Sunday (or Monday) Social

Well, so much for being back on a good sleep schedule...

I decided last minute to jump in on this week's Sunday Social over at A Complete Waste of Makeup!

Click here to join Sunday Social!

This week's questions were along the lines of (re)introducing ourselves.  I figured since I have quite a few newer readers this would be a good one to join in on.

1. What is the name of your blog?  How long have you been blogging?  My blog is called Third Grade Rock Star (there's really no good reason for that name, just something I came up with) and I've been blogging for close to 2 years.  I've been blogging on a (semi) regular basis for about a year and a half.
2. Why do you blog?  I totally got into blogging randomly.  I learned about Blogger a few years ago when I was working on my Master's degree.  My group decided to create a blog for first year teachers as one of our projects.  My instructor (who also does professional development in my district) asked me if I would teach a class at our learning center on blogging and tech tools.  I actually created this blog for the sole purpose of teaching that one day course, but had so much fun putting it together that I decided to expand it into more.  As I started following more blogs in the meantime, I decided I wanted to join in on the fun and share my own experiences with others!
3. What is the first blog you ever followed?  J's Everyday Fashion...  She's awesome!  
4. What is your favorite post you wrote in 2012?  This is a hard one...  I love posting about fashion and shopping, but I also really love posting about things that help others become better teachers.  I'm not one of those teachers that posts cute things I make all the time, but I do love giving tips and hints to others, be it about teaching or shopping, to make life easier and help save people some money!
5. What are your blogging goals for 2013?  I want to be a more consistent blogger and continue to develop the identity of my blog.  I want this blog to reflect all of my favorite things.  I wouldn't mind reaching 300 or even 400 followers by the end of the year either! 
6. Top 3 favorite blogs to follow:  My current must reads each day are Along the Lines of Style, Franish, and Just Another Smith.  I love reading these blogs because all 3 of these girls are so down-to-earth and the types that I feel like I would be friends with outside of blogging.  (Okay, actually Andi of Just Another Smith and I have known each other "in real life" since we were babies.)  Out of my 100+ subscriptions on Google Reader, if I'm pressed for time, I look for updates from these girls each day!  

I'm a Winner (and a Slacker)

I've gotta apologize for being such a slacker with my blogging lately.  The beginning of the school year has kinda kicked my butt.  I've been really working on staying on top of everything this school year, so I feel like I've been putting in some extra hours after school so that I don't have a whole lot left to do outside of school.  It's been really nice to rarely worry about doing any extra work at home.  We started our after school tutoring a few weeks ago.  It's Monday through Thursday and adds an extra hour to my work day.  The extra pay is nice and I really have a nice group of kids for it (about 10 each day), but the extra hour really wears me out at times.  I've also missed several days of school for various meetings and trainings, so that's added to my time commitments as well.  I sometimes with I was in a career where it was easy to be gone.  (It's more work to not be at school than to be there!)   One top of that have been literacy consultant observations, meetings, observations for the math grant that I participated in over the summer, and conferences this week.  *whew!*

I've got a few blog posts planned for the coming days and weeks, but it's just going to be a matter of sitting down and writing them.  I feel like I've totally neglected what is blog truly is--  a blog for teachers!  I love posting about clothes, makeup, and shopping as well, but I do want to try to get back into writing more posts related to teaching and provide resources for other teachers.

Now, onto why I'm a winner!

My friend Andi over at Just Another Smith was doing a necklace giveaway and I was her winner!  It's a gorgeous purple and of course I ended up wearing it the day after it arrived in the mail!  I've actually known her since we were babies in the church nursery and it's been super fun being blogging buddies with her.  She posts her outfits each day and I love her style.  We actually own a lot of the same items, but she's got a super creative eye for pairing things up and always comes up with wonderful outfits!  Go over and check out her blog at Just Another Smith.  Go.  Now!

I snapped this pic the day it came in the mail a few weeks ago, but I've actually rocked this necklace a few times since then.  I love the fact that it's purple.  I told someone the other day it's my classy K-State necklace.  I've actually not been a huge purple fan outside of my K-State t-shirt collection until the last couple years.  I'm now finding myself drawn to all sorts of beautiful purple items that don't have a giant Powercat on them!

Well, that's it for now, but be sure to check back tomorrow for a post about some organization in my classroom and a few new sneak peeks into my room!