Liebster Award

This is so cool!  Theresa at True Life I'm a Teacher just gave me the nod for a Liebster Award!  What a great way to recognize new and budding blogs, and I send my thanks to her.   

Here are the rules:

1.  Link back to the blog that nominated me.

2.  Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers.

3.  Answer the questions posted for me by my nominator.

4.  Share 11 random facts about myself.

5.  Contact my nominees and let them know that I nominated them.

Here are the questions from Theresa:

1. What grade do you teach? What grades have you taught? How long have you been teaching?

I teach 2nd grade.  I have taught 2-5th grades.  This marks my 10th year in teaching.

2. What book do you read to your class each year without fail?

"Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo.  I even read it with a slight southern accent.  The looks on the kids' faces the first time I do that is priceless.  

3. If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing?

I would be a nurse.  I even strongly considered attending some courses at our local vocational school when I was in high school.  But when I found out how hard it is to find a job, I reconsidered.  Because it's not hard to find a teaching job at all, right?  (insert sarcasm here)

4. What's one thing you're just dying to buy for your classroom?

I would LOVE to get a class set of tablets for the kiddos.  I've thought about going paperless and the tablets would get me going in the right direction.

5. What's your non-teaching guilty pleasure?

I absolutely CAN NOT miss my weekly shows: Bates Motel on A&E and The Americans on FX.  I've also recently picked up Believe on NBC and am looking forward to the new season of Under the Dome on CBS.  

6. Favorite book (non-teaching related)?

I could read the Hunger Games series over and over.

7. What's one thing on your bucket list?

Take an Alaskan cruise.

8. Favorite restaurant?

Applebee's

9. Who would play you in a movie about your life?

Emily Blunt.  She seems to have just the right about of "crass and sass" in her, AND that way my husband could be John Krazynski!

10. What's one thing you could eat everyday?

Haagen Daz Coffee Ice Cream

11. What inspired you to begin blogging?

I was never one to brag about the things I do in my classroom.  But when I began following the blogs of other teachers, I found myself wanting to contribute, too.  I knew I was doing some pretty cool things with my students and I wanted to share that with people who appreciate just how much work goes into it.  

11 Random Facts About Me

1.  My husband is 15 years older than me and I am closer in age to my step-children than I am to him!

2.  I'm pretty sure my 103-year-old house is haunted.

3.  I have never been ice skating or skiing.

4.  I am in the process of getting my Concealed Carry permit.  

5.  I teach at the elementary that I attended as a child.  I even work with my 2nd and 3rd grade teachers and my high school volleyball coach.

6.  I have a three-legged dog named Mira.

7.  I don't like sweet potatoes or squash.

8.  I spent a week in the Bahamas on a 40 foot sailboat scuba diving with sharks and among shipwrecks.

9.  I love to read.

10.  I can't drive a manual transmission car.

11.  I absolutely adore my two boys, Cameron (7) and Benny (6), and tell them everyday to stop growing up.  I want them to stay my little boys forever.

Questions for my Nominees:

1.  What is your favorite recipe to make?

2.  What was the last book you read?

3.  Who would you choose to be the actress in the movie of your life?

4.  Have you met any celebrities?

5.  Who was one of your favorite teachers growing up?

6.  What were you doing on August 21, 1987?

7.  How many years have you been teaching?  What grades have you taught?

8.  What is your least favorite subject to teach?

9.  What has been the proudest teaching moment of your career?

10.  If you could be anything else besides a teacher, what would it be?

My Nominees are:

Alisha @

Lindsay @

Courtney @

Jana @

Meredith @