The Leibster Award!

Guess what? I've been nominated for the "Leibster Award" by Ashley over at Tales of a Reading Specialist.  What is a Leibster Award you ask? It's a really neat award given out to blogger newbies. I am so honored to receive the award and excited that people out there read my blog because I had originally made it to share resources with my co-workers. It definitely made my day when I read the e-mail.

So let's get down to the rules!

1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
4. Choose 11 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers to nominate and link them in your post.
5. You cannot “tag back” the other blog, but leave a comment on this post with the URL of your Liebster post so I can learn more about you & see whom you nominate.


11 Random Things About Me

1. My hubby and I are empty nesters.
2. We are "owned" by a pug named Daisy.
3.  I have a B.M. and an M.M. in vocal music, along with my educational degrees.
4.  I'm a Pinterest-aholic.
5.  I watch just two TV shows per week, and right now they're both on hiatus. Darn.
6.  I could spend all day in my jammies, in front of the computer.
7.  I love horror movies.
8.  This is my 34th year teaching.
9.  One day, I hope to travel overseas and visit places like England and Ireland.
10. I'm also a best-selling and award-winning author of sci-fi, paranormal, and fantasy romance fiction.

Questions from Tales of a Reading Specialist:

1. In what part of the country do you teach? I teach in a small city in southeast Texas, 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
2. Why do you blog?I love to share ideas.
3. Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas?Merry Christmas!
4. What strategies do you employ for difficult students?If you mean "difficult" as in "I don't wanna do this" students, I employ the Your Choice method. "You can have your snack and go to play in centers after you finish your work, or you can sit here. Your choice."5. Favorite blogger to follow? Hands down, The Organized Classroom Blog (and Classroom Freebies)
6. Best blogging tip?Keep all ideas Simple, Quick, and Cheap
7. Best Read Aloud?Anything by Dr. Seuss.
8. Does your school have a book room? If so, how often do you use it?I don't know what you mean by a book room, but we have a classroom library, and a school library, which we use with frequency. The kids go to the main library at least once a week for story telling. And they're allowed to use the classroom library during center time to "read" books they find there.
9. Where do you go online to find additional resources?
Pinterest!
10. Do you give presents to your class for Christmas? If so, what?I give them each a book, a pencil, a small notepad, and a small toy. This year the book is Guess How Much I Love You.11. How is your classroom library organized? Genres or levels?
For Kindergarten, it's just a hodge podge of different genres, both fiction and non-fiction. They're books I pull from for additional reading material when needed for unit study.

Blogs I've nominated for the Leibster Award

1. Miss Nguyen's Class
2. Creative Lesson Cafe
3. Coloring Outside the Lines
4. Crazy for Kindergarten
5. A Digital Kindergarten
6. EnRiching Kinders
7. Fresh Starts and Big Hearts
8. Hoppy Kindergarten
9. Kinder Doodles
10. Kindergarten Kel
11. A Worm in the Apple

Questions for you!

1. Do you stay at school to work, or do you take the work home?
2. Pie or cake?
3. What is the best part about being a teacher?
4. What is the not-so-good part about being a teacher?
5. If you could have one wish for your classroom, what would it be?
6. What 3 things do you want every child to know before they leave your classroom to advance to the next grade level?
7. Do you play music in the classroom during the school day?
8. What do you do when the weather prohibits going outside for recess?
9. Do you have a special "tip" that you pass along to substitute teachers?
10. Classroom aide or no aide?
11. If a college student asked you if they should pursue a teaching degree, what would you tell them?

Thanks again to Ashley!