Nash Teacher Bash 2015!

Nashville was the place to be this weekend! Thanks mostly to GoNoodle and ESGI, we were able to plan an amazing event for teachers and bloggers. If you weren’t there, then be prepared to be jealous.

Friday night we went to see the Sounds win at their new stadium. Of course, it’s Friday night, so you know there has to be fireworks. The fireworks lit up the sky almost as well as they do on the 4^th of July. (Speaking of which, we are supposed to have the BIGGEST 4^th of July firework show in the nation this year…are you coming??) Thanks Go Noodle for the awesome sunglasses! We even got on the Big Guitar dancing with the sunglasses on. Can’t forget the cool shirts from Remind! The hosts wore them to the game.

Saturday, Latoya, Greg, Dana, Alexandria, and I all went to start setting up at Atamolgy. This place is very quaint and a nice place for intimate get togethers. Of course two of the All Ya’ll Need team and Lawren from Teaching is a Royal Adventure came to help put up the posters and set up the area too! Here we had over $14,000 worth of prizes and gifts! GoNoodle paid to have Jim and Nick’s bring out their best workers and cater. Coupon Culinarian sent cookies for dessert. As soon as we got all of the gifts and giveaways set up, the guests started to arrive! We have planned for only 37 people to show up for sure, but close to 60 people came! Yeah, it started to get real cozy, but it made the event that much better. We all got to really talk with people and to catch up or meet new people.

Thanks again to the sponsors who donated to the event!

After the clean-up, I went home to cool off! Then we were off again to Opry Mills Mall. There we decided to eat at Chuy’s (not my first choice, sorry guys!). Because our party was so big (26 of us), we had to be split up in groups of 4. My group was the best though! We had a lot of fun getting to know each other better. Then we walked, and we walked, and we walked to Opryland Hotel. It was as beautiful as ever. The Library is where we ended up. (Who knew teachers would meet at a bar called the Library… in the summer?!) Then they closed on us, and we ended up separating. Some of us went to Fuse and had some great desserts! It was a very relaxing night.

EARLY on Sunday…and I do mean early…. I got up to meet the gang at my favorite restaurant in Nashville. Monell’s at the Manor. If you ever come to Nashville, you MUST eat there. It’s in an old plantation house, and over the year’s it’s been many different places. It is a family style sit down restaurant. They bring out Southern staples, and you pass it to the left! We ate until we were stuffed, and then took a picture on their stairway!

I’m so glad I got to be a part of the planning of this event. It was really a great thing to be a part of, and I cannot wait until next year.

An InLinkz Link-up

Teacher Tool Swap

http://secondgradesugarandspice.blogspot.com/2015/03/2015-teacher-tool-gift-exchange-linky.html

It seems like so long ago, but last weekend I had a really amazing time in French Lick, Indiana. Bloggers from all over met up at the beautiful French Lick Resort. My hubby and I stayed about 30 minutes North of French Lick, and the rain made us late on the first day! We traveled through an Amish area, and a whole road was covered in rushing water. Then, the GPS couldn't understand why we didn't want to go through it. Ahh... technology. 

Over 100 teacher bloggers came together for the 2^nd Annual Spring Teacher Blogger Meet Up in French Lick! While we were at this wonderful event hosted by {Mrs. Ehle’s Kindergarten Connection} there were so many things to partake in and so much inspiration to be shared. Over the next week or so, we will be explaining more and more about what we all did! Keep the watch out.

Here is a sneak peak at one of the events, our Teacher Tool Swap Gift Exchange. Everyone brought a gift that we use in our classroom. We broke up into grade levels and played the “Wright Game.” If you haven’t played this game before, it’s really fun. I’ve used this game in my room to pass out jobs, supplies, or even task cards to start our think-pair-share games.

4th and 5th Grade Tool Swap

The Tool Swap

Amanda Pauley from Mrs. Pauley's Kindergarten

Amanda Pauley from {Mrs. Pauley’s Kindergarten} retold a funny “left-right” passing story, similar to this one, but made it about teachers and the teacher tool gift! Every time she said the word "right", we would pass the gift to the right. Every time she said the word "left", we would pass it the left! When the story game was over, we sat in a circle and opened the gift and viewed our gifts. The giver got the opportunity to explain why they chose the gift(s) they did. I was amazed at many of the tools, I mean like a staple-less stapler? Wow!
The teacher gift I received was….

AWESOME

Lisa from {Fourth & Ten} knew exactly what I had been wanting. She filled the bag with Mr. Sketch Scented Markers and Dove Dark Chocolate. I have been writing with the markers all week. My kids have been so excited to smell their papers. Since we have been testing all week, the chocolate made the day so much better! 

I didn't think about taking pictures about what I gave, but I'll give you the quick run down! Curious Heart Emporium was going out of business, so I stopped in and found some great things! First, I found some chalk that was shaped into sculpted busts of famous statues. Then, I found some really neat shaped pens. One was sculpted into licorice and the other was a pinwheel that you can wind up. Kids go crazy for writing when you have fun pens! After walking around a bit more, I found an old fashioned bike bell. I know that Responsive Classroom is very big about the chime to signal for transitions. Finally, I filled up the bag with cute binder clips, paper clips, and post it notes.

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Be sure to check out what my new friends picked up as well! You can definitely pick up some great ideas to use in your own classroom, or to make your life so much easier. (Is it bad that I have already picked out what gift I’ll be giving next year?!)

See ya’ll later!

Cindy

An InLinkz Link-up