Meet Miss Griffin - Linky Party

Hello Blog World! I thought it would be fitting for my first post to be this "Linky Party" that started on one of my favorite blogs - The First Grade Parade . I'd been inspired by the many creative teacher bloggers I've been "blogstalking" and finally chose a name for my own blog last week. I brainstormed and was disappointed when my first choice, great expectations, was already taken. I finally settled on "Fantastic First" after spotting one of my rolled up teacher posters which says "First Graders Are Fantastic!". With  a few snow days this week I finally had time to fine tune my look and write my first post.  Now, what to do with my 3rd snow day tomorrow...

Meet the Teacher

I grew up in Houston, went to school in Austin and now live in Dallas. I'm a Texas girl through and through! I went to The University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a BA in French. I then went on to graduate school at Texas State University - San Marcos, where I earned an M. Ed. in Elementary Education. I started at my school 6 years ago and have been very happy there.  I hope to stay there for a long, long time. I spent three years in 2nd grade, and now this is my third year in 1st grade. I've loved both of them for different reasons. I have fabulous friends, great coworkers, wonderful students and an AMAZING boyfriend. Life is fantastic!


Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a teacher?                                             
A:  Maybe something with French... I don't get to use it nearly as much as I'd like down here in Texas! I've never regretted my decision to major in it, but I do regret not being able to make use of it. All of my pre-teacher jobs with the exception of a brief stint as a law office file clerk, were jobs working with kids. I was a nanny, a babysitter, an after school program counselor, and a director at a summer camp. SO, I'd have to say I'd be doing something with kids!

Q: What are your hobbies?                                                                                    
A:  Reading, shopping, finding new music, travelling (which I don't get to do as often as I'd like), and now blogging! I also babysit a lot, and I think it counts as a hobby!                                                               

Q: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?                     
A:  Lawyer. I love to argue!
   
Q: What are your guilty pleasures?                                                              
 A: Icing, candy... ok maybe just sugar! And reading blogs!

Q: What is your biggest fear?!                                                                   
 A: Eeeeeek! Snakes!

Q: When you’re on vacation, where do you like to go?                               
 A: I just went on my first trip to Vegas for my 30th birthday. I had a blast and would LOVE to go back. My fave international destination is France (not surprising). I've been 4 times and it just feels like home. Other than that, I love travelling to any new place and any place where I can visit friends (Chicago, NYC, Austin, Baton Rouge). The boyfriend and I are going to a wedding in Vail this summer and I am really looking forward to my first trip to Colorado!
                                                         
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?                                                   
A:  I think most good advice is something you already knew, but didn't want to do.

Q: What do you value most in others?                                                                   
A:  Honesty - I really try to teach my students how important this is, even when it's about something small. I also love enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
Q: If you could choose one of your personality traits to pass down to your kids, what would it be?                                                                                                        
A: No kids yet, but I think I'd want to pass on my LOVE for learning new things. I also think I have a knack for finding the silver lining in any rain cloud.    

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world….living or dead…who would it be?                                                                                                           
A:  My maternal grandfather. He died before I was born, before any of the grandchildren were born, and I'd really like to know what he was like.

Now tell us one random thing about yourself:

I was on TRL once. Yep, I got to introduce a song. Hopefully no footage of that exists because I was pretty nervous and stumbled over my line a little bit!

Now if you want to link up your blog, start by visiting the site below: