The Liebster Award!

I was absolutely tickled pink when I saw that Alisha at Missing Tooth Grins had nominated me for the Liebster Award!  How stankin' sweet!  I met Alisha through our Five for Friday posts and she is just adorable!

  Liebster is a German word that means beloved, cute, lovely, dearest and welcome.  (I would have added precious!)  

In order to accept my nomination I must:

1. Link back to the block that nominated me - done and thanks Alisha, darlin!

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

3. Answer the questions given by the nominator 

4. Share 11 random facts about myself

5. Create 11 questions for my nominees

6. Contact my nominees and let them know I nominated them

So here are my nominees:

1. Sandy from Kinder Gardening

Y'all, she's been diggin kids since 1984!  She has experience and fantastic ideas for the classroom!

2. Erin from The Short and Sassy Teacher

I mean, not only are we sassy and blonde, but she's also so stankin' cute!

3. Nina from Lovely Little Learners

She's a Florida girl - what more can I say???

4. Stephanie at Principal Principles

She has such a positive attitude about school, work and life!

5. Jessie at Whole Hearted Country

  

I'm pretty sure my first words to her were, "You had me at sweet tea and SEC..."

Here are the questions asked by Alisha:

What is your favorite subject?

Math.  I love hands on fun and manipulatives.  Which is crazy because I was horrible at math in school.

How do you unwind after a long day?

I would like to say jog because that is what I should be doing in order to fit in my wedding dress!  Sometimes Scott and I go for a walk, sometimes I sit in front of the computer and blog, sometimes I work on stuff for school.  Can I say drink wine?  Is that allowed in the blogging world?

If you've had a stressful day, what is your guilty pleasure?

Please refer to previous question :)

What is your morning routine?  Do you have something specific you do each morning to pump you up for the day?

Hit the snooze.  And thirty minutes later I'm hitting the snooze again.  That's my routine.  Once I wake up I get pumped.  I'm pumped up about LIFE!

What is your classroom theme?  If you don't have one, what would your theme be?

My classroom theme would be clutter!  I'm in a mobile unit so it's hard to have a theme.  But I'm lovin the chevrons and polka dots!

What is your favorite thing about blogging?

The fabulous ideas!  And the fabulous teachers behind them!

Who/What inspired you to be a teacher?

Well, I'm a control freak so that explains a lot :)  I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in fourth grade.  I wrote a journal entry about it.  My mom is a teacher, my cousins are teachers, my grandmother got her education degree from Florida State University.  Education is kind of a big deal in my family.  Plus I have an obsession with office supplies...

What are your must haves for your classroom?

Office supplies, post its, index cards, sharpies of EVERY color, washi tape, colored paper...and a bottle of Advil!

What is your favorite book that you've read currently?

Hhmmm...crickets chirping...

What is your favorite show on Netflix?

Hhhmmmm...well....

What do you plan to do this summer?

Honeymoon in Europe!!!

Here are 11 random facts about myself:

1. I was raised on a dairy farm

2. I am fourth generation to that dairy farm

3. I like to dive and spearfish

4. I like to hunt for quail and dove (I have extensive knowledge on weaponry)

5. I used to get in trouble for reading in school

 (I would place my books inside my textbooks and act like I was reading the textbook)

6. I was a huge tomboy in school and never had any girlfriends until college

7. Now I have a TON of girlfriends and NINE of them are in my wedding!

8. My fiance and I knew each other in college but never dated

9. I'm getting married in less than fifty days!!!

10. I'm the oldest in my family and the last to get married (I'm 31!)

11. I'm left handed

So here are the 11 questions for my nominees:

1. What was your first job - before teaching?

2. What was your most embarrassing teaching moment?

3. If you were not a teacher, what would you be doing?

4. What motivates you?

5. What makes you UNmotivated?

6. Think of a time when you were brought to tears...in a good way!

7. I CAN"T live without...

8. But I CAN live without...

9. Do you have a favorite "space" in your classroom?

10. The best dessert....(I asked that because I just ate my usual sugar free cone and am dying for something else!)

11. Who do you most admire?

Follow these awesome ladies' blogs for some fabulous tips and tricks!

Valentine's Day recap and a FREEBIE

Like many of my snow friends, we were out of school for Valentine's Day and had to celebrate a little late.  It was okay though - it was as if we didn't know it wasn't the actual holiday!
I let my students do a family project at home to make their Valentine mailboxes.  I have to say I was very impressed at the time and effort my parents put into helping make these boxes for their children.  They were so creative!

This friend made a robot...

So precious...

This one had some crazy stuff coming out of the top of it...

This one was made with Duct tape...and mom wrote a sweet note inside!

The friend that made this one kept staring at it.  I asked her why she kept staring at it and she said, "Because it's just SO CUTE!"  I would agree.

We've also been working on some of the activities from my Valentine literacy pack.  We really needed to practice contractions!

I also made this activity during my snow days.

I got the idea from Malia who writes the blog Playdough to Plato.

I wanted an activity that practices words with bonus letters and thought this was cute, easy and hands on.  I grabbed a couple of wood cubes from Michael's and covered the stickers in Mod Podge.  Now you're probably thinking, why didn't she just use a permanent marker?  Well, I started with that and ended up with this...

So not cute, and the marker bled into the wood.  

I made a recording sheet to go with this activity (until it has lost it's luster and I gotta try something else.)

If you would like a copy for your centers, CLICK HERE.

Now that Valentine's is over I'm ready for spring - how bout you?

Snow, Snow Go Away! I'm gonna host a GIVEAWAY!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!  We have been snowed in for FOUR DAYS!!!  I can't handle it anymore!!!  I'm from FLORIDA!!!  I need sunshine!!!  Scott and I are finally getting out of the house to go to a marriage conference in Virginia Beach.  It's called "A Weekend to Remember."  We're not married yet but we wanted to get as much counseling in as possible beforehand.  We started our counseling with the preacher this week.  He was very amendment in letting us know we were living in sin...(I hang my head down in shame...)  Just to clear the air, we DID move in for financial reasons...save for the wedding, honeymoon, pay off bills, etc.  I know, in God's eyes, that's no excuse!  But anywho, I'm linking up for....

  Even though we are born and bred Floridians and don't like the cold, we tried to make the most of it.

We finally got Rosco out in the snow!

We decided to go sledding.  We didn't have a sled so we used a piece of cardboard.  Redneck sledding at it's finest.

I am still going to celebrate Valentine's Day when my friends come back on Monday.  Scott, being the amazing fiance that he is, helped me out and made the heart crayons I make every year.

They turned out precious!  Scott liked them because they were free!

And with all the time I had being inside, I was able to wrap them up and make cute tags.

My friends have also been working on Valentine's Literacy Centers.  I found the most adorable mailboxes at Target for a dolla - holla!  We have been working on all the ways to spell long i so I made a short and long i sort with tiny envelopes.  They were so STANKIN' CUTE!

This friend said, "Miss Toms, I'm going to model it for everyone so they can see how it's done."

How could I have NOT taken a picture of that!

For some reason, they like to sort them into the mailboxes first, then open the mailboxes and line the cards up, then record them.  Whatever floats their boat!

This and other centers (ten to be exact) are included in my Lovely Literacy Centers.

And guess what?  I'm giving them away for FREE for a limited time!  A little Valentine's Day present for you!  If you would like this pack, then you can get them HERE.

All I ask in return for Valentine's Day is that you leave positive feedback :)

So Happy Valentine's Day y'all!

Go spread the love!

We finally made it to the 100th Day!

We finally made it to the 100th Day of School considering all the snow days we had.  We had a little celebration with 100 pieces of snack.  My friends drew a picture of what they look like today and what they would look like at 100 years old.  I died y'all!

I loved the cane!

 It says "Oh my hip."  HAHA!  And I couldn't help but to notice the chest area...hehe!

I had a parent come in and hide 100 hearts around the room.  I have done this activity for YEARS and it always seems to be a hit.  I've actually had the hearts for YEARS.  They are old-school before we had all the awesome digital clip art :)

My friends have to find all the hearts and put them in order.

We've also been on a roll with measurement and data.  Right now we are focusing on collecting data and comparing the data we have.  My friends REALLY enjoy surveys.  They ask me what question I am going to ask that day!

Please excuse the messy chart paper!  I had to grab one I had already used and flip it over!  Improvise, right?

What I did with the recording pages is I shrank them and ran two to a page (we have a TIGHT copy budget) and then had them glue them into their interactive math notebooks.

Sometimes I'll project it onto the board alongside the information we graphed...

We'll be starting our Valentine's surveys this week!  If you would like to get a copy of the graph pack, CLICK HERE!  It's on SALE through Valentine's Day!

Hope y'all have a FABULOUS week!  

Make it Great!!

February Currently!

I'm linking up with Farley for the February Currently!

I got very emotional last night while I was looking at old pictures of me and my family.  I was searching for wedding gift ideas and came across really adorable pics of me with my mom and dad.  (It might be because I'm three states away and have no family here.)  During my search I realized I have done SO MUCH since the past YEAR let alone the past 31 years of my life!  I am trying to savor these moments of wedding planning...it's been so much fun!

2 truths about me - I was raised on a dairy farm until I was nine.  I am so stankin' proud of that fact!  I am actually fourth generation.  My great grandfather started the dairy and now my brother is learning the ropes so he can take over and my dad can retire.  Agriculture is in my blood!

I do come from a long line of hunters and gatherers.  And we love weapons.  Many people don't like the idea of weapons with everything that's happening in the world but my family has a huge respect for guns.  We actually have guns that are very old and are passed down in my family.  We consider it a sport and we like to shoot clay on Christmas morning!  Please don't judge...

My fib is that I was never really good at sports.  Actually, I ALWAYS wanted to be a cheerleader (RA RA REE!)  But daddy said that I was going to PLAY sports, not sit on the sidelines and CHEER for them.  So he stuck a softball glove in my hand at the age of five and off I went.  Unfortunately, I got burnt out and didn't even play my senior year - I really regret that!  And even had dreams about softball for years after!  But I really do come from an athletic family.  My dad was third in state for wrestling (back in the day) and my brother was featured on ESPN for wrestling!

So link up with Farley and tell us about your February Currently!