Sharing the Love

This week,  our little blogger community has been all a-buzz with the Edublog Award Nominations. It's really great that we have the opportunity to recognize those that inspire early childhood educators to bring the very best ideas, activities, and pedagogy into the classroom each day. It was inevitable that with only a select number of categories that I would not be able to nominate some of the bloggers I felt really deserved recognition. My nominees are: Click here for the full nomination post.


I was wonderfully surprised to be nominated for 2 categories in the 2011 Edublog Awards, or the "2011 Eddies" this year. I consider myself a fairly novice blogger and never really saw this coming! I am humbled and honored beyond measure especially since the nominations come from blogging educators that I highly respect and admire!


Karen, over at PreKinders, nominated me for the "Best Individual Blog" category. Thank you, Karen! 

Laura, over at The Seeds Network, nominated me for the "Best Teacher Blog". Thank you, Laura! 

As if that were not enough to make my week, I got the Sunshine Award from Vanessa, over at Pre-K Pages! This was a wonderful  surprise for two reasons: one, because it came from someone I truly consider the ultimate in sharing early childhood teacher ideas online (Can you believe it? She said I brought cyber-sunshine into her life????? Wowers! :) and two, because this gives me an opportunity to share with and thank some of the other bloggers that inspire me on a daily basis. 


The Rules:
1. Thank the person who gave the award and write a blog post. 
         Thank you, Vanessa! I am honored and humbled to have you share this with me.  I've been a fan forever (far longer than I've been in the blogging community)!


2. Answer the following questions:
       Favorite Color: lime green, hot pink and cobalt blue

       Favorite Animal: dog, currently Max, our "Jackaranian"   

      
       Favorite drink: Southern Sweet Ice Tea 

        Facebook or Twitter?: Facebook!

         
         Favorite flower: Sunflower

         Favorite number: 8!

         Favorite day: Saturday!

3. Pass the award on to 10-12 fabulous bloggers, link to their blogs, and let them know they've been nominated.


I am listing a few more than the number suggested, because each of these are blogs I really felt worthy of recognition for all they share. If you haven't visited any of these, I HIGHLY Recommend heading on over and hitting your "Follow" button! These are the blogs that bring sunshine into MY life:


Child Central Station          How Long Is This Hall?      

                                       


 Casa Maria                       Learning For Life      

      
 

 Flights of Whimsy          Learning Is Child's Play  
                                      

Child Art Retrospective    Males in Early Childhood 

                             








Preschool Daze                  Getting Messy With Ms. Jessi

I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here!   



     
Rainbows Within Reach                hands on: as we grow

                                           



Centers 'n Circles                       

  Let The Children Play

Childhood 101

Quirky Mama

Thank you for bringing sunshine my way!

2011 Edublogs Award Nominations

It's nomination time for the annual Edublog Awards! There are so many wonderful education blogs I follow, that it was really tough to narrow some of the categories down to just one name. In several categories, I would have liked to acknowledge more than one blog or blogger. I am blessed to have found wonderful online communities that promote sharing ideas and fellowship with other early childhood bloggers around the world. Thank you to all who share in the early childhood blogging community--because of you I am more reflective and continually inspired! 


Words (or mere nominations) cannot express my gratitude for all that these bloggers share. My nominations for 2011 are:


Best Individual Blog and Best Individual Tweeter: Deborah Stewart at Teach Preschool. I could nominate Deborah for almost every category in these awards. Her sharing and support to everyone in the online preschool community is, in a word, phenomenal!

Best Group Blog: Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning. Sherry and Donna over at Irresistible Ideas share ideas from play based preschools from all over Australia. Their ideas are always innovative, inviting and irresistible!

Best New Blog: Kreative Resources. Leeanne has only been blogging for a couple of months, but has managed to already share a wealth of information and ideas.

Best Ed Tech/ Resource Sharing Blog: Teaching Heart. Teaching Heart shares a variety of ideas and lovely printables for games, activities and teacher resources.

Most Influential Blog Post: Brick by Brick: Teachers and Kids at the Art Table. Scott has an amazing way of reminding me to slow down, listen and learn from my kids. This post in particular, is one of several he has written that prompted me to be a more reflective practitioner.

Best Teacher Blog: PreKinders. PreKinders shares ideas, printables and games. Definitely one of my "go to sites" when I need ideas for a particular theme or unit of study.

Best Free Webtool: The SEEDS Network Idea Search. The SEEDS Network has a wonderful search tool that helps you find ideas. Ideas and activities are presented in a printable format that also denotes the age ranges, supply list and activity description. 

Lifetime Achievement: Vanessa Levin of PreK Pages. Without a doubt. Long before I was a blogger (or ever dreamed I'd be one), I was a surfer. I surfed the web for ideas to implement in my teaching. PreK Pages was one of my "go to" sites for all things preschool.  Back in my "surfing" days, I would have never thought I'd have the opportunity to "meet" such an esteemed colleague, but through the online preschool community, I've found Vanessa to be even more of a resource that I could have ever imagined. Vanessa shares in various online communities and is supportive of other bloggers and educators. She is tirelessly and enthusiastically presents Best Practices to the preschool community. 

I'd like to personally thank the bloggers listed above for his or her contribution to the online preschool community. Each of these bloggers are fabulous and I encourage to to vote for them when the nominations are tallied and the voting begins.


I'd also like to thank all the wonderful bloggers who are not listed. I just couldn't list you all. Whether you realize it or not, I value your input and expertise. I feel I'm a far better teacher having met and shared with you all. 

The Versatile Blogger Award

Vanessa over at http://www.pre-kpages.comPre-K Pages nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award. I have to say that I was truly honored, especially since I have been visiting Vanessa's blog/website, Pre-K Pages since long before I was involved in blogging.


Guidelines for passing on the award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you. Thanks again Vanessa!
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Pass the award on to 10 other bloggers.
4. Contact the other bloggers to let them know they have been nominated.

7 things about me:

1.  I was born in Alaska, but was raised a Southerner in Georgia.

2.  I come from a really big, complicated, blended family. It makes for interesting, but wonderful get-togethers  and family gatherings.
3.  I have two beautiful redheaded daughters.
4.  I am a big children's book lover/collector.
5.  I am addicted to southern style sweet iced tea.
6.  I have a child with autism.
7.  I'm known as the music lady at school, although I can't carry a tune, sing a note or play an instrument. I'm also know as the bug lady, although I'm really not fond of most bugs!


Vanessa already nominated many of the wonderful bloggers that inspire me, but there are so many inspirational Early Childhood blogs, so I'll list a 10 more:

1.   Sherry and Donna at Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning

2.   Pam at How Long Is This Hall?

3.   Colleen at Teaching Heart Mom

4.   Laura at The SEEDS Network

5.   Jessi at Getting Messy With Mrs. Jessi

6.   Amy at Child Central Station

7.   Greg at Males in Early Childhood 

8.   Maria at Casa Maria's Creative Learning Zone

9.   Lisa at K is for Kindergarten
10. Juliet at I'm A Teacher, Get Me OUTSIDE Here!

I'd also like to acknowledge all the other wonderful early education bloggers not listed. I gather inspiration from so many of you, and I really appreciate all you share!

During the rush of the first week of school, I also received the "One Lovely Blog Award" from Monika at Ponad Siebie (translated from Polish: Than Myself). Because we were so busy with our classroom move, I wasn't able to write an appropriate post. I thought I would add it here, before too much time had passed.  Thanks, Monika! I'm honored! 

Thanks again to ALL the wonderful bloggers I've connected and shared with!

Honest Scrap

I received this award from Deborah Stewart who has 

Teach Preschool,  Little Fingers That Play and Excellence In Early Childhood Education

I am a fan on her Facebook page, where she fosters an amazing community of teachers sharing with each other. 

Deborah selected the following recipients:

"Teacher Tom, Matt Halpern, Scott Wiley,  Danny Chiu - because they are all guys doing amazing work with young children and I think their blogs are super cool!
And for the girls….
Shara Lawrence Weiss, Marcy Fox, Ayn Colsh, Vanessa Levin, Karen Nemeth – because they are amazing early childhood educators and bloggers that go out of their way to support everything I do!" 


I can't believe I have been included in such prestigious company. These are ALL awesome bloggers and I value their contributions to our profession.  I am learning so much each day by connecting with the awesome folks in this community. A BIG thank you to Deborah, who shares selflessly,and brings us all together! Deborah, YOU ROCK!!!

 

The rules for accepting the award are…

“You have to first list 10 honest things about yourself (and make them interesting), and second — present the award to seven other bloggers.”

Okay, so here goes....


1. I have issues with wet wood (unfinished). This is a big joke with my family~ there are many, many jokes made about my aversion to wet wood. I even broke my toe a few years ago when my brother chased me around the kitchen with a wet wooden spoon!



2. I have a very large family. (VERY LARGE!) I have a brother and 5+ sisters (15 nieces and nephews) .....and we all get along!! We rent a really big house each summer and all vacation together!


3. When I first started working with children, I was told I would never cut it in the classroom.(But I'm still here!)


4. When I first met a few of my students from this year, almost two years ago, they really thought I was Rapunzel. Two or three still mention it occasionally. (I have long, red hair.... go figure!)


5. I don't tell my husband or my children who I vote for .... EVER!  I'm not generally a political person. I do have strong political feelings about some things, but I keep them very private.


6. I love crafts, but have very, very little natural talent. It's sad, really.  :(


7. I LOVE BASEBALL !!!! I don't necessarily follow the statistics of the game, but I love the game itself. I'll watch anything, any team from little league to MLB, I'll even listen to it on the radio! My favorite Mother's Day gift of all time was when my husband got box seats for a Braves game and arranged childcare for the kids. Go BRAVES!!!!


8. I am still  a rocker at heart. I may not be able to tolerate the noise level of a rock concert every night, but every once in a while, I can still let loose!


 9. I collect children's literature. Our living room is packed with bookcase upon bookcase filled with children's books. Finding a new one that I haven't heard before is a treat!


10. Although I can't sing, I was recently told that I am known as "the music lady" at our preschool. I play a lot of music and have a wide variety on hand usually.




Now, for the seven bloggers who I want to share this award with…

teach mama
Getting Messy With Ms. Jessi
Irresistable Ideas for Play Based Learning
Kat's World
miller moments
Inspiration Surrounds...Creativity Abounds
Once Upon A Day In Preschool

Of course, some of my favorites were listed with Deborah's, so I didn't name anyone she listed. This gave me the opportunity to share seven of the blogs I visit regularly and thank them for all they share!