Award #2!

Isn't this fun?!  I feel so honored to be awarded the Versatile Blogger award and am excited that I’m getting to know other bloggers/teachers in the world!  Laura at Oh, how pintearesting! had awarded this to me last weekend but I actually didn’t realize it until last night!  And then today I saw 2 more lovely bloggers, Noelle at The Friz in First Grade & Michelle at Fashionably in First Grade, had given me the award as well! So without further ado here is what I must do:

1. Thank the blogger(s) who presented me with the award and include a link to their blog.

Once again thanks goes to:

Oh, How Pintearesting!

The Friz in First Grade 

Fashionably in First Grade 

1. Include the award image in my post (seen above)
2. Give 7 random fact about myself 
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award and include a link to their blog in your post
4. Let those 15 bloggers know you’ve nominated them!

My 7 random facts about me:

1. My husband and I got married 17 years later on the same day as our one and only date in high school.  Yes, we only had one date in high school.  We lost touch after high school and after reconnecting we were inseparable.

October 20, 1990

October 20, 2007

2. I spent one year teaching abroad in London, England on a Fulbright Teacher Exchange.  One of my favorite years teaching!  I learned so much professionally while there (it solidified my love of early childhood) and still keep in touch with some of my coworkers and students! 

3. I love to travel and have been to 5 out of 7 continents.  I’ve got only Australia and Antarctica left to go....and yes, if I can afford it, one day I will get to Antarctica!

4. I  love to scuba dive.  I haven’t been able to go out much since I got married and had a baby but I love being down in that underwater world.  My favorite dive was in Bali, Indonesia...it was like being in the Finding Nemo movie!  Seriously!

5. I live 1 mile away from Disneyland and am a season pass holder.  Yes, I can hear the fireworks every night and if I stood on the roof I could see them too!

6. My son and I fed a giraffe at the San Diego Zoo 2 weeks ago!  The giraffe caught us off guard in this photo!

7. I used to play banjo.  And the flute, and the trumpet, and the trombone.  I still play piano.  Yes I was a music major for my BA!

My nominations for the Versatile Blog award goes to:

1. PAWsitively WILD for WBT 
2. Kindergarten is a Hoot!  
3. Kinder Kapers 
4. Teacher’s Toolkit 
5. Dive into Learning! 
6. Brigid’s Daily Lesson Log 
7. My Silly Firsties 
8. Mrs. Poultney’s Ponderings 
9. Heads Caroline, Tails Alabama 
10. Lacy’s Letters 
11. Kindergarten Love 
12. Berkery Bytes 
13. Challenges Make Life Interesting 
14. Mrs. Payton’s Precious Kindergarteners 
15. Pocketful of Centers 

Go visit these wonderful newbies and see what they have to offer!  In this 15 there are a few kinder teachers (close to my heart!), whole brain teaching tidbits, technology teachers, and a couple of other grade level/types of teachers as well.  Some of them are super creative and post freebies or direct you to their stores in TpT or Teacher's Notebook.  I've already got my wish list set for this coming Friday payday on TpT!  Can't wait!

My First Award!

What a super nice surprise I found when I was just about to go to bed last night!  2 lovely bloggers awarded me the One Lovely Blogger Award!  It was really nice to see that and I slept with stars in my eyes!  lol

The 2 bloggers that gave me this award are:

Carole at Kindercarole &

Laura at Oh, How Pintearesting 

 This is my third post and I feel so blessed to have this great opportunity to network with other teachers around the world.  Thanks ladies!

Now for the rules...

1. Follow the person who gave you the award. 

1. Link back to the person that gave you the award (click on the links above or click here: Kindercarole and Oh, How Pintearesting

3. Pass to 5 new bloggers and then let them know they have received the award.

I’ve chosen 10 new bloggers for this award since 2 lovely ladies gave me the award.  They are:

1. Run! Miss Nelson’s Got the Camera! 
2. Mrs. Cobb’s Kinder Sprouts 
3. Adventures in Room 5 
4. iTeach 1:1 
5. Miss L’s Whole Brain Teaching 
6. Adventures in Teaching 
7. Charlotte’s Clips and Kindergarten Kids 
8. K is for Kinderrific 
9. Jen’s Kinder Kids
10. Kinder Kids Fun

I follow blogs from all over the United States and also all over the world.  Check out these lovely ladies (some of which inspired me to blog!) and see just how fun connecting with other teachers can be!

Newbie Bloggers Blog Hop!

Newbie Bloggers Blog Hop (<--click here to go there!)

I joined my first blog hop this morning and I’m so excited!  I’m so new and have so much to learn.  It’s great to be a part of this and get to know other newbies and learn from them as well!  

Blog hops are a great way to find new blogs that are fun to follow. I end up following more than just teacher blogs when I join these too.  I’m not as good as most of them (technology wise) but I’m working towards it!  Follow this link to the host blogger and see all the different new bloggers who have joined up in this little (actually HUGE if you see the list of bloggers!) party.

If you are a blogger and want to link up, she has a link to follow at the bottom of all the newbie clickable pics.  Then you’ll just need to do the following on your page (at least I think that’s how you do it!):

What state are you in?
I’m in California (southern to be exact!)

What’s your current teaching position?
I teach kindergarten but have also taught first grade, K/1 combo and transitional kindergarten.

What’s your teaching experience?
I’m starting my 13th year of teacher.  In the middle of those years I taught as a Fulbright Teacher Exchange in London, England.

When did you start blogging?
Just this month!  July 2012.

Share a blogging tip/blogging resource.
I suppose mine isn’t so fancy but I was told pictures speak more than words.  So always try to include a picture in your post

Teacher/Blogger Meetup in Vegas

Whew!  What a fantastic event! 

I started off by driving up to Las Vegas from Orange County, CA to go to the teacher/blogger meet up at the I Teach K! conference put on by SDE. That's a 4.5 hour drive.  But I didn't mind especially since I was going to be learning and meeting some fun people! I was so excited to meet the bloggers!  It felt like being invited to a celebrity event! Rachelle at What the Teachers Wants blog is how I learned of the event and of course, she has already blogged about it!  She has even posted pictures and videos.  

Check them out here: What the Teacher Wants Vegas post

Being so new the blogging world I really wanted to pick brains and get some ideas and ALL of them were super nice and made the event incredibly fun.  They even had giveaways!  I won a 3-pack DVD from Heidisongs and a gift card to Crystal Springs.  So I came home with a big load! 

Right off the bat, I lucked out and got to chat with Heidi about her blog (found here) and her music.  I walked away not only with prizes but with great ideas of how to run my blog.   

Here's a picture I got with Heidi from heidisongs.

While I was busy at the event here is what my son was doing:

He got to play in the pool! Lucky boy!  Vegas was super hot that day (but isn't it always?!) so time at the pool was a much needed thing for him!

Time FLEW by and before I knew it we were being asking to sit and listen up for the very cool (and generous!) raffle.  As I was shuffling to my seat I was saying to myself, “But, but, but I didn’t get to talk to everyone!”  So even though I didn’t get to chat with everyone I decided that I’d list the different bloggers here so you could find direct links to their sites.  I hope I got everyone! 

I am new so I haven’t figured out the blog button thing yet. So today it will appear as a list. 

(big frowny face!)

What the Teacher Wants

Growing Kinders

KinderGals

Lesson Plan SoS

Fabulous in First

Crazy for First Grade

Second Grade Shenanigans

Primary Graffiti

Mrs. Wills Kindergarten

KidsCount1234.com

Mrs. Jump's Class

DeeDee Will's from Mrs. Wills Kindergarten has also created a pretty nifty website for teachers!

Clever School Teacher

These are just a few of the ladies I follow.  There is so much to learn from them! Plus, they often post freebies that are super cute and perfect for the classroom.  

Check out their blogs and let them know you found them through my blog.  Happy blog hopping!

It's my first post!

Hello all! I'm new to the blogosphere! My name is Stacey Arballo and I am a kindergarten teacher. I have been teaching kindergarten & first grade for 13 years. I have a BA in music, a CA multiple subject clear credential, a CLAD certificate and most recently I received a masters in early childhood education. I LOVE early childhood. It is my passion.

 In my first years of teaching I taught kinder because that's where I was placed. After a couple of years I didn't want to move because I wanted to really hone my skills at that grade level. Then I applied for and got a Fulbright teacher exchange to London, England. Being able to learn how they taught really opened my eyes and induced my passion for early childhood. I saw that teaching wasn't just rote, reading a script out of a manual. It was fun! It was fun before but in London I really saw just how much more it could be. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay. BUT having maxed out my credit cards, I had to come home!

 As an educator I am always in search of ways to professionally develop myself. So I decided I could do that in 2 ways. One is to become nationally board certified. That process will begin in just a couple of weeks! The other way I decided to "PD" myself was to become a blogger! I see so many great teacher bloggers out there and I know I have something to share too! So here I am!

 At home I am happily married to a wonderful man who works hard to make our home pretty. We bought a foreclosure so there was quite a long list of things to do! We have whittled down a list of over 50 projects to just over 10 projects in the 2 and half years we've lived here. Wait, I should say HE has whittled that list down! lol When we moved in we learned we were expecting our first child! Our son is now 2 years old and I took care of him while my husband worked away. I'd join him occasionally but my lack of ability to stay focused on the job (because I was too busy breaking for baby) meant that I got fired. lol

 That's me a tiny nutshell! I look forward to posting more and getting to know my future readers!