Adventures in Kindergarten

Thanks to Allyce for tagging me in this fun quiz.  Here we go...
 
The Rules

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.
4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post & let them know you've tagged them!

12 Fun Facts

• I am currently working three and a half jobs, plus finishing up grad school.  Yes, I am totally crazy!
• I have huge feet... size 11!  I'm a tall girl, so I guess they are proportionate but it is definitely a little harder to find shoes.
• I met Bill Clinton when he came to the restaurant I worked at in Maine.  He gave me a suggestive wink!
• Speaking of presidents, I was so blessed to see Barack Obama give the commencement speech at my baby sister's graduation from the University of Michigan in 2010.  No matter what your politics are, I promise that listening to him will give you goosebumps.  He also talked about kindergarten kids at the beginning of the speech :)
• I was born in Michigan, raised in Maine and am now definitely a Boston girl.
• My boyfriend and love of my life stood me up on our first date!  I listened to my gut instead of being stubborn, and here we are almost four years later.  Don't worry though... I definitely made him work for it!
• My New Years Resolution was to start saving money by couponing... and a month in I have a huge binder filled with coupons, a small stockpile in my basement and have saved tons of money!
• I am totally addicted to Dunkin' Donuts coffee.  If I don't get my fix in the morning I am a verrryyy grouchy teacher!
• I can't wear dangly earrings... they drive me nuts and make me feel like they are going to rip my ear.  Maybe I have weirdly thin earlobes?
• I LOVE to bake.  The lady we bought our house from left us a KitchenAid mixer and I am in high heaven!  She also left us a crib, but I am so not ready to even think about that one yet!
• If I could go anywhere in the world, I would pick Thailand or Italy & Greece.  Someday I will go to both!
• My best friend in the whole wide world and I started a blog a few weeks ago.  We hope you will check us out at The House Fairies!

Questions from Allyce

1) What technology do you wish you could have in your classroom?

I am so lucky to have gotten two new computers and an ELMO document camera this year.  Usually we don't get anything fancy!  I would LOVE to have a SmartBoard one day.

2) What is your favorite grade to teach?

I have taught regular kindergarten (which we call K2) and pre-K (which we call K1).  Both are great but I definitely love K1 a little more! At least in my district K1 is a lot more developmentally appropriate and thematic.  The poor K2 babies are expected to do a WHOLE lot and don't have a lot of chances to play.  I also student taught in second grade and loved that, too!

3) Do you eat in your staff room?

Yes!  I need a little break from the little ones and sneak a little adult time in.

4) How many elementary schools are in your district?

125!  We were also the first school district in the country!

5) What is your favorite way to spend a day off?
On a beach with a good book in one hand and a margarita in the other.  If I had to be realistic, I would say going shopping, grabbing lunch or dinner with a friend and getting a mani pedi would be FANTASTIC.

6) Where do you go when you need to think? Or just completely relax.
Home!  Is it weird that a lot of my best ideas happen in the shower?

7) Do you use standards based grading at your school?
I don't at my grade level, but other grades do.

8) What is your FAVORITE dessert?
This question is SUPER hard!  I am a huge smore lover, cheesecake lover, cookie lover, brownie lover and ice cream lover.  Sorry... there's no way I can pick just one!

9) What is your guilty pleasure tv show?
Any of the Real Housewives shows.  I hate to admit it, but if they are on I am glued to my couch watching all of the drama unfold.

10) Do you play a sport?
I used to play basketball.  Now I don't play sports, but I do go to the gym whenever I can fit it in.

11) Pets?
One adorable little Irish kitty cat named O'Brien. Look at that little face! 

12) What is your very favorite childrens book?
This is literally the hardest question you could ask me.  I am definitely a children's book hoarder aficionado.   I guess if I had to pick just ONE book, it would have to be Miss Rumphius.  This is an inspirational story of a girl who grew up in Maine and changed the world, which was read to me when I was a little girl growing up in Maine.  You can find more of my very favorite books {HERE}.

Sorry, but this post has taken me WAY too long to write and I have to go do tons of homework, so I won't be tagging anyone.  If you want to participate, definitely go check out Teaching and Life at the Beach to answer her fun questions!