Spring Blogger Meet Up Blog Hop

Have you ever been surrounded by people who just "got" you?  That is what happened in March when I went to French Lick, IN to meet up with more than 50 other teachers and bloggers.  The room was filled with excitement and chatter about teaching, blogging, TpT, etc.  It was such an amazing experience.

I know I have told you about it already, but I am here today to tell you a little bit more and give away some great PRIZES with fellow meet up friends.  We were blessed to receive some amazing gifts at the meet up and some of our sponsors were generous enough to donate some more prizes so one of our readers could take home some loot!  :)

You probably already read all about Holly and what she thought about the meet up in her post.  Once you are done reading my post, continue on through the hop so that you can read what everyone took home from meet up both their prizes and their food for thought.

First things first, we had a really fun Teacher Tool Swap.  We each brought a little something that we like to use in our classroom and then we played a game in order to swap out gifts.  The gift I gave was my favorite pens from Papermate. They are the ink joy pens.  Have you tried them?  If you haven't you need to.  I LOVE them!

I was so excited about my gift.  I received a gift from Jena at Sew Much Music.  It was this adorable lanyard.  I have been wanting a cute lanyard, but just haven't got around to getting one yet.  This was perfect.  My students kept complimenting me the first day after break when I wore it for the first time.  LOVE!

I have to say I think it goes quite well with our new spirit wear shirts.  :)

Holly found so many amazing sponsors for the big giveaway.  I was thrilled to receive these goodies from Crayola.  I won some erasable colored pencils, washable markers, and my favorite:  a dry erase board with dry erase crayons!  I don't know who is more excited about this....myself or my students.

The markers and colored pencils quickly found a home in my writing center.  They are the most popular writing utensil of the moment, but really why wouldn't they be!  I love that the colored pencils are erasable so my kinder babies can easily change something if they make a mistake.

The dry erase board is being used during guided reading time since there is only one.  I NEED to go get some more of these especially the dry erase crayons.  They are amazing!  I love that they don't dry out like markers do.  I don't have to worry about caps being put on correctly.  It's like teacher heaven!
(Please tell me I am not the only one who has nightmares about dry erase marker caps and glue stick lids?)

Since you weren't able to make it to our meet up, you have a chance to win these prizes pictured below and more!  You have to keep reading through the hop and when you get to the end you will find a rafflecopter and many chances to win the big prize!!

Now my favorite part of this post.  My 3 big ideas I took away from the weekend.

#1 Friendships
During the weekend, I believe it was Amy who said, "It isn't funny how quickly we bond because we all have so much in common."  She was exactly right.  It was like we had known each other forever.  It was so great to just talk and talk and talk about teaching or life or anything really.  We laughed, took LOTS of pictures, laughed, ate LOTS of food, laughed, talked, laughed, ate more food.....I think you get the picture!

#3 Technology
I was so excited to sit and chat with Brittany and Tiffany from Two Techie Teachers.  I love using technology in my classroom, but sometimes get a little stumped.  After chatting with these girls, I realized how many amazing things I could utilize with the technology I already have!  Tiffany made a great point about using technology to teach. It really got me thinking about how I use technology and how I can make better use of the way I incorporate it into my classroom.  I love to use iPad apps during literacy and math center times, but how else can I use technology to teach.  Brittany told me all about a PBL project she was doing with her class and how she was using technology to complete that project.  I was just completely inspired by their knowledge of technology and their willingness to teach me!

A little technology in action in my classroom.

#3 Hashtags
We talked a lot about social media and the importance of hashtags especially in an app like Instagram.  I love hashtags and think it is funny to randomly hashtag in every day life.  ;)

Here are a few of my favorite hashtags to use on IG:  #teachersfollowteachers and #teachersofinstagram
I love searching through those hashtags to find new teachers to follow on IG.

My favorite hashtags of the meet up:

 #thisplaceislegit #smittenwithsmorgie

#hollyhasabutton #twofingerpoint

Now I want you to stop over and visit my friend Em over at Curious Firsties.  Click on her button to head to her blog.  Remember to hop all the way through to see your chance to win our grand PRIZE!!