Monday Meet Up

Happy Monday everyone!!  I am linking up with The Teaching Tribune for their very last week of Summer Bloggin'.  I'm sad it won't continue throughout the summer!!  I am glad I was able to participate in this awesome summer blog hopping linky party!!!

Today is the last Monday Meet Up.  :-(  I'm sad that it's ending, but I'm very glad I got the chance to meet so very many awesome bloggers!!  I've seriously increased the number of blogs I'm following this summer!!  :-)

{How CUTE is this template The Teaching Tribune provided?!?!}

ONE - What was your favorite thing to do as a child?

There are so very many things I wish I was able to thank my mom for.  One of them is my love of reading.  As the story goes, my mom began reading to me the very day she found out she was pregnant.  She read to me every day, even if it was excerpts from what she was reading at the time.  She continued reading to me the day I was born until I was old enough to say 'I'm too big for a bedtime story!'  I can't believe I would ever say I was too big for a story, but I suppose every kidlette goes through stages like that.  I remember that I was able to read well at a very young age.  I know that I entered kindergarten knowing all of my letters, sounds, and some words.  I am not saying any of this to brag or anything like that, but to stress what an amazing woman my mom was and how she was ahead of her time in that way.  She realized the importance of introducing language and literature at the earliest stages of childhood before there were national studies published about how important that was.  I remember reading all day, every day.  Whatever I could get my hands on.  I was one of those rare kids who never minded being grounded, because when my parents took things away and sent me to my room, they never took my books.  So for me, it wasn't a punishment because I got to have hours of uninterrupted time with my books!!  :-)  I took books out to recess at school, and ALWAYS had a book ready to go for SSR time!!  Book reports became one of my favorite assignments, because I got to talk about the books I loved.  I spent more time in libraries and book stores than I ever did in toy stores.  I also remember loving to write stories and adventures, and I think all that reading helped me to want to write my own stores.  I said all of this to simply say, "THANK YOU, MOM!!"

TWO - If you had to change your first name, what would it be?

If I HAD to change my first name, I would like it to be Zoe.  I don't have a good, solid reason why other than I really like that name.  However, I am very fond of my current name.  My mom chose it to represent that both families (her's and my dad's) came from Ireland.  My mom was only third-generation American.  She can remember her great-grandparents speaking Gaelic.  She once told me that she tired to learn, but that it was just too hard to learn.  My dad's family came through Ellis Island long before my mom's family did.  His relatives were horse thieves and got ran off the island!!  :-)  My dad remembers taking a trip to Ellis Island and finding our name.  That's something I'd like to do, too.  I think I need to make that a Summer Day Trip before I head back to school.

THREE - Worst thing to happen in your classroom?

The Trail of Poo.  Hands-down the worst thing to happen so far.  All of the kindergarten classrooms in my building have a bathroom inside the classroom.  My kinders are able to use it throughout the day, and quickly learn when during the day they are supposed to go.  One of the times they are encouraged to use the bathroom is during Daily 5 rotations (and Daily 3 for Math), and they know they are allowed to go to the bathroom when they are not meeting with me.  In fact, it's one of our Daily 5 Rules: STAY in ONE SPOT, UNLESS you have to use the bathroom.  Then, go RIGHT BACK to your spot!! {can you tell we recite our rules frequently? :-) }  So, one of my cherubs used the bathroom while I was meeting with a group.  Apparently, this little Dragon got some poo on the floor.  I was never able to get a completely straight answer as to how it got down there...if it fell or was..'pushed'...  Not noticing the Poo on the Shoe, my Dragon came out of the bathroom, washed hands, and went back to Daily 5 spot.  I finished with my group, called all my Dragons back to the main rug, did a lesson, and sent them out again for another rotation.  Around about the time I was finishing up with my second group, I hear a collective whispering.  I ignore it at first, think that perhaps some of my 'Read to Someone Else's" were getting a bit loud.  However, the whispering not only continued but began to grow in volume.  I looked up from my group with a 'teacher frown' and told them I was sad that I had to stop my group to remind them about our Daily 5 rule to: ONLY talk when you are Reading to Someone Else, and ONLY in a QUIET voice.  "But Miss Murphy, there's a trail of..!" they began, but I held up a hand and asked if there was 'Someone BLEEDING or Something BROKEN?'.  'Well, no, but it's...' and I just shook my head and sat back down to finish my group.  Calling them back to the rug, I noticed many of them not making any effort whatsoever to sit down.  "Dragons, I need you to sit on the rug, please" I ask, and that's when they all start talking and pointing at once.  I look down and notice the trail of brown stains and follow the trail back to the bathroom door (where there is more, ah, residue).  Quickly my brain clicks in to tell me EXACTLY what I was looking at, and I proceed to jump up and say "Why didn't anyone tell me there was poo on the floor??" to which every last one of my little darlings gave me the "Are you serious, lady??" look and mentioned that they had, in fact, tried to tell me.  Sheepishly, I agreed with them, apologized for not listening, and called our wonderful custodian.  While the trail was being erased, we had a class discussion where we decided to add to our 'List of Reasons to STOP Daily 5' chart about bathroom emergencies.  So of course, at lunch and recess, my littles told all the other kinders about our 'Trail of Poo'.

FOUR - If you could meet any fictional character, who would you meet?

This was SO HARD!!!  There are literally endless possibilities of characters to choose from, so picking just one took some SERIOUS consideration!!  I decided I would want to meet The Frizz from The Magic School Bus Series.  I remember watching her show as a kid and thinking she was the coolest and nicest teacher I had ever seen {I went to Catholic School for a while, but that's another story}PLUS she had this AMAZING magical bus that could literally go ANYWHERE and learn about ANYTHING.  I was mesmerized by the concept, and truly enjoyed reading the books and watching the shows.  Lily Tomlin made an EXCELLENT Frizzle!!  I even have a few of my childhood faves from this series in my classroom collection!  I would want Mrs. Frizzle to take me on one of her famous field trips.  It wouldn't even matter where we went, since she made every topic exciting.

FIVE - How many siblings do you have?

I am the oldest of two.  I have one younger sister, Lauren, who is five years younger than me.  My mom lost a boy while being treated for uteran cancer, and it isn't really something she ever talked about.  Growing up, I wasn't always the nicest big sister.  I didn't want her tagging around after my friends and I, and I didn't want her hanging out with us so I picked on her in front of them.  I was a complete and total jerk, and I regret it to this day.  It really strained the relationship between us growing up, and it was completely my fault.  I am lucky enough that, once we were both teenagers, we began to grow close again.  We have had our ups and downs, but to this day we are best friends.  There is no one else I would rather share good news with, nor get help dealing with bad news.  We held each other up through losing mom, and I am so very glad she is my sister.  Plus, she has two kiddos I can spoil rotten and then return.  How sweet is that??

SIX - Describe your favorite breakfast.

Oh my goodness, breakfast is BY FAR my most favorite meal of the day.  I LOVE all things breakfast food related, from sweet to savory to spicy.  I could eat breakfast foods all day, for each of the three meals as well as snacks in between.  Have I mentioned I really like breakfast??  :-)  If I could stock my own breakfast buffet, here is what I would include:  {remember, I'll be eating this all day, not all at once.  Probably not all at once.}

Big, flaky, buttery biscuits (perfect for making sandwiches or drowning in sausage gravy)

Sausage - links and patties because no one should have to choose between them

Bacon, So Much Bacon - crispy pieces, fatty pieces, peppercorn pieces...so much bacon...

Home Fried Potatoes - small cubed pieces of Idaho potatoes, batter-dipped and seasoned up before frying

Buttermilk Pancake Station - so you can decide if you want chocolate, strawberry, blueberry, etc

Belgian Waffle Station - you can add all sorts of stuff to waffle batter...

Funnel-Cake-Batter-Dipped French Toast - a speciality of my dad's, and I just LOVE it

Fruit and Yogurt Bar - so my family and friends would have something to eat

Orange Juice - fresh squeezed, ice cold Florida OJ

Syrup - Vermont's finest maple syrup

Butter - whipped honey-butter

Okay, so now I'm craving breakfast foods.  Gotta go fry up some bacon!!  Hope you all remember to hop on over to The Teaching Tribune to learn about more fabulous bloggers!!