Whole Class Journal Covers!

My pack is finished! FINALLY! I'm so excited! Please check out my the fruit of my labor!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Aimee-Perry-thoughts-From-Third

Update on the Name Change....

Core Academy was organized and run by Utah State University. Utah Standards Academy is organized and funded by the state of Utah.

P.D. Week!

Welcome to Utah Standards Academy........wait wasn't it called "Core Academy?" So today while I was freezing to death (in JUNE) because the hosting school turned their air conditioning up way to high I thought of reason as to why they would change the name. I heard someone say that it was because the word "Core" in the title comes with a bad stigma because of the local attitudes towards the Big Bad Common CORE. I have strong feelings about the ridiculous posts going around about Common Core. While it is not perfect (but really what set of Core Standards is?) I see the potential to expand upon understanding of concepts rather than memorization. If you ever see a crazy Math problem or writing prompt that is linked to Common Core, please do me a favor: Go read the actual standards and find if it actually says to specifically ask those questions. There is a GREAT misunderstanding between the difference of standards and curriculum (which is a local issue.)
..............back to my train of thought...........They changed the name because they didn't want us to expect the bin/tub of awesome manipulatives and resources that they used to give to the grade specific courses! :) This could be very likely. While I miss the fan fare and most of all the single grade courses (3rd and 4th are grouped together) this year I am just grateful for the opportunity to dive deeper into the Core of my new grade! I left today excited to be a 3rd grade teacher! I thought about all of the cool notebooking lessons I could do with fractions and how I was going to help each of my students be successful! Today I feel inspired. A shot in the arm of excitement for my new teaching assignment!
Today I learned a new term that connect to one that I used in my last post! "Functional Knowledge." Knowledge that you understand and can apply to different situations (Last post I talked about "Functional Organization.) I left with the desire to make everyday filled with "functional knowledge" for my students so that they can all feel successful!
I'm hoping that I am as positive at the end of the week of 7 hour classes as I am today! I'm off to pull out my Winter clothes to wear tomorrow so that I don't freeze!

Wild Week, Target Finds, and Summer Goals!

This is how I ended my week last Saturday! The Dirty Dash! It has become a tradition for my friends and I to run it in the Spring. We are planning a couples (should be interesting:) for the fall Dirty Dash! 10k of mud and obstacles. If I didn't have such awesome friends...I probably wouldn't do it. I am not high maintenance at all, but I really don't like to get dirty!:) If you haven't tried a mud run before I would encourage you to get together a fun group of friends and go for it! You see people of all skill levels, so not being in ideal running shape is NOT an excuse!

So three of my bins that I posted about a couple of weeks ago went to organizing school supplies (yes I have them at home too,) art supplies, and flash cards! I reorganized my entry way closet (which has been a goal of mine for 6 months) the other day and it took me over an hour! To those with OCD: I understand that this is not perfect....I call it functional organization!:)

................The best part about using these bins for personal use was that I had to go back Target to replace them! I have a serious problem with their $1/$3 section! My new find.....

These mini-lights are beyond cute and I love the colors! I can't wait to hang them in my classroom!

I purchased this garland to decorate for Father's Day (with matching balloons and straws....I have a problem!:), but plan to hang it in my classroom as well. I have to admit that my classroom is not the most over-the-top perfectly decorated classroom, but I do think that creating an aesthetically pleasing room does help with classroom management. If you create a place where the students want to be they spend less time thinking about places they would rather be and more about what they could be learning!:) 

One of my Summer goals is to workout 5 times a week. So far, so good! I'm actually loving having the gym built into my morning schedule! My hard work has to happen now so that I can maintain during the school year! While I'd like to workout that much in during the rest of the year.....It just isn't possible. Working full time, having a family with two active boys, and the fact that the gym is 25 minutes away makes it harder to put it high on my priority list!:) Next week is going to be tough! 4 days of Professional Development from 8:30-3:30 is going to make things interesting! 

Blue Star Museums

http://bluestarfam.org/Programs/Blue_Star_Museums
If you are a Military family keep this web address handy this summer! All Blue Star Museums are offering free admission to museums across the country through Labor Day 2014! All branches including the Reserves and National Guards are eligible for this offer.  This page will help you locate Blue Star museums in every state. We hit the Tree House Museum today as a family and had a fantastic time! Thank you Blue Star Museums and their partners!

Things You Should Never Say To A Working Mom....

"Oh, you work?" "How can you leave your sweet babies in daycare?" "Is there anyway you can tighten up your budget so you can stay home?" "My mother never worked outside of the home and neither will I!"
All things that have been said to me. There are many more and trust me I'm saving the best for last, but I wanted to start this post with another story: Recently my friend whose husband is working full time and going to school asked her if she could find something (even if it was from home) to help out financially while he was in school. She had just had a baby a few months earlier. Though she may have wanted extra time with her new little one, she knew that her husband was killing himself and could use the help. Obviously I wasn't privy to the conversation(s) that led up to the decision for her to return to the work force, but knowing her, I'm sure the choice wasn't easy. She posted on Facebook about needing to find childcare for her new baby and two year old and was asking for recommendations. A few were posted, but mostly this is what she received: "NNNNOOOOO!" "I'm so sorry you have to leave your little ones!" "Is there any way that you can avoid this!" "I could never work and leave my kids with someone else!" Good Heavens! Did she say, "I'm leaving my kids at home to go to work, please make me feel like a bad mom!?"....No! Why is that always the response? What is it with shaming women for working when they have children? I have a family member whose wife actually told him that even though they were struggling financially, he could take a 4th (oh yes I said 4th!) job because she couldn't work. Her reason was that kids whose mothers work get into trouble and are not successful........Hi, my name is Aimee. My mother is at the end of her 38th year of teaching school. She had me in July and returned to work in August. My sisters were born 5 years later and she didn't take a day more than the doctor recommended. None of us have been into drugs or have any other addictions. All three of us have college degrees (Bachelor's) and are functioning happy adults. I highly doubt that we are outliers.
I have nothing against SAHM's. Sometimes, I wish that I was one. MY husband says that I would make the worst SAHM in the entire world! HE calls me an "in-the-car" mom during the summer. He tells everyone how I can't just have a quiet day at home, that I have to have to find some sort of adventure everyday with the kids......He's right! I jam pack my summer with everything I wish that I could have done with my boys during the school year. I think that every SAHM mom is different, just like every woman in the work place is different. I don't think that they are all at home doing the same things. I think that some get up and get ready for the day, some stay in their pajamas all day. Some go to the gym, some do their house work in yoga pants (that have never set foot in a gym! (Guilty!)) Some volunteer in their children's classrooms, some send money and supplies. Some keep a clean house and well some....just don't!:) There are benefits to being a SAHM, but there are benefits to being a working mother as well. One that is small, but that always makes me smile is clothes. I've moved three times since my first son was born and every babysitter (later topic) we have ever had comments on my cute clothes. I do have cute clothes, I can also justify buying as much as I do because I need to have attractive (nice) professional clothes for my job.
Okay so I got a little off topic, but it was leading up to the comment that I dislike the most....."I'M SORRY THAT YOU HAVE TO WORK!" Please don't feel sorry for me! I've had tremendous trials and struggles in my life and not one of them is being a working mom. Could my family live in a smaller house in a less desirable neighborhood away from two of the top 25 schools in the state? Yes. I'm not sorry that I live where I do though. I'm not sorry that I have the skills and education to help support my family and work towards the life my husband I have dreamed of building. I'm not sorry that we paid cash for two cars or that our house is on a 15 year loan. I'm not sorry that my kids have college and mission funds. I'm not sorry that I'm building an awesome retirement account and putting money away for the future. I've always been happy and never sorry that we can go on family vacations each year and that we have never lived pay check to pay check. I choose to focus on the blessings that have come from my choice to have a career while raising my kids. No matter who you are or what you choose to do with your life, you should do the same. Sometimes you have to just put all your chips in and pray for the best. I work hard, play hard, and love my family with everything that I have. Being a working mom isn't going to screw up my kids. If something goes wrong with them it's because at some point I choose not to put in my all, or they choose not to give their all to themselves (and one day a family.)
I was always proud of my mother growing up (I still am!) I was proud of how driven and intelligent she was. I can only hope that my boys will say that about me one day! Next time you are speaking to a woman and it comes up that she is a working mom tell her, "I bet your kids are proud of you!" She needs to hear it. Even though we live in a  society where we stress the importance of mothers, somewhere in between work (home or career), laundry, and dinner we forget that we still need to know that we are appreciated by our kids. That we haven't let them down. That they're watching us and that they're proud that we are their mothers!

Pain, Great Finds, and Melatonin

Pain. Hips. Pounding. Aging? Yesterday my husband made time for me to go walking. I LoVe to go walking in our area! I love to hike up the hills and then run down them! (I am not a runner, unless it's downhill. It was 6 o'clock in the evening at a scorching 90 degrees! (This is a much bigger deal for our area in Utah than it sounds! Two weeks ago it was in the 50's so we're dieing this week!) Despite the heat I thought that I had better take the time since it was being given to me. We have a STEEP hill by our house that clims for just over a mile. I always put this at the beginning of my walks because then the rest of the walk feels easy and enjoyable. (First mile, worst mile!:) Half way up the hill I almost called my husnband! I was soaked! (Gross, I know!) I pushed myseldf to the top of the hill and instead of walking down the other side I turned around and RAN down the steep hill! I now have a new record for my mile (Not that I am seriously worried about my time or that I'm acutally tracking my running), but my hips are now in intense pain! I went to Zumba this morning (which I absolutely LoVe) and each step was painful! I thought at one point that my hips were going to give out! Ouch! I pushed through so that my work out done for the day. (Disclaimer: I am not the girl that you would see at the gym and think, "Wow, she must really be working hard!" I'm that girl who you look at and think, "she must be new." HAHA at least I can laugh at myself!:)
I'd like to shake the hand of the person who founded Target and then smack him/her right upside the head! I can't walk into that place without leaving with $50 worth of stuff I had no idea that I needed!

My teacher finds! Ribbon, baskets, and buckets! Ribbon for decorating, baskets for leveled library bins (or centers), and buckets for........I haven't decided yet! I love finding new items for my classroom! I'm switching grades this year and I'm on overload this Summer trying to prepare. I still have a couple of weeks before they let me into my classroom, so until then I cluttering our home office with new treasures!

Melatonin. I love it. It's a natural sleep aid and the only way I'm able to shut my brain off at night lately. I took one before I began typing and the effects are now in full swing! I'm off to bed before I fall asleep on my keyboard! (Please excuse any errors for this reason!;)