Sunshine for Homework

Recently I was tagged by both Beth Holland (@brholland) and Drew Frank (@ugafrank) in a blogger challenge. I loved reading their posts, as it’s always fun to see what similarities we share across the World Wide Web. Thanks for including me!!!

Sunshine-Award

Drew:Homework Club & Eleven Challenge

Beth: I’ve Been Sunshined!

While the names of this challenge differ from the Homework Club, Sunshine Award, The Eleven Challenge to the PLN Blogging Challenge – they are all designed for bloggers to get to know each other better and connect in new ways. This post will be a combination of the Sunshine Award, Homework Club and Eleven Challenge. Here are the rules:

Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
Share 11 random facts about yourself.
Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!
Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)

11 Random Facts About Me:

11 is my favorite number. I make a wish every day at 11:11 when I see it on the clock. For years and years and years (and years!), I wished for a horse. Seems that wish was granted to my sister, so I’m now on to Plan B for Wishes.
You could not pay me any amount of money to go back to high school, to relinquish my camera, or to live too far from the ocean.
I love to travel – the whole experience -> planning, airports, flying, hotels, seeing new places – I miss being a travel agent but still find opportunities to go Hither and Yon.
I love to read. I love to read so much, I’ll avoid my responsibilities, my family, and my bedtime. I have set time limits for myself to stay out of trouble, which I stink at. Anyone have any good book recommendations?? ;P
I have a beach museum in my classroom with vials of sand from all over the world. Some are collected by the Brooks family, and some are collected by my present and former students and my friends and colleagues.
I stink at crossword puzzles, word searches, Sudoku, Scrabble and Monopoly. I love Pictionary and I can beat anyone at Bop It… but nobody plays those anymore.
I’ve been a Girl Scout since I was 8 and am a Gold Award recipient. The Eagle Scout award in Boy Scouts is the equivalent to the Gold Award in Girl Scouts.
When I was a senior in HS, I didn’t think I was smart enough to go to college. Seeing everyone leave that fall was horribly difficult. I wish I could have seen the future and known one day I’d be an honors student graduating with a 4.0 GPA from both college and graduate school.
When I was 16, I was in the Miss Massachusetts Teen USA pageant. The experience was invaluable as I gained confidence and came out of my oh-so-shy shell.
My anxiety permeates nearly everything I do in life and has gotten worse as I have gotten older. Fortunately, I have become braver as I’ve aged, so I think it all balances out. I have come to learn that sharing my story helps myself and others accept the realities of anxiety and share management strategies. I know I’m not alone.
My students inspire me—and not in a cliche way. Trying to find the best way to meet their needs drives me to distraction. I become so completely attached to who they are and what they require and I spend 180 days trying to support them as whole children. Every September, the cycle begins anew, and I am re-energized with a new batch of learners!

Answer Beth & Drew’s questions…

(I chose 11 out of their combined 22)

Best Day Ever:
The Best Day Ever…. Oh gosh, such possibilities! The morning would be rainy, so after getting up early and quietly getting some work done on the computer, I’d head out to breakfast with my family. The skies would clear while we were there, and so we’d decide to head to the beach for lunch. While we were at the beach, there would a perfect amount of time to relax, swim, walk and kayak before heading home. My house would be immaculate because I cleaned the day before (ha ha). We’d have people over for a BBQ and a campfire. Every photo from that day would come out so perfect and in the end it would feel as if there were more than 24 hours in the day. I love days like that.

How do you caffeinate?

I drink coffee every day – usually Dunkin’ Donuts but I also enjoy Starbucks, HoneyDew and MaryLou’s – all of which have different flavors I like. About twice a year I give up caffeine, but it always sneaks back into my life. I only have one cup a day (but sometimes that’s a large cup!).

What is one thing you couldn’t live without?

I know there are standard answers for this question – my family, my friends, etc… Those, for me, are a given. But, they are not “things”, per se. So, that being said, I’d have a hard time giving up my camera and my computer. Please don’t make me choose which one.

If you could go to have attended any concert anytime in history, what would it have been?

I’ve been lucky to attend dozens and dozens of concerts since I was a teenager. I am unlucky in that those endless performances damaged my ears and left me with Tinnitus. There is one concert I missed, so I sent my parents instead. I would love to go back in time and attend that Garth Brooks concert at Gillette Stadium with them. 🙂

What’s the best topping combination to put on a pizza?

Garlic, ricotta and fresh tomatoes.

Who was your favorite teacher in school?

I cannot remember any of my teachers after grade 6. But, I can clearly remember all of my elementary teachers and I loved them all. The magic of Facebook has allowed me to connect with so many of my former teachers, and I treasure those connections. I still get that excited feeling when they send me messages or like my posts. They were a special group of educators and they all influenced my teaching in unique ways.

Favorite twitter chat?

The ones I remember to show up for. I love #edchat, #satchat and #edchatma but my timing is poor and I miss them more than I intend to.

Best place you ever vacationed?

I used to be a travel agent, so I’ve luckily traveled to a bunch of awesome places. I’m a huge Disney fan, and could easily say that’s my Greatest Place On Earth – but Disney was outdone by our recent trip to Alaska. It was breathtaking.

If you could go out for dinner with anyone throughout history, who would it be?

I’ve done a huge amount of research into our family history, and I think it would be awesome to have a big old-fashioned family reunion with all the ancestors in our Tree. Perhaps they’d be able to help me dig back farther than the Mayflower?

Favorite television shows?

I am a Reality TV junkie – I love shows like The Amazing Race, Survivor, etc.. I also love cooking shows and anything on HGTV. Our DVR has a recording schedule that is just craziness.

Goal for 2014:

Easiest question – my goal is to have my house back to normal by the last day of school. We had a significant leak early in December, and had to move out. Though we should be able to move back in soon, it will be months before our home is back to normal.