Congratulations to my #ShanghaiBestie

February 4, 2023January 29, 2023 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

WOW! Don’t worry I am still highlighting authors and books, but I had to take a moment to celebrate one of my very good friends!

Do you know how awesome it is to do the things you love?! To live your passions and for your dreams to be your reality! I do know this awesomeness and my #ShanghaiBestie is experiencing it. Congratulations to you Deatra! This is definitely worth of a #BHM post. I am so proud of you and its so cool seeing you in a commercial!

Definitely watch this below and share!

WOW! Thats Deatra in a commercial!

#DeatraisFamous #Food #Yum #RememberMeWhenYouGetYourFancyAwards #TrueFoodKitchen #TasteAsGoodAsYouFeel #PassionsBecomingReality #LivingYourDreams #SoMuchJoy #BlackGirlMagic #DreamingBig #KeepPushing #MakeItHappen #NeverGiveUp

Thank You For Following my online journey. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

#FearlessinShanghai #Thankful #joychangeslives #KMarieTakesChina #BlackGirlMagic #KarlaGirlLivingLife #BlackGirlJoy #LivingMyLifeLikeItsGolden #ChinaorBust #ChinaAintReady #BlackInShanghai #BlackInChina #BlackAmericanInChina #LookOutWorldHereComesKarla #KarlaGirlJoy #BlackGirlInShanghai #eatsleeppartyrepeat #givingisgood #givingisfun #WakandaForever #ShuriAndNakiaAndOkoye #MelaninMagic #Blessed #FaithfulIsMyGod

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

….someone said “you owe it to yourself to do all the things you ever dreamed … heres to dreams coming true! – Congratulations to you Deatra – – I am so very proud of you!

Bubber Goes To Heaven

February 3, 2023January 29, 2023 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

Here’s to the first African American author/book I am sharing this month! Do you know about this one? I had never heard of it until I was doing research for books to share and I thought it would be interesting to share about a book we probably don’t hear about much.

The book BUBBER GOES TO HEAVEN was written by Arna Bontemps in the early 1930s. Bontemps was a poet, novelist, and a librarian! This book is one of the very first children’s books written by an African American with African Americans in the story.

And I found it on Amazon! It’s a short book – less than 100 pages. I am looking forward to sharing more books/authors with you all.

#BubberGoesToHeaven #ArnaBontemps #ChidlrensBooks #AfricanAmericanAuthor #BlackHistoryMonth #books #storytime #BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanAuthors#makingreadingmemories #BlackAmericanAuthors #bookstakeusonajourney #readers #childrensbooks #stories #books

Thank You For Following my online journey. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

-more books to come-

Yall know it is my absolute favorite time of year!

February 1, 2023January 30, 2023 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

It’s February – so that means its Black History Month and my Birthday Month. Yep I celebrate my birthday all month long! As a lover of education and books I want to highlight African American authors this month in celebration of black history month. I do hope that you enjoy these posts and add some of these books to your at home library!

Happy New Year 2023! Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy February 2023!

Happy Black History Month!

#BlackHistoryMonth #familyofreaders #familytime #storytime #storytimeathome #focusedfamilytime #Books #BlackHistory #AfricanAmericanAuthors

I wrote a blog post for my job and it was shared on our work website so I want to share it with all of you. This is a great post about creating an effective story time at home- and of course – share the post. It does not have anything to do with Black History Month – but I wrote it and I want to share it.

How to host an at-home storytime

Check this link out- share- and enjoy!!!

#makingreadingmemories #BlackAmericanAuthors #bookstakeusonajourney #readers #childrensbooks #stories #books

Yes! I am back in the states…I’ve been back for a little over 8 months! It’s hard to believe its been almost a year … but it has! Life at home has been lovely and I am enjoying being with family and friends. Thank You For Following my online journey. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

….someone said “you owe it to yourself to do all the things you ever dreamed … heres to dreams coming true!

…and here is a serious throwback for you to enjoy Black History Month!

Winter Break! Holiday! School Is Out!

December 20, 2022December 20, 2022 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

The kids are home. They are home all day! They need things to do! Go online to see what activities are happening at your local library and community center. You might find some cool things going on.

School is already out for a lot of people and where I work we finish on 12/22- it feels like its forever away. I shared some fun reads in my last post so I hope you find those helpful. Also, I know the kids need some things to do. I am sharing resources that I have in my TPT Store (Teachers Pay Teachers) – I do hope that you can use these resources.

And once you have purchased and downloaded – you have it to use again and again and again!

How cool is that?!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Winter Activities:

Here are links to a few winter activities in my TPT store!

1: Winter Word Search

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Word-SearchWorksheet-8891607

2: Winter Acrostic Poem

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Acrostic-Poem-Creative-Writing-8893801

3: Winter Scavenger Hunt

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Scavenger-Hunt-8893847

4: Winter Writing and Drawing Activities

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Activities-Writing-and-Drawing-8893855

5: Winter Activities

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Activities-Writing-Drawing-Scavenger-Hunt-Word-Search-8893842

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MAKE THE MOST of this time that you have at home. Whether you have one day, one week, two weeks off- whatever the amount of time it is- cherish it – make amazing memories- and enjoy being with one another!

Thank You For Following my online journey. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

….someone said “you owe it to yourself to do all the things you ever dreamed … heres to dreams coming true!

Here is the link to my store so you can follow and see all resources available:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teacher-Karlas-Tpt-Store

And Finally … if you are looking for something active to do with the kids here is a 15 minute dance party workout to ENCANTO!

I DID IT!

December 20, 2022December 20, 2022 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

Yep. You know it. I did it. I wrote a children’s book. There were some formatting issues to fix, so I hope for it to all be ready soon so that you can buy the print version. As soon the print version is ready I will share here.

Until then, if you are so inclined feel free to download the ebook on Amazon.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNGY65V2?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

#newauthor #childrensauthor #LessonsFromMsKsClass #younglearners #honesty #books #childrensbooks #booklove #booklovers #readers #discovernewthingsthroughbooks #writer #newpublishedauthor #booklover #ebook #physicalbook #readabook #greatread #changetheworldthroughreading #storytime

Also…we are jut 5 days away from Christmas. I wanted to share with you some reads for this time. In no particular order here are 5 books you can read to your children, nieces, nephews ….the kids in your life!

1: Turkey Claus

2: The Snowy Day

3: Jackie’s Gift

4: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

5: Fritz the Farting Reindeer

If you have a favorite Christmas/holiday/winter themed book please reply and share! I’d love to build a fun list to keep sharing each year.

Happy Holidays!

Thank You For Following my online journey. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

….someone said “you owe it to yourself to do all the things you ever dreamed … heres to dreams coming true!

What are you most proud of this year?! I’d love to know!

Just Days Away!

December 7, 2022December 7, 2022 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

We are just days away (Friday, December 10, 2022) from the release of my first book. This is so very exciting. I just want to share the link again to get the e-version of my book. Print copies should be available for order in the next 2-3 weeks! I appreciate your patience with this.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNGY65V2?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

^YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE THIS LINK INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER^

More options and platforms for purchase to come soon. I am thrilled to share this work with everyone.

Thank You For Following my online journey – ABROAD IN SHANGHAI – and now here back in the States. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

….someone said “you owe it to yourself to do all the things you ever dreamed … heres to dreams coming true!

IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE! IT’S REALLY REALLY HERE.

December 1, 2022November 30, 2022 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

I WROTE A BOOK. A CHILDREN’S BOOK. AND ITS ON AMAZON. AND ITS READY FOR PRE-ORDER! HOW COOL.

It has been a very long time coming, but I am so happy to share with all of you that my first (but not last) children’s book is up on Amazon!

I would love it if you can support this work from me – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNGY65V2?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

You can copy and paste the above link into your web browser. It is currently available for pre-order and on December 10th your order will be delivered to you. Currently, my book is only available on Amazon and will be delivered to your Kindle Library. I am working on having it available on other platforms for purchase!

Please feel free to share this blog post and information about purchasing my book with others. It means so much to me.

My first book is about HONESTY … and the books to come will tackle other issues that young learners, children, and students deal with such as:

ALLERGIES, BULLYING, KINDNESS & BEING ACCEPTING. I really do look forward to sharing all of these stories with all of you!

How exciting it is to end this year with this and sharing it with all of you. Here is the link one more time: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BNGY65V2?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

and it will take you directly to Amazon. Pre-Order is until Dec 10 and on December 10 its ready for anyone to order and receive. Just remember to download/purchase the book on the device you would like to read it on.

Thank You For Following my online journey. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

….someone said “you owe it to yourself to do all the things you ever dreamed … heres to dreams coming true!

Do you know what today is?

November 30, 2022November 30, 2022 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

If you don’t know… It’s the day before December 1…. can you believe it’s the end of November and that tomorrow is the first day of the last month of this year? What a year it has been. My year started with me celebrating and brining in New Year 2022 in Zhuhai, China making gin at a gin distillery, In February I celebrated my last birthday in Shanghai with a bang, and March to May was an up and down rollercoaster of citywide quarantine-lockdown life in Shanghai, with a BIG decision to move home. Do I miss Shanghai, of course, at times – but I am still happy with the decision I made to leave. I have been here, home, in the states since mid-May and it has been wonderful being home with my family, friends, BBQ, tacos, DR PEPPER whenever I want, and elote!

Tomorrow is December and great things are happening in December … look out for a post from me to see whats happening with me this month! Any cool things happening with you? Please share with me… I would love to know about it.

I end every post the same …. life is a journey and I am going to enjoy it.

Thank You For Following my online journey. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

…25 weeks and counting

November 21, 2022November 20, 2022 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

I am not sure what happened, but this post was supposed to “POST” last week. I checked my posts and I didn’t see it. But I am excited to get back to writing, blogging, and sharing about the journey that is my life! Yes- I titled this blog “K-Marie- Takes Shanghai” in the spring of 2017 before I left for China – and I did take Shanghai! I took it by storm and really enjoyed living there. I will be honest, living there, through COVID was difficult and challenging and their requirements and restrictions for daily living are tough and intense to say the least! But, I did it and to say the least, I am HELLA DOPE for that.

Well I moved back to the states and my relationship with my blog pretty much became non-existent. I hope to bring some consistency back with it. All I can say is that I am very thankful and happy to be at home with my family, friends – tacos, BBQ, and elote! Life has been a whirlwind since I have been back, but a good twist of it all. The breeze and the winds have been working well in my favor.

You know that Ms. K loves kids, students, school, and being a part of the education system. This year I took a position working on elementary school campuses helping them with their reading/literacy skills. It’s very different from my life as the classroom teacher, but I am really starting to enjoy it so far! One thing I know for sure, the ability to read is life changing. You know, as well as I, that reading is a part of all of our school subjects and our daily living – even if its just being able to read a menu. I am thrilled to be a part of the process to develop reading and literacy skills for young learners.

Never Stop Reading. Never Stop Dreaming. Never Stop Reading. Never Stop Dreaming.

I have said it before and I say it again, thank you for following my journey! I had some really amazing experiences living abroad and I am so happy to share them here. I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT REGRET living abroad. I wouldn’t change it for anything and I do plan to share more of my lockdown thoughts so you can have a peek into what it was like (for me) living abroad, in China- Shanghai, China, during COVID.

I want to connect you to a few previous posts that I have done that you may find helpful

https://wordpress.com/post/kmarietakesshanghai.wordpress.com/1139

https://wordpress.com/post/kmarietakesshanghai.wordpress.com/1081

Life is going for me. I don’t have a better way to describe it besides- going… but it is an adventure and a rollercoaster if nothing else.

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

Lesson’s From Ms. K’s Class

November 20, 2022November 17, 2022 kmarietakeshanghaiLeave a comment

I am so happy to share that I wrote a children’s book! I have been working on this project for so long and now I am ready to share it with the world. Check out the cover below!!!

Yes! My book has two covers …. why do you ask? WHY NOT! This is the beauty of creating something that really showcases who you are and what you love!

Who Am I? Besides the obvious (a beautiful multi-faceted Black Woman) – I am a teacher

What Do I Love? KIDS! Anyone who knows me knows that I love kids. I love being an aunt, a teacher, and hanging out with young learners.

I really enjoyed working on this project and even having friends daughter put her talents to work and design the front cover of the book. She went through edits and edit drawing and working on what the cover could look like and even back and forth with a digital illustrator to take her drawing and make it a digital image! Once she was pleased we went with it. My sweet little niece designed the front cover and I absolutely love it.

I promise to share here with the book is ready for purchase! I have shared tips for the classroom here on my blog and here are two links to previous posts. I look forward to sharing my completed work with all of you in just a few weeks and hope that you can support me!

Thank You For Following my online journey. I hope you are well. As always feel free to comment, like, share the post!

“life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

– Hellen Keller

and in honor of me writing and preparing to share my very first book here is a read aloud of one of my favorite books ever ….

THE GIVING TREE – BY, SHEL SILVERSTEIN