Liebster Award - Thankful for new blogging friends!

 

HUGE thank you to Allison over at Live, Love, Learn in Fourth Grade for nominating me! What a sweet thing to do! This is my first year blogging (and teaching, for that matter!) and I can truly say the blogging world has helped me more than I can say! Having never taught fourth grade, it's so nice to visit blogs like Allison's to hear about what they love and recommend, and to be inspired every single day.

To accept this nomination, I need to...

• Link back to the blog that nominated me
• Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers
• Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator
• Share 11 random facts about yourself
• Create 11 questions for your nominees
• Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them

 Blogs I am nominating:

• Amanda at Rock Stars at Work
• Rissa at Keep Calm and Hoot On
• Kay at On the Trail of Learning...A Fourth Grade Adventure
• Miss B at Real Teachers Learn
• Ashley at Teaching Paws-itively 

Allison's Questions:

 1. If you had to describe yourself using only three adjectives, what would they be and why? 

Crafty- I love crafts, projects, and seeing ideas come to life.

Creative- There is no better feeling than getting that one *awesome* idea for whatever you're working on, and making it happen. 

Enthusiastic- I love teaching. I love what I do. I love what I teach (literacy). And I think that really shows :)

2. What is your favorite stress reliever during the school year? 

Probably dumb television shows. There's nothing better to me than curling up on the couch after a long day and vegging out with some drama-filled, girly TV show ;)

3. Do you use reading workshops in your classroom. If so, what do you think about it? 

Being a first year teacher, I don't have any experience to go from! However, I am loving the idea of reading workshops and can't wait to use them. I heard the idea of reading WS for the first time at a teaching conference I attended last month. It totally changed the way I think about teaching reading, and I can't wait to use it this year.

4. If you could go back and relive one teaching experience you've had what would it be? Positive or Negative. 

Student teaching last year! It was so much fun. And very low-pressure, low-stress ;) Haha. My mentor teacher and I clicked so so well and it made "work" a joy!

5. What are your hobbies?

Crafts, shopping, and reading! And often times, all three of those are linked somehow ;)

6. What is your all time favorite lesson? 

Hard to choose! I really love the activity I used for teaching Henry's Freedom Box this past year. It involved the students "assembling" the body parts of the character- thoughts, feelings, actions, personality, etc. They worked in groups to study the text in depth and complete their character trait. Then, as a whole group we put Henry "back together" and learned more about how to really study and learn from characters in reading. Loved it!

7. What is your all time favorite recipe? 

Almost any recipe from my Mom! I love her cooking. When I got married, she gave me a cookbook with several of my favorites written in and ready. Including homemade mac&cheese, cheese pie, cheese dip, and vanishing oatmeal cookies. My "go-to" recipe is the Easy Beer Bread from Celebrating Home. I love to make it in my bean pot! It literally takes a minute to mix up, and it's delicious! Get the recipe here: http://www.beanpotcookbook.com/beer-bread/. 

8. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? 

Absolutely, definitely, completely- Europe. Specifically England and Italy :)

9. If you had unlimited money, what would you buy for your classroom? 

Oh my word...where to begin? Books, of course. New, beautiful, matching bookshelves. Rugs, pillows, curtains. Round tables. iPads. The list could go on and on and on...

10. What advice would you give to someone interested in starting a blog? 

Just do it! Why not? Get out there. Do a linky party! It's a great way to get started and find friends and followers. Most of all, share share share. Share you life, share your passion, be yourself. That's what everyone wants to read! :)

11. Are you an animal lover?

I am a lover of MY animal...Lewis. My four month old cocker spaniel that is incredibly spunky and full of life. Not so much other people's ;)

11 Random Facts About Me:

•  I'm an Arkansas blogger! Born and raised here in the Southwest corner. It's home :)
• I'm a first year teacher! I just graduate and May and will begin my first year teaching fourth grade literacy!
• I'm a perfectionist. I go overboard. I'm picky. It's my thing ;)
• My hubby and I are celebrating our one year wedding anniversary this month on the 28th! So happy and in love. And can't wait to "get away" with him for the weekend.
• I have a HUGE classroom library. Especially for a first year-er. Between my love for books, and the books left by teachers before me...I ended up with over 700 books this year. Crazy! But I love it.
• I love to sleep. I could take naps all day! Haha.
• I come from a family of teachers. My Dad teaches high school history and my Mom is a kindergarten teacher. My older sister is a preschool teacher, and I am now a fourth grade teacher! Crazy, right? 
• I love TPT and teaching blogs. They have literally changed my "teaching life"!
• I love desserts of all kind. They're my favorite. 
• I truly believe no teacher can function without a hot glue gun. I know I can't!
• I love a good blanket. I keep one on me at home at all times. It's just cozy!

Questions For My Lovely Nominees:

1. What made you want to be a teacher?

2. What keeps you being a teacher?

3. Why did you start blogging?

4. What is your favorite book?

5. What is at the top of your wishlist for your classroom right now?

6. Your favorite store or website for teaching supplies?

7. What is your favorite subject to teach?

8. If you weren't a teacher, what would you do?

9. Something you bought this summer for your classroom?

10. Who is your favorite TPT seller or blogger to read or follow?

11. What advice would you give a first year teacher?

Thanks again, Allison, for the nomination! I am so excited to find new blogging friends through this :)

Oh, and happy Saturday!

July Already? { "Currently" Linky Party }

I can't believe that July is already here! I love and hate the month of July. I love it because it's summer, my wedding anniversary, my Mom's birthday, the Fourth, etc. I dislike that it's the last (*sniff sniff*) month of summer before school! But I am looking forward to spending these next weeks working hard to get my room and myself ready for my fourthies!

So this is my first link up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade! Love love love her blogging style. Check her out here.

 

I'll admit it...Top Gear UK is pretty funny. I can actually watch it. And it's a show about cars. Crazy, right? But right now I'm too busy catching up on the blogosphere to really watch. 

Ahhh summertime...there's nothing like it! After a crazy week of VBS, we've had a pretty great summer weekend to wind down. We went swimming with friends yesterday (did a little work on my tan ;) and had a cookout at my parent's house. Today we had church, lunch with friends, and a whole afternoon of undisturbed laziness. There's nothing better! I am looking forward to a (hopefully) less busy week filled with my doggy, swimming, and working in my classroom.

I do a lot of thinking about things I need to do. First year jitters, I suppose? I've even had dreams about school these past two nights. Time for a chill pill, perhaps?? Haha. I just have so many, many ideas and am having trouble getting the ball rolling. This busy week was a bit of a setback so hopefully I can get back on track and knock out some of my bigger projects! Like my library...any volunteers to come organize that? I spent the whole afternoon lexile-leveling -_-

Don't even listen to me. I have more than enough stuff for my room. A generous teacher before me, my kindergarten teacher mother, Hobby Lobby, and a teacher trip store have all granted me plenty of supplies. I just need to get my life together and put them up! Haha. 

This is a real need. I've had the same tub of books in my living room for two weeks now. They are all contact-papered and lexile-leveled. If only I could say the same for all the books at school? I love books. I was so happy to see that the teacher before me had left shelf after shelf of books for my kiddos. I just need to get in there and organize them! Helpppppp :)

Oh, and dinner will hopefully be happening after this post. Haha.

Tips and tricks for TPT/blogging/etc. Well, I'm obviously  no expert. BUT. I know what I like. And I like practical stuff. Well, let me rephrase that. Practical cute stuff. Stuff you can actually use. Stuff I can see working for me and my kids. Stuff I have used myself or seen used or heard about being used. You feel me? Nothing appeals to me more than seeing a product that I truly can use! Not just download and forget about.

And that's my "currently"! Head over to Farley's blog and link up your own :)

 

Five For Friday! [June 28th Linky Party]

 

My five random things from this week! :)

  1) This week at church (New Life Church Magnolia), we've been celebrating Vacation Bible School! Our theme is SonWest Roundup. Above is the stage area that we decorated. I spent like three weeks painting the town backdrop! So glad to have those big boards out of my house, but happy with how it turned out!

 2) Me and my VBS class during bible story time! I loved working with the 7 to 9 year olds group this week. We had lots of fun! Also, don't judge my western getup ;)

3) The soundtrack of my week! Love Ellie Goulding's energizing songs! They have been the perfect music for working in my classroom and on my computer. 

 4) I'm more than a little obsessed with my dog, Lewis. He has the best, craziest, most hilarious personality. As you can tell. He definitely keeps me and the husband on our toes. Even though he drives me crazy, he has been a great companion this summer :)

5) Our Netflix shows of the week (don't judge). Since we don't have cable or satellite at our house, we spend a lot of time scouring Netflix. This is what we've been watching this week...(haha). 

Happy Friday!

Back! (sort of)

Well, blogging world, it's been a busy summer already! I can't believe it's about to be July! So much has happened since I've been "awol" once again. In May I graduated from college (woop!) and we got our crazy, hilarious cocker spaniel puppy, Lewis. We began June with an awesome, much-needed vacay to Florida! The hubs and I spent a week in Sarasota with my in-laws visiting my sisters-in-law, one of whom just had an adorable baby!

The day after we got back (seriously!) I received the best news of the summer.... I got a job!

I am so excited to officially be a fourth grade literacy teacher. I think it is the perfect job for me. I love all things books, reading, writing, and literature-related. So these past few weeks have been filled with me obsessively preparing for my first year of teaching! I even attended my first teaching conference in Little Rock with my new colleagues! Ahh!

Can you tell I'm a little excited? I've been spending a lot of time on TPT, Pinterest, blogs, and in my classroom getting ready for all things fourth grade. And of course, I have been making my own things as well. Hopefully I will have those up in my store soon as well :)

This past week has also been VBS at our church. I've been teaching the 7 to 9 year olds group, which has of course, been a blast. It's so nice to "get back in the teaching game" for a bit. I haven't worked with kids since May! Which is a good thing and a bad thing all at the same time ;)

So that's what I've been up to! Been spending lots of nights contact paper-ing books for my library, scraping hot glue off the walls, and rearranging things in my room. It still has a long way to go...but I promise to put up some before/after pictures when it's finished.

So....any tips for a newbie fourth grade teacher? I'll take all the help I can get!

Happy summer! :)

 PS- Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin ;)

Back Again...With Something to Share! ;)

hello again

So I realize that a few weeks ago I said I was "back in the blog world", and yet...it's been forever again. Whoops! Well there are two very good reasons why I have been "awol" lately...

First of all, meet the newest member of our little family! Lewis is our new cocker spaniel baby. So I have been a "new parent" for the past week (pray for me...haha). Lots of walks, meeting people, vet visits, and potty training for us lately. 

Secondly...I have been working on something BIG. No, really. It's huge. For the past two weeks or so I have been completing an Opinion Writing Unit for my TPT store (and hopefully, future class). It's 28 pages long with 8 days worth of lessons, activities, and worksheets!

Y'all, I love this unit. This is what came out of my head...with no outside sources or ideas. And that's what I love about teaching. The natural creativity that I get to use every day. Right now, it is available in both of my stores for $10.00. However, I am working on making individual lessons and worksheets available from the unit for purchase as well. Look for those in the next week (or two or three...). 

Get the unit here or here!

So that's what I've been up to! Just want to say thank you to all that have supported me and encouraged me. I also ask that you pray for me as I continue the process of finding a school/classroom/home to begin my teaching journey. In the mean time, check out my stores for more from me :)

hannah

TPT 2-Day Sale! {Better Late Than Never}

Still working on getting my life together (of course), but Cute in the Classroom is participating in the TPT Teacher Appreciation 2 Day Sale! The sale is going on May 7 and May 8, so you still have time to score some awesome deals on products for your classroom! Head over to TPT to save up 28% off some amazing stuff, and checkout my store for some seriously low prices! Enjoy :)

hannah