question... I'm going to have to think about that.
6. Who would you LOVE to have come speak to your class, and why?
If I could have anyone dead or alive I think I would choose Eleanor Roosevelt. She is such a strong woman and has so many positive influences. Just reading about what she did and things she said makes me feel hopeful and stronger. I think my sixth graders would really benefit from hearing someone like that.
7. What is your favorite topic to teach? (Topic, not subject!)
In math my favorite is either algebra or maybe geometry. Algebra is probably my favorite overall, but I love some of the activities that we do with geometry.
In science my favorite topic is probably cells or observation vs. inference. I like cells more, but again love the activities we do for observation vs. inference.
8. Where are your go-to stores for teacher outfits?
I love the Loft (and they love teachers ☺). It is typically my favorite, but they have slacked off a bit lately and their clothes have been a bit disappointing. Target and TJ Maxx can be hit or miss, and recently I have bought a lot from Cabi. Cabi is like Mary Kay, but for clothes. I get it from my sister when it goes on clearance. It definitely doesn’t fit into a teachers salary at full price.
9. What would you say is the most difficult part of our job?
I think the hardest part is that it never ends… you are pulled in twenty directions all day and evening. Unfortunately, so many of those directions don’t include teaching.
10. Any advice for first-time teachers?
BREATH!!! it does get easier.
11. Tell a funny school story! (You know we all have them- kids say the darnedest things...)
Funny stuff happens all the time in sixth grade. I can't think of the funniest thing that has ever happened... I did have a boy my first year standing at my door trying to get a girls attention in the middle of class. I went in the hall and he preceded to tell me that he wanted to know if she still liked him, and HAD to talk to her right then. I told him it would have to wait till after class. He begged me to give her a message and ask her for him. It was cute and funny, but I had to turn him down and make him work it out later. I lived sixth grade love triangles myself once. I have no desire to live them again.
Kids are always putting their foot in their mouths in sixth grade and funny comments occur daily. I am sure there are tons of other moments and even better moments, but I can't think of any of them right now.
11 Random Facts About Me...
1. I am an introvert.
2. I am a gym rat. I love to swim, run, lift, spin, go to hot yoga etc. If it involves the gym there is a good chance I do and enjoy it.
3. I love to be outside, whenever and doing whatever. I am not a huge fan of cold weather, but I love to walk in the snow.
4.I love to listen to music. I will listen to just about anything so long as it isn't yelling at me.
5. I am a Cincinnati Bearcats Fan!!!
6. I love flowers.
7. My favorite color is purple, but green is inching it's way in. Green and blue is my favorite color combo (if you couldn't tell).
8. I love to color. Yes, I mean like a kid in a coloring book.
9. I can play the piano.
10. I love Disney Movies!!!
11. I use to tell my mom I wanted to have 100 kids. In a strange way I do have that many just in my classroom, but I will settle for 2 or 3 of my own.
My 5 Nominees...
1. Kathryn from The Good Enough Wife
2. Ellie from Middle School Math Moments(and more)
3. Mrs. Mathis from Mrs. Mathis' Homeroom
4. Tia from Tia the Teacher
5. Shari from Keeping it Fresh in 6th Grade
11 Questions For My Nominees...
1. What is your favorite hobby?
2. Who is your hero and why?
3. What is your favorite color?
4. What is your favorite thing to cook or eat?
5. If you could change thing in YOUR world what would it be?
6. What is the best thing about your job?
7. If you had a super power what would it be and why?
8. What was your favorite book as a child?
9. Name 2 of your greatest strengths and your greatest weakness.
10. If you could own a house in any part of the world (in addition to where you already live) where would that house be and why?
11. What is your favorite TV show?
Well that was a long post... I'm done for the night :-)
Yay! Thanks for answering all my questions! I LOVED reading your answers! I'm also super disappointed in LOFT lately :( but I've been finding awesome stuff at the outlets- especially J. Crew (check out the J. Crew. Factory website they have some good deals). I saw you comment on Ellie's blog about online math homework... I'm super interested! Is there a particular program your school uses? I'm worried I'm going to get a lot of "we don't have internet access" excuses since I work in a low-income area.
ReplyDeleteLiz
Floating Through Fifth
Liz, Our math curriculum is an online based program called Digits. It is published by Pearson. I do have some students without online access, but I allow them to print their homework at school, complete it at home, and then enter their answers back at school. It is 100 percent their responsibility!!! It is amazing how many kids stop having computer problems when they have to print and aren't just excused from the work. The kids that truly don't have access understand and work hard to make sure they print and get the answers entered. There is not really a good excuse for not getting the work done. I give plenty of time to complete the problems and so long as you don't wait till the night before we can work around problems as they pop up. Since there are only about 10 problems they have to complete sometime between Friday night and Wednesday morning they can also go to a friend's house, a relative or the library. The program is great because it even changes the numbers in the question and the order the questions are asked making cheating nearly impossible even if they do it at a friend's house.
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