My First Ever Giveaway AND Another Link Up!

When I started updating my blog and really getting into the blogging scene this summer I had one follower, the former art teacher at my school who had followed all the teacher blogs at school. Nothing special. When I figured out how to add Google friends follower I added myself as a follower of my blog because the one picture looked so lonely. :( I did my first linky party for the newbie blog hop and bam! I suddenly had a follower and then another one. My husband came home from the movies that night and I came pounding up the stairs from our basement as fast as I could to proudly announce that I had 4 people following my blog and I had figured out the steps to create a hyperlink for when I commented on other people's blogs. Then I promptly turned back around and ran back downstairs.

I told myself then that if I ever reached 25 followers ( really 26 since I didn't want to count myself!) that I would do my first giveaway to thank those people who had thrilled me by following me. :) Well, yesterday when I logged on I had hit that magic number! If you go to Teachers Pay Teachers you will see on my profile that I am signed up for a store but there is nothing in it. Since I obviously don't have something cute from my store to giveaway to you all, I thought I would do a $10 gift certificate to Teachers Pay Teachers.



However!!!! To sweeten the pot. If I can get up to 50 followers by the end of this giveaway I will up the ante and award 2 $10 gift certificates. So SHARE, SHARE, SHARE! I know it's not the most exciting giveaway but I'm new to this AND who among us can't use $10 of free TPT product?!

SO, here's the deal. I have been trying to get on to rafflecopter to use that for my giveaway, but unfortunately it is not letting me on. So the way to enter the giveaway is simple, follow my blog and leave me a comment in the comments section of this post. I will use a random number generator when it's all said and done to figure out who my lucky winner ( or two?) is. This giveaway will go for 1 week. That means it will end next Monday, August ( already!) 6th. I will do my winner post on Tuesday, August 7th. :)

NOW, on to the linky party.

  I am linking up with the wonderful Amanda Madden at Teaching Maddeness to share my New (School) Year Resolutions with you all.  My very first post on this blog last August was about my resolution to keep my blog updated throughout the year. I failed on that one. But all the same, I am going to add my 4 New School Year Resolutions for this year and hopefully, I actually keep these this year!

  RESOLUTION #1. KEEP UP ON MY BLOG! I made this resolution last year and didn't do it. I am hoping that now that I have gotten the hang of it a bit more, have people following me, and have put it out there for more people to see, that I will actually follow through with this one.

RESOLUTION #2. KEEP UP ON WRITING BINDERS
I keep all of my kiddo's writing throughout the year and then I send it home in a 3 ring binder at the end of school. Last year I had every intention of using the binder at all 3 of our Parent Teacher Conferences. I didn't have them ready until the last one. Not the most effective use of them. This year I hope to have all the papers in the binders for EACH conference and not keep them in a stack in the back of the tub after I grade them.

RESOLUTION #3: DO NOT HAVE A STASH BOX UNDER MY DESK!
I LOOOOOOOOVE to be hyper organized. I HATE clutter on my desk. BUT there are times when I print a bunch of things out, swap out station activities, have a bajillion things going on etc and I need somewhere to put those items so they aren't cluttering up my desk top. Enter a scholastic book box that I started putting things in a year and half ago and JUST completely emptied last week. Don't get me wrong,I didn't have year old papers stashed in there. It's just that for every item I took care of it seemed like 2 more would take their place. BUT! No more! :)

RESOLUTION #4: BE AN AWESOME MENTOR
I'm pretty psyched to have my first pre-student teacher observing/ learning/ helping out in my classroom this fall. They will be doing 80 hours of observation as part of their method's classes. This is the last step before they will start student teaching. I had great mentor teachers for all of my field placements and I hope that this person will get some good idea's that they will take into their student teaching and beyond.

So there we are. My resolutions for this school year. Maybe I should add a number 5 which is to keep numbers 1-4! Ha-ha!

Link up and share your resolutions with the rest of us and enter and share my giveaway! I would love to be spending $20 instead of $10! :)

Top 5 Resources

Today I am linking up with Kelly over at the Teacher Idea Factory and Rachelle at Life is Sweet in Kindergarten to tell you about my Top 5 Teacher Must Haves and resources. You can follow their wonderful blogs by going here:









 Most of the people that I have clicked on have shared actual materials, so I feel a little weird in my Top 5. Most of my list are places not products. But oh well, here they are. My Top 5 can't live without 'em things that help me to be the best teacher I can be.   1.Literacy Work Stations: Making Centers Work by Debbie Diller.   Two summers ago I was frusterated with the way I had taught reading for the first 3 years as a teacher. When I did my student teaching my mentor teacher had used centers in her room. Over 2/3 of them were just diffferent area's in the room where the kids did worksheets. This is not a slam on her by any means, that was just kind of the way that centers were done at that time.   At the time ( 2 years ago) my grade level was doing homogenous groups for reading. I worked with the low group because of my year in Title 1. Doing centers the way my mentor had run her's was not an option for me because the kids could not read independently enough to actully do the work. I was constantly having to take time out from my small group work to explain how to do something or correct the behavior.

So that summer I got on the computer and did a search for books on how to effectively run center time. I discovered this little book called Literacy Work Stations. I checked it out from my local library first because I wasn't sure if I would like it. Let me tell you that, within reading the first chapter, I was so hooked I ordered my own personal copy ( I like to mark up books with notes and highlighting) AND had emailed all of the K-2 teachers at my school to tell them to RUN, not walk, to their computer and order themselves a copy.

Needless to say thats how most of the teachers run their reading instruction now because I work with smart people who recognize a good thing when they see it. :)

PS: We talk about Ms. Diller at my school as if we are close personal friends " Well, Debbie says to do this..."


2. The Dollar Store

Ahhh, The Dollar Store, a teacher's best friend. The one that I love is actually called Dollar Tree and it's one where everything really is just $1. Some dollar stores I have found are just called that and their items are really any price. I live in a small town ,so there is no teacher store to go and get cute supplies from for my classroom just down the road. The Dollar Tree is my go to for containers, pre-cut letters, bulletin board trimmers, sharpie markers, poster board, prizes for my treasure box etc. I love the Dollar Tree. Check here to find the one closest to you. :) http://www.dollartree.com/home.jsp

3 and 4. Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers

How I survived as a teacher before I found these two sites I will never know. You know that time in January after you come back from winter break, and the holiday rush is over ,and there aren't even any good after Christmas sales anymore, and everything feels like one big drag? ( I don't know, maybe it's just Christmas freaks like me who feel that way.) Well, it was during that dark time that I discovered Pinterest.

Now, when I say I discovered Pinterest I don't mean I am the first person to ever use it or anything like that. It's just when I personally knew and used it for the first time. :) And of course, so many teachers pin things from TPT that it was only a matter of time before I became obsessed with that place too. My classroom, my home, and myself are all cuter, more organized, more fun places/people now thanks to both of those sites. ( Sidenote: I DO like Teachers Notebook, but I am partial to TPT, probably because I used that one first. )

http://pinterest.com/



5. A good bag ( Tough, Big, and Cute)

If you are like me and are an extreme multitasker, doing anything less than 2 things at once feels like you are being lazy. For example, right now I am typing this post AND making dinner. I know, I know, I'm a super-woman. :) I mentioned in a previous post that I cannot sit still and just watch tv. But, I do love to veg out in front of it after my kid has gone to bed and grade papers, plans lessons, cut out lamination, or create the peices the kiddo's will need for a craftivity.

Well, to haul all that stuff around you need a heavy duty bag. One that you can cram your gradebook, a weeks worth of grading, 15 sheets of construction paper, and your labtop in and not have it rip out. The one that I have used for the past 5 years is a Ralph Lauren Tote that I got at TJ MAX. It looks like this one:

It doesnt have a ton of pockets on the inside, but I love the nylon material its made out of and after 5 years of hauling all my stuff around the bottom is still in really good shape.

So there you have it friends. My top 5, can't live without 'em teacher must haves. Link up and share yours!

Whatcha Doin'?

Vicky over at Traditions, Laughter and Happily Ever After had a linky party a few weeks ago wondering what her teacher friends had been up to. You can check out her blog here: http://traditionslaughterandhappilyeverafter.blogspot.com  The link is closed but I thought it would be fun to post on some of the things I have been up to this summer. Mostly, I have been working on crossing items off my summer bucket list. At the end of the school year I had the kiddo's make a list of things they wanted to do over the summer. I tried to encourage them to be as creative and cheap as possible, thinking that their parents would be more likely to play games every Tuesday than take a spur of the moment trip to Disney World. :)

Well, while they were working on their list I was working on making my own. I have actually checked quite a few items ,or am coming close to being able to check items, off my list.

1. One of the items on the list was to go to the John Ball Zoo. My sister in law and I wanted to get to the zoo last summer and we just never made it happen. We started this summer off with a bang because LITERALLY the day after school was done for the summer we went. I try not to put a bunch of pictures of my kid out there for all the world to see. Thats why this one is of the kid's backs. No faces, no having to try to blur it out. :) My brother, my ( very soon to be) sister in law and their kids, another brother's girlfriend and her little sister, my parents, my grandma, my aunt, my cousin, my husband, daughter and I all went. We had quite the entourage and, even though it was disgusting hot when we were there, it was alot of fun.

2. This wasn't actually on my bucket list but it was an important event. My brother ( the one who went to the zoo with us) got married. My husband, my daughter, and I were all in the wedding. To say we had a blast would seriously be the understatement of the year. It was soooooooooooooooo much fun. This isn't the best picture of the hubs and I ,but thats what I get for taking pictures with a camera phone in a dark hall.

3. Probably one of the biggest things I am working on this summer is redoing my daughters room. I never really took a before photo of the room because we moved her from her little nursery into another room for her " big girl room". The room had this really ugly wallpaper all over the walls and I spent my spring break removing all of said wallpaper. When I was taking off a socket cover to paint I realized there was still a little bit of wallpaper left ,so I took a photo so everyone could see how truly ugly it was. :)

Other items on the list include going to see Madagascar 3 and Brave at the theater as a family. Saw M3 a couple weekends ago and Brave is on the agenda for tomorrow. Should be fun! I also want to get in at least one day at the beach and organize my home office yet this summer. I've also been tutoring one of my students from last year in reading. I am using the method's laid out in the book Why Our Children Can't Read And What We Can Do About It by Diane McGuinness. You can check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Children-Cant-Read-What-About/dp/0684853566/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343531514&sr=8-1&keywords=why+our+children+can%27t+read+and+what+we+can+do+about+it.
So far it's helped I think. We've only been meeting 2 times a week since the very end of June/begining of July but he has increased his words per minute from 38 to 51! I will do a post on that book and what I learned from it and tutoring at another time. I will say its DEFINITELY worth a read. It's changed my reading and spelling instruction thats for sure.

Well friends, thats what I have been spending my time with this summer. What have you been up to? :)

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

The sweet Angela Nerby over at Hippo Hooray for 2nd Grade ( don't you just love that name?) passed along an award to this girl and I couldn't be more thrilled! You can follow Angela's blog here: http://hippohoorayforsecondgrade.blogspot.com/.

Then, as I was typing away, I found out that Michaela over at O "fish"ally Learning with Mrs. May( love her blog's name too!) nominated me for the Versatile AND the Liebster blog awards. You can follow her 'oh so cute blog' here: http://ofishallylearning.blogspot.com/ .

I am SO feelin' the love this morning.

SO!*drumroll please*.......here is my fabulous award number one!

AAAAANNNNNDDD......

Here is my fabulous award number 2!

One of my friends has an Emmy, Now I have TWO blog awards. I think we're about equal ;)


So here are the rules to follow ,now that I have accepted my award(s):

For The Versatile Blogger

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you

2. Include a link to their blog

3. Include the award image in your post

4. Give seven random facts about yourself

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award

6. When nominating, include a link to their blog

7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated

Ok, well I did number 1. ( Thanks again ladies! You seriously made my morning!) ...and number's 2 and 3 ( see above) onto number 4.

Hmmm, I've already told you some interesting quirky things about me in Amy Lemons Tell Me More linky party.( You can see that post here: <a href="http://www.mrsrobinson2ndgrade.blogspot.com/2012/07/tell-me-more-tell-me-more.html">Tell Me More</a>)

Let's see what else I can tell you about little ol' me.

1. I'm obsessed with the color blue. All shades. My house does not currently have blue in every room ( whether an accent or full out color on the walls) ,but someday I think it will be there. It has made its way to my classroom and my blog.

2. I love to make lists. I also love to make new lists once I have started to cross a handfull of things off the original list.

3. I organize my grocery list by aisle's in the store.

4. I like to fold laundry, but I hate to put it away.

5. I HATE doing dishes. It kind of grosses me out. Thank goodness for my dishwasher... and my husband.  

6. I love to eat cold leftovers especially pizza, Chinese food, and pasta.

7. I love to watch tv, but I can't actually just sit there and watch it. I am always doing something else like grading papers, cutting things out, reading a magazine, making a list, cleaning, whatever. I can't sit still long enough to just watch. Sometimes, I think it drives my husband a little nutso because he is the exact opposite. But it's just one of those things that he has accepted 'cause he loves me. :)

Now, the rules for the Liebster Blog.

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you, see above

2. Post the award to your blog. see above...

3. Give the award to at least 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers.

4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award.


NOW! Onto the nominating. I am going to do what Angela did and look for growing blogs like mine.

.....Well, that took a long time. I have 8 right now and my daughter is begging me for some attention, so I think that is all I am going to nominate for now. Go check out these blogs and give them some love. :)

http://buzzaroundinsecondgrade.blogspot.com/

http://2ndgradesnapshots.blogspot.com/
http://mrsmkinders.blogspot.com/

http://mrsnawrot.blogspot.com/

http://reflectionsatrecess.blogspot.com

http://simpleinsecond.blogspot.com

http://teachingmrst.blogspot.com

http://teacherintraining2.blogspot.com

And, these are my Liebster Award Winners. It was alot easier to find 5 with under 200 followers! ( There is some overlap in the two awards I know, but I wanted to find "little blogs that could" just like my own. ) :)

http://hippohoorayforsecondgrade.blogspot.com
http://reflectionsatrecess.blogspot.com

http://simpleinsecond.blogspot.com
http://teachingmrst.blogspot.com/

http://teacherintraining2.blogspot.com/
Well! That was lengthy! Again, thanks for the love ladies. Like I said, it really made my morning. And, I'll be letting my winners know later on today.

My Blog Gets a Makeover!

I found this (free) background from Leelou blogs ( you can check it out here: http://www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com/ ) and thought it would be a cute update.

I'm starting to feel like a real blogger. :) I thought the all white backround was too much white though, so I changed the post color to a light blue. What do you think of the new look? Is the blue too much? Should it just be all white? Thoughts would be helpful. :)

"Tell Me More, Tell Me More"

"Like does he have a car?" ....Oh sorry, got lost in a Grease moment. :) The fabulous Amy Lemon's, who has inspired my teaching and made my 2nd grade room an even more creative fun place to be, is having a linking party so that we can all get to know each other a little better.

 


So here we go, some fun facts about me. :)


1.I'm INCREDIBLEY afraid of spiders. I once almost cried in a college class because one of my teachers brought his pet tarantula in as some sort of metaphor for something. The meaning was lost on me. :)


2: I also have a fear of having my neck touched...just thinking about this one right now makes me very uncomfortable.


3: I have only ever worked for 3 different places. ( The movie theater, Family Video, and CCA).


4.I love to play Volleyball but never played past 8th grade. ( When I went to High School I became more involved in acting than I previously had been.) I made my first serve over the net in 5th grade. It scored us the last point of the game and I think the other team didnt return the ball because they were so surprised I made it over! I was so happy I burst into tears right on the court!

5.When I was younger I wanted to be an actress when I grew up. I originally went to school to become a teacher because I was too practical to be a starving artist and someone told me they thought I would be good at it. Turns out,they were right. :)


6. I wanted to buy my own house from the time I was 14 years old and discovered Martha Stewart's magazine and TV show. I gave myself a deadline of buying my house by the time I was 25. I made my deadline by 1 day! :)


7.Even though I usually have my hair cut into a bob, I grew my hair out in high school. My mom once mentioned her hair was 29 inches long in H.S. So I grew mine out to 30, then chopped it off for locks of love. This makes me sound competitive with my mom. But actually she is one of my best friends.


8. My siblings (I am the oldest of 5 biological and 2 quasi adopoted kids) and I could quote the movie The Sandlot 'FOR-EVER!' ( See, there's a quote right there!)

This is me, the 6 younger siblings, my husband, my two sister in laws, my cousin, and my daughter and nephew. This was from  2 Christmas' ago. It's an old photo but it's the best one I have of all of saved to my computer. :)

9. My favorite song of all time is Songbird by Fleetwood Mac. I walked down the aisle to it at my wedding, which is still the best wedding I have ever been too! =)


10. Fleetwood Mac happens to be my favorite band of all time as well. I saw them in concert with my mom, my best friend Rhea and her mom about 8 years ago. They did not play Songbird because by that time Christine McVie had left the group. It is the only thing I was dissapointed by at that show.


11. Although I don't think this is a new fact, you need only spend about 5 minutes with me in person or on this blog, to know that I am HANDS DOWN OBSESSED with Christmas. My decorations go out the day after Thanksgiving and stay up until Presidents Day Weekend. I do love the other holidays, Thanksgiving is my 2nd favorite, but Christmas is head and shoulders my fave. :)

This is a hutch in my kitchen that I decorated with Santa's at Christmas time. I collect Santa's as my main Christmas decoration but also love Angels or anything vintage.

So there you go, some interesting facts about me. Head over to Amy's site and link up so we can all learn about you. :) You can get there here: http://stepintosecondgrade.blogspot.com/


And while you are hopping around the blogosphere go check out Falling Into First's 31 giveaway. You can get there here: http://fallingintofirst.blogspot.com/2012/07/300-and-thirty-one-follower-giveaway.html If you dont know about the 31 company you should go to her site and check out what they offer. They have some really cool stuff. Enjoy your Sunday friends!

I give and I give....

Actually I find and I find! Here is another great giveaway at Teaching Maddeness you can follow it here http://www.teachingmaddeness.com/ . Super cute blog. Love her color combo's. She has reached 500 followers ( WOW!)and is doing a $50 Amazon giftcard giveaway! Here's the thing though ( for the 5 or so people who currently follow me)...it ends TOMORROW! So get your entries in friends!