Liebster Award & Alot You Didn't Know About Me!!!

My Goodness!!! I've got some work ahead of me! I've been nominated 3 times this week for the "Leibster Award." 33 questions to answer??? You can believe that little Leibster button immediately went on my sidebar after the third! No more nominations you guys! But I do sincerely thank these lovely gals for choosing me.

Amy Herrod

Meredith Sanders

Angelia

So no more putting it off. Let get this done!!

Here are the rules:
1. Nominee must answer 11 questions given by the nominator.
2. Nominee must share 11 random facts about themselves.
3. Nominee must pass the award on to 5-11 other bloggers that have less than 200 followers and notify them that they have been nominated. 
4. Nominee must make up 11 questions for their nominees to answer. 
5. Nominee must link back to the blog(s) that nominated them.
6. Add the Liebster award button above to your sidebar so others know you have been nominated!

Wow, alot of "must dos" for someone receiving the award, right? Of course you are not required to accept the award, but if you do, those are the rules!!! Plus, it's fun and a great way to get to know each other and find some new blogs! 

Amy's questions....

1. If you could be any animal what would you be and why? 
Probably a dog because that is my favorite animal, and what a life my dog has!

2. Have you read any thing lately? If so, what? Tell a little bit about it. 
I've been reading "Crafting Connections" by Ron Leaf, Mitchell Taubman, and John McEachin. Ron Leaf is my go to for Autism resources. His books are all great! This book is about teaching social skills to autistic children.

 3. If you weren't a teacher what would you be? 
I really can't imagine doing anything else. So I'm sure it would still involve working with children in some way. 

4. What is your favorite T.V. Show? 
I don't watch much t.v. but I do enjoying watching Rachel Ray when I'm on summer break. It's about the only show I actually will record and plan my day around.

 5. What hobby do you have?
This is it. Blogging, pinning, and making things for my classroom.

6. What is your favorite store at the mall? 
I'm not really a mall shopper....expensive. I'm more of a target, walmart kind of girl and I love shopping at second hand stores.

7. What would be the perfect hours for a school day and why? 
I think I have the perfect school hours. Not too early, not too late. My school takes in at 8:50 and ends at 3:15. 

8. If you could go any where in the world where would it be and why? 
Italy because it looks beautiful and I bet the food would be fabulous. Argentina seems like an interesting place too.

9. If you could win any prize what would it be? (Grammy, Oscar, Emmy, Pulitzer, Olympic, Nobel Peace Prize or any other)
A million dollar lottery!!!!

10. What is your favorite subject to teach? Why?
Writing because I enjoy it myself. 

11. What is your dream vacation?
Heck, I'd just like a vacation away from home!

Meredith's questions.....

1. What is your favorite vacation spot? 
Jamaica is the most favorite vacation I've been on. Would definitely go back!
2.  What is your favorite lesson/topic to teach?
Writing
3.  Do you drink coffee? And how do you fix it?
Oh Yes!! In the winter I like hot coffee. In the summer, I like it cold.
4.  What's your favorite movie and why?
Shawshank Redemption is the first that popped in my head! It's just a really great story! Love how he escaped.
5.  What is your favorite quote?
I love quotes and have lots of faves! How about, "None of us is smarter than all of us."
6. What is your favorite "go-to" blog for teaching ideas?
This is hard because there are so many!!! One I do visit frequently though is "Fun in Room 4B." She has some really great teaching ideas, especially for math--an area I struggle with.
7.  What is your favorite childhood memory?
Hanging out with my dad at the old corner country store, eating "gold-n-cheeses" (which they no longer sell) and drinking soda pops in a bottle.
8.  If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Italy or Argentina.
9.  Do you have a classroom theme, and if you do, what is it?
Going with only a color theme this year, neon brights. I love lots of color and I found it hard the last couple of years to locate decor when I had a specific theme like seuss and owls. Colors are easy!!
10. What is your favorite school supply?
notepads and containers. I'm a container freak!
11. Do you brown bag it or eat cafeteria food?
Neither. Fortunately, I live 2 minutes from my school, so I come home for lunch everyday!

And last, Angelia's questions....

1. What is your favorite movie and why?

See this answer above. 

2. Why did you start blogging?

I got pulled into blogging last summer when I kept reading everyone's blogs and seeing all the amazing ideas and talents out there from other teachers! I knew I wanted in on the fun! I love the collaboration!

3. What is your favorite vacation spot?

See answers above.

4. What is the one teacher tool that you cannot live without and why?

My smartboard. This tool just brings so much interaction into the classroom and the kids love it!

5. What was your favorite subject in school when you were a child?

English

6. Who or what inspired you to teach?

I was inspired to become a teacher when my daughter started KG and I began volunteering in her classroom every week.

7. What is your favorite piece of technology?

Again, my smartboard.

8. How do you like to motivate your students?

By being silly with them, making it fun, and offering positive tangible incentives like treats and rewards.

9. What is your dream car?

I want a convertible. 

10. What do you like to do for fun?

Lake and camping.

11. What is your favorite food to cook?

I like making Rachel Ray's recipes and baking is fun for me, especially during the holidays. 

Whew! Almost there!
Now for 11 random facts about me......as if you haven't already heard enough! haha!

1. I was raised by a single father.
2. I like to eat frozen french fries right out of the bag.
3. I don't use dressing on my salad.
4. I won't eat off the same fork/spoon as anyone....not even my husband. Grosses me out. I know I'm weird! And don't even think of double dipping!
5. I worked in NC tobacco fields from age 10 - 15.
6. I am from N.C.
7. I was a casino cocktail waitress for 11 years.
8. I was a teacher's aide for 5 years prior to becoming a teacher.
9. I was a girl scout leader for 5 years.
10. I didn't become a teacher until age 35. 
11. I'm allergic to cats. 

My questions for my 5 nominees:

1. What is your favorite restaurant to eat at? 
2. Do you collect anything, and if so, what?
3. What inspired you to start blogging?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. What is the best vacation you've been on?
6. Who is your favorite author?
7. How many years have you been teaching?
8. What are 3 words that best describe you?
9. What is one thing that you can't live without?
10. Are you a night owl or an early bird?
11. What is your most embarrassing moment?

I've decided to share the love with all of my special Ed buddies by giving this award to all special education bloggers! Special Ed blogs are hard to find, so hopefully this will connect all of you to some other great special educators that share the same interests!

And my 5 nominee's are:

Autism Elements

WoW! I'm done! Hope you stayed with me! If you did, there's a freebie in the post below this one! Hope you can use it! You deserve something for sticking this out! :) 
Thanks again to everyone that nominated me! 

Free "Writing Process Display"

  
It's Freebie Friday time again and I've been designing away!!! It's seems one good idea leads to another....while leaving many unfinished! I'll be working on a project and then all of a sudden have a brain spark for another idea.....and before you know it, I'm working on something else leaving the other one behind! 

So here's what I have for you today! A Writing Process Wall Display with these cute pencils from "Creative Clips!" Love her clipart. I'm so happy with how it turned out that I decided to go ahead and sell it at TpT and TN, but if you have this link, you get it for FREE!!! 

Some other things I've recently posted that you may want to check out are my "Make A Ten" Math Center Games..............................

I just love how cute they turned out and my kiddos are gonna have so much fun practicing making ten with these games!

.............and my "Homonym Go Fish" Game that I

 just finished today. 

You can check these items out {here}. 

Have a Great Weekend & I hope you enjoy the freebie!!!! :)

Tried It Tuesday!

Hi Everyone,

First off, I must announce the winners to my blogoversary givewaway!! Thanks to everyone for a great turnout!! I wish everyone could win!!!! 

Mrs. P's Specialities won the Classroom Friendly pencil sharpener!!!  Yay! She's a  new blogger, so stop by and pay her a visit! I'm sure she would love to have you!!! :)

Melissa at Creations by Mrs. Mouse WON MY STORE!!! Congratulations! She was so gracious. It made me feel so good to see someone win that appreciates it so much! Plus, she is a new blogger too, so stop by and check her out!!! :)  

 

Courtney @ 4th Grade Sprinkles won the Lakeshore
 Smartboard software!!! Which she doesn't even know it, because I haven't been able to make contact with her yet! She's got some great things going on at her blog......so you might want to pay her a visit too!

YAY.....linky time! I have been wanting to link up with "Fourth Grade Flipper" for some time now for her "Tried It Tuesday." I  really love this linky as you gets lots of tips on "what worked for others, and what didn't work." 

Here's what I tried!

I picked these up on a clearance rack at JoAnn's for a buck! They're stickers you design yourself! I thought they looked pretty cool....and how can you go wrong for a buck! Turns out, they are pretty cool! All you do is go to their website, www.momenta.com, choose the template you purchased, choose your design, and print! It really is that simple!

Here's their video of how it works.

And here are the ones I made!

The letters on the outside of the page did end up with a little bit of a white edging, but not bad, and apparently it's because on your printer properties page, you're supposed to uncheck scale image....or maybe it's check, not uncheck. Either way, as I said it's not bad and can easily be trimmed off. I love them and hope to get more. However, since I got these on a clearance rack, I have a feeling there won't be any more! I'm going today. 

I tried to order them on the website, but couldn't find them! The website is definitely worth a visit though even if you don't have the stickers. They have all sorts of design templates for scrapbooking, labels, and all sorts of things that you don't even need to purchase templates for. 

Look what I just made on their site while playing around.

Just go to the design + print tab at the top of their page and you can customize labels, party decor, shapes, frames, and all sorts of things! For free!

They also have a section of digital downloads with invitation kits, stencils, and scrapbooking sets.....and they're all free!!

Ya gotta check it out! Here's the link. I'm in love!

Sales, Tips, Freebies & A Blog Hop....I know, right?

Hi there,

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July and hopefully you got to take advantage of some awesome savings going on at TpT. For those of you that missed out or had to wait for that Friday paycheck, like I often do, for the next 3 days everything in my "Teacher's Notebook" store will be 15% off! And I'm having a giveaway there too!!

Did you know that you can host a giveaway to promote your shop or an item right there on Teacher's Notebook?? I just discovered this today! So I took advantage!! See the TN widget >>>>>>>>>>
Click on it to enter my giveaway if you'd like to win my Ladybug Life Cycle Unit. It is my best seller! I just love this TN feature!

You can also enter tons of other giveaways there too.....so you can bet I'll be stopping by there frequently and taking advantage of this too!

I also discovered something about TpT lastnight that I didn't know and maybe you don't either! I was scrolling through my purchases to locate something and I noticed 4 of my previous purchases flashing at me......"Item Revised." I thought I would receive an email when an item was revised since they give you that little box to check that says, "notify buyer of revision." But apparently you have to occasionally visit your purchases to see these notifications flashing at you!

 I was sure glad to discover this, because Megan had updated her ALREADY AWESOME Basic Brights Bundle and must have added nearly another hundred papers and elements to it.....no joke! What else is great about this, is when they do this and raise the price, you still get it all for the original price! 

This is only a portion of this awesome bundle! Now she's added zebra, giraffe, and leopard papers, and the whole bundle in glitter TOO!!! Definitely well worth the price!
If you have it, make sure you go get the updated version!
If you don't have it, and want it, you can check it out {here}.

My blogovesary giveaway is also still going on.  Have you entered??

You could win my ENTIRE TpT store, the "Classroom Friendly" pencil sharpener, or this Lakeshore Smartboard software!

$19.99 Value

{Enter here}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm linking up with TBA for another Freebie Friday and with "Teaching is a Gift" and "A Teacher Without a Class" for a bloglovin' blog hop!!

Just another way to share some bloglovin', by getting more followers and finding some other great blogs out there to add to your bloglovin' lists! Just click on the blog hop button above to start your journey!

And now for your freebie friday!!! Enjoy!

****If you downloaded this before Wednesday, due to the request of a customer, I have now added "will work for chocolate."

Have a great weekend!!!

Ten Pin Linky Party

Hi, I'm linking up today with Ashley at "Just Reed" for her  "Ten Pin" linky party! The focus this week is reading, so here are my 10 reading pins. 

#1

Simple, but so very true!
{source}

#2
Book jacket bunting for your reading area from 4th Grade Frolics!!! How clever!
This was on my summer to do list, but I don't have enough book jackets......darn it! Guess I'll keep saving for next summer maybe!

{Source}

#3

Love the idea of using a plate holder for a book display! Haven't been able to locate one yet, but I'm on the hunt!

{Source}

#4

Clever, inexpensive way to make book bins out of ice bins from Walmart!

{Source}

#5

Great resource for parents!

{Source}

#6

{Source}

#7

Cute way to help children learn how to choose the right book!

{Source}

#8

Why I can't skip reading tonight!!

Another great handout for parents! Interesting statistics....check it out!!

{Source}

#9

Great reading resource from Lisa Mattes @ "Growing Firsties!

{Source}

#10

I absolutely LOVE this reading program! I used it my first two years of teaching, then changed school districts and no longer had the program! Good news...my principal has approved for me to purchase it for next year!

It's a very systematic and structured reading program and especially effective for struggling readers and for use with RTI! I will be using it next year for my small group instruction! If you go to their site below, (click source), you can actually download a large preview of the program!

{Source}

And there you have it, my ten reading pins! Head over to Ashley's blog and link up {here}, or at least head over for some great reading ideas!

And if you didn't know, I have a giveaway going on right now, so be sure to enter. And a reminder that everything in my TpT store is 20% off today and tomorrow!

There's also another great giveaway going on at Ruby Slippers. You could win a new blog design! And she has some awesome bloglovin' buttons you can get for free too. 

Happy 4th!