Learning is Something to Treasure: Fabulous Blogger Double Feature!

Haappy Friday Friends!!!,

Ahhh, Friday we meet again!! I'm so excited for another weekend to come. I bet many of you are excited, because you don't have any school next week. Unfortunately, I am not one of the lucky ones to be on Thanksgiving vacation just yet. I have school Monday and Tuesday next week. How many of you have school next week also?

Life has been crazy as usual, so I am doing a double blogger feature today. The first person I am featuring is...

Marlene from...

Grade or Subject You Teach? 3rd Grade

What inspired you to become a teacher? I have wanted to be a teacher since I Kindergarten. I loved playing school when I was a kid and knew it was what I wanted to do when I grew up.

Describe your teaching "personality": I think I can be serious but fun. I will give them the "stony stare" (That's what my students call the look I give them when I disapprove of one of their actions.) when needed. But I also love having fun with the kids and will often join in when they are playing games at recess.

What is your favorite subject to teach? Reading is my favorite subject to teach. I love discovering new books to read to my class. I also love the challenge of being able to help a struggling reader so that by the end of the year, they are great readers and really enjoy it.

What made you decide to begin blogging? I had been reading many blogs and wanted to participate in this community. I wanted to be able to share and interact with others online as well.

If you could give one piece of advice to your fellow teachers & bloggers, what would it be? Organize, Organize, Organize. With everything that teachers need to do, it can be easy to get stressed out from all the things on the to do list.

Finish this sentence: You know you're a teacher when your living room is filled with dollar spot purchases during the summer. I can't help it!

Any personal links you would like to share with readers (TPT, TN, Pinterest, Etsy)? I have TPT store and would love it if you could check it out-http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/I-Heart-Teaching Elementary

Next up is another fabulous blogger that I love following!! I'm also featuring
Andrea from...

Grade or Subject You Teach?  Reading Specialist, but I have taught 3rd and 4th grades

What inspired you to become a teacher?  I come from a family of teachers. Many of my aunts are teachers, and I always enjoyed going to their classrooms before school started to help them set up. My fourth grade teacher was my driving force. She did everything so hands on and made learning so much fun. It never felt like we were actually learning when in reality, that is all we did! I loved it! I was inspired to be a Reading Specialist during my first year teaching as a long term sub when I had the chance to work in the Reading Center for two weeks. I had so much fun watching struggling readers improve that I felt called to do the same. When the district started offering courses toward my Master's for free, it sealed the deal. I knew where I was supposed to be!

Describe your teaching "personality":  Just like my fourth grade teacher, I like to be very hands on and student centered. When I had my own classroom, students learned through exploration. They would always tell me what and how they learned various things, yet they did not even realize they were learning the whole time.

What is your favorite subject to teach?  Reading, of course! I do enjoy incorporating other subjects into reading, especially if it helps the teachers who I work with out.

What made you decide to begin blogging?  I had been reading many blogs and thought, "Hey! I can do that!" I felt like I had so much to share and wanted to get those ideas out to teachers. It has actually made me more aware of my teaching practices and the way children learn.

If you could give one piece of advice to your fellow teachers & bloggers, what would it be?  Just be yourself! As a teachers, students like to see that you don't always follow a curriculum to a T and that you can make learning fun. I love reading blogs where I feel like I am actually talking with the person.

Finish this sentence: You know you're a teacher when in June, you can't wait for summer, and by August, you are ready to go back to school to start a new school year!

Any personal links you would like to share with readers (TPT, TN, Pinterest, Etsy)?

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Andrea-Crawford-7

http://pinterest.com/acrawfords2/

*Please attach a couple of pictures to share. It could be pictures of yourself, classroom decor, units/packets you have created, or a freebie you want to share, etc. If it is a freebie, please attach a link with the picture so I can post it.

The picture of the readers showcase some of the emergent readers in my store. There are others as well. I just could not fit them all!

My freebie is the S-blends picture. Here is the link for it. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/S-blends-Snails-and-Stars-Activity