Elementary Etudes: The Liebster Award

Hi all! This week has been a crazy one! Monday was our yearly Veterans Assembly in the afternoon, but this was the first year I was mostly "in charge." Then, Tuesday night was the 4th graders music program for Veterans Day. I'll be posting pictures and videos later.

Today and Friday we don't have school - hooray! Our volleyball girls are playing for their 2nd state championship tomorrow. Good luck, ladies!

Due to this, I have some free time to blog. I'm honored to be nominated for a Liebster Award by Jennifer at The Yellow Brick Road!

The Liebster Award was created to highlight blogs with growing audiences (200 followers or less). The rules for receiving this award are:

1. In your post, link back to the blogger who nominated you as a thank you and a 'shout out'.

2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you, plus create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer (please use the set questions I've answered).

3. Nominate eight people, (blogs with less than 200 followers) and link them in your post.

4. Let your nominees know and provide them with a link back to your post (so they can see the rules).

5. No nominating the person who nominated you, however you may send them a thank you.

1. Why and how long ago did you start blogging?

I started blogging in August 2013. It was only a year or so ago, but it feels like forever! I wanted toshare all of the amazing ideas I've found, adjusted and used with my students. I am my own person at my school, so it's hard to find people to share things with and bounce ideas off of. I hope that my blog is helpful to those teachers that are a little more secluded or just need some new ideas.

2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?
Share! I want to share ideas as much as possible. I love when readers comment on my blog with twists or adjustments that they've used with a lesson. I enjoy having another pair of eyes look at things and give me suggestions!

3. Is there something you learned late in your blogging journey that you wished you knew before?
I didn't know how to link pictures! It is so much quicker for someone to click on the picture of what I'm talking about to direct them to the resource! In the past, I would post the link underneath. I am much quicker at it now - hope it helps!

4. What is your favorite past time other than blogging?
I love TV! It feels great to snuggle up on the couch and watch one of my favorite shows. Over the summer, my husband and I binge watched all of Game of Thrones. Now, I've been trying to find all of the seasons of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. My husband and I also watch Jeopardy every day, no matter what.

5. How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog?

I try to dedicate a couple hours or so. Right now, it's program season, so school and piano lessons are taking a lot of my free time. I struggle with whether something is worth posting or not. I always try to have supplemental pictures, links and other items before posting to catch people's attention or give them a resource to check out. The linking tends to take a bit for me.

6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?

I love blog posts that include pictures or videos. I am a very visual learner, so it's easier for me to scroll straight to a picture or video to see what's going on before reading. This is another reason I try to bring visuals into my posts as much as possible.

7. Where does you blog inspiration come from?

My inspiration comes from my classroom or Pinterest. More often than not, I will find an idea on Pinterest that is not as accessible to my classroom as I like. So, I tweak it and want to share those adjustments or accommodations with other teachers. I was always told to "make it your own" and "give credit where credit is due" so I strive to do this, while also sharing another perspective.

8. Which post that you've written are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my very first post, all about my ErinCondren.com Teacher Planner. I seriously love this thing! My life was a mess before it (okay, not really because I have OCD, but you get the idea)! I would have 4-5 things to take to every meeting, calendars here and there, lessons bent and messed up, etc. Now, everything is together and color-coded. However, my most popular posts have been about room setups and how I use Symbaloo in the music classroom.

9. Is there any post you've been planning to do, but have been postponing for awhile?
I know blogging is supposed to generally be positive, but I feel like there are a lot of struggles in teaching music education, aside from the popular "advocacy" post. Some day, I'd like to share the day-to-day problems that I face, as well as the chaos of programs, early out days, "prep time" and so on. I'm not sure if I'm the only one that feels this or it's mostly an unspoken thing. We'll see if I ever get up the gumption to do it!

10. What's your favorite aspect of blogging?

I love connecting with other teachers! I have made so many connections through following, commenting and posting with other teachers around the world. It's wonderful to join linky parties, Twitter chats and group discussions. I don't feel so alone in my little world anymore :)

11. Which recipe, project, or idea on my blog would you be most likely to try yourself?

This wasn't on her blog, but her TPT store. I just did Jennifer's "Leaves" lesson with my kindergarteners. It was a great way to introduce the mallet instruments, while also reviewing high and low. Thank you so much, Jennifer!

Wow - it's great to look back on all of the things I've blogged about. I've enjoyed reading back through comments and checking out the traffic, too. Thank you again for the nomination, Jennifer! Here are the blogs I'm nominating: