Liebster Award - Woohoo!!!!

Hi!  I am so honored to be nominated for a Liebster Award by two bloggers whose blogs I read and admire.  I am thrilled that Jayme from Teach Talk Inspire  and Chrissie from Undercover Classroom found my blog worthy of the Liebster Award.  This is an award given to bloggers with growing audiences and to help recognize wonderful and different voices in the blog world.  It is meant to encourage us and welcome us to this wonderful new terrain.  It is a huge honor to be nominated and I am excited to write this post!  Thanks so much ladies!

As an aside, the autocorrect keeps correcting Liebster, to Lobster - which cracks me up. Teehee!

When given a Liebster Award I need to answer the following 11 questions from my nominators in order to accept the award (I do!), and then I get to nominate some blogs, as well as pose 11 questions of my own.  Yippee :)

1. Why and how long did you start blogging?
I started blogging after *thinking* about blogging for a long time.  I have enjoyed reading blogs over the years and I would think - "Hey, I have something to say about that!"  But then other times, I would worry about the time commitment, or if I would have things to say.  Finally, in February 2015, I just got inspired and decided to go for it!

2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?
Openness.  This journey is all about sharing what I know and being open with my feelings and thoughts.  I love the collaborative aspect of blogging and meeting other teacher bloggers.  Everyone has been kind and welcoming and I am happy to be a part of this community.  I hope to share teaching truths and the fact that teaching is sometimes messy, and wonderful, and everything else in between.

3. Is there something you learned late in your blogging journey you wished you knew before?
Hmmmm.  I have been blogging less than 3 months so I don't know if I have had any big "A-ha" moments of what I wish I knew yet.  I have learned so much in this journey so far and know I still have so much to learn.  I look forward to this adventure and all that it brings.

4. What is your favorite pastime other than blogging?
I enjoy doing so many activities.  I love spending time with my husband.  We have so much fun together.  We love to travel, see live music, walk, hike, camp, cross country ski, watch movies, and just be together.  I also love getting together with friends and keeping in touch with family since we do not live in the same state.

5. How many hours do you dedicate to your blog/TpT?
Too many!  Ha!  I am pretty dedicated and it seems like I spend quite a bit of time each day working on something.  I enjoy it though so it doesn't feel like work. It is an outlet for me to create activities for my students to use, which I then like to share on TpT.  I would love to spend more time on TpT, but then I would never leave the couch!

6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?
I like so many blog posts, but my favorite blog posts are when bloggers have pictures of their classroom and students.  I love seeing into another classroom and seeing ideas put into action.  It gives me ideas and inspiration while allowing me to visualize the content of the blog topic.  It is amazing to read so many creative blogs!

7. Where does your blog inspiration come from?
My day to day classroom interactions!  Ultimately, that is where I get my ideas for my blog.  It is also inspiring to read other bloggers blogs because that might spark an idea that I have been thinking about but haven't put down in a written format yet.  I also get inspired from conversations with friends and colleagues, and different topics relating to teaching.

8. Which post that you've written are you most proud of?
I think my Rainy Day Art and a Freebie.  The art project is just darling and so simple.  However, I added a freebie through google docs and that was huge for me!!!!  I feel so accomplished having figured that out.  I posted it, but realized it was not correct, so had to go back and redo it.  I had the code in the blog, rather than the image.  I hope I remember how to do it again!  Ha! Ha!

9. Is there any post you've been planning to do, but have been postponing for a while now?
Yes.  I have a few posts started in my queue.  One of them pertains to a training I attended with Anita Archer.  There were so many great strategies I'd like to share............but I just have to finish the post!

10. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?
Meeting other amazing bloggers and making new friends!!!!!  This is such a wonderful world of friendly teachers and I am so glad to be a part of it!  Plus, there are so many wonderful ideas from blogs I read that I can implement in my own classroom.  I feel like I am challenged to be the best I can be and my students are the ones who get to benefit from my obsession with reading blogs!

11. Which idea from a blog would you like to try yourself?
I read a blog post in 2013 by Lucky to Be in First called Using iPods as Listening Centers.  I actually transferred all of my classroom tapes that have music on them to my iPod after reading that post.  Next on the list is transferring my books on tape.  It will take some time, but I'd like to make this a summer project.  I have some iPods that I can use, and I have loads of books and stories on tape.  Children today do not know how to use tape players, but they sure know how to use iPods!  I had my listening center tape recorder color coordinated with green (play), yellow (rewind) and red (stop) stickers, and it was still a challenge.  No more!  This blog post was so inspiring to me - now I just need to make it happen :)

Now for the tricky part.............yet wonderful part at the same time!  There are some great blogs that I would like to nominate.  There are many that I read, but these are just a few!  I am excited to announce some fabulous bloggers and new teacher friends for a Liebster Award!  Without further ado..............here are my nominees (in no particular order) for the lovely Liebster Award:

1. Deirdre from Mrs. Garcias Super Scholars
2. Chelsea from The Twenty Something Teacher
3. Chad from Male Kindergarten Teacher
4. Becky and Greg from The Class Couple
5. Jen from Kindergarten Coffee Talk

I would love for these bloggers to answer the following questions:

1. Why did you start blogging and how long have you been blogging?
2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog?
3. How many hours a week do you dedicate to your blog/TpT/social media?
4. Where does your blog inspiration come from?
5. What category of blog posts do you like to read best?
6. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?
7. What idea from a blog would you like to try yourself?
8. Salty or sweet?
9. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
10. If you weren't a teacher, what career would you choose?
11. What is your favorite grade to teach?

Here are the Liebster Award rules:

• Link back to the blog that nominated you (me!)
• Answer the 11 questions posted by the nominator 
• Nominate 5-11 blogs (with less than 200 followers) and link to them in your post
• Contact the nominees and let them know they have been nominated

Thanks again for the wonderful nomination Jayme and Chrissie!  I am grateful and happy!