All You Ever Wanted to Know About a Staff Developer

You know the classic question us single folks get asked at every get to know you activity... "So what do you do?" I love saying, "I am a Staff Developer for an Elementary School." And then without fail, "What's that?" Well of course I say technically I am the assistant principal, but there is so much more to my job then being my principal's right hand gal. As the Staff Developer the main part of my job is to run the Title I Program at our school. Because our school population is more than 50% lower income families, we receive Federal Funds to allow for additional staff and support for these students. That's where I come in. I train and supervise all support staff, mentor new teachers, provide professional development for faculty and staff, create schedules, organize playground supervision, and handle anything else that may arise during the day. Are you impressed yet?

Well along with all those other things I am required to document the ways we use the Federal monies and support in what is lovingly called THE BINDER. Throughout the year I am collecting documents on Student Data, Parent Involvement, Staff Development, Federal Programs we have at our school, and a whole lot of other stuff. I thought I would impress you all by showing you the binder and helping you to see that I don't just sit around and blog all day at work. Do you feel like you know Miss Day a little more now?


Front view of THE BINDER


Side view of all the trees I have killed this past year. Is this the biggest binder you have ever seen?!

Stadium of Fire

The symbols of summer for me... Sun, BBQs, Twist Cones, and Stadium of Fire. For many years I have watched this grand fireworks show from afar wondering what was really happening inside the Stadium of Fire. What was I missing? I felt like a poor peasant woman watching from outside the grand Colusseum, wishing I could be with the rich aristocrats feasting on fun inside. Well this year I got the upperclass ticket, I was entering the Lavell Edwards Stadium to feast on the fun of Stadium of Fire! I have to admit spending money to see fireworks hasn't really excited me in past years. But this year Carrie Underwood was coming to celebrate July 4th with me. I enjoy Carrie Underwood and feel like we could be friends someday so I decided to put out the money and support my future friend and see the fireworks spectacular on the INSIDE.

I was not disappointed, there was singing, dancing, a flyover by some fancy jets, and of course, Carrie. The Osmond Second generation and some piano kids were also showcased at this event, but I was there for Carrie. I am pretty sure the Entertainer of the Year was holding back, but I was entertained nonetheless. I would totally spend lots of money to see her full show.

The fireworks were splendid, we had a great view, and of course my friends were a great addition to the evening. I can now join the Utah County throng of millions whose lives have been changed by celebrating the birth of their country through song, dance, and fireworks! There is even a song... Stadium of Fire! Duh(pause) Duh,Duh!


Here we are getting ready for the big event! Don't we look like we love our country!


Carrie Underwood belting out the tunes. She is so cute and lovely. I am awaiting her Facebook Friend confirmation. (Fingers crossed!)



View from the INSIDE! Now I know, and knowing is half the battle!


The whole gang! We had a BBQ earlier and then the Stadium of Fire. We celebrated good!

Spending Time with the Kiddos

This past weekend I had many opportunities to get in touch with my motherly side. I was able to help my dear friend Sarah with her children again this weekend. Jacob is 2 and has the best smile ever and Eliana is 3 months and also has a dang cute smile complete with dimples. I played with Jacob at the pool on Friday and while at times it was a little stressful knowing Sarah might not like it if I injured her child in some way, more often it was great fun. Jacob took a liking to jumping into the pool from the side and I would hold his hand and help him jump in or he would jump to me. His laughter was contagious and I really didn't mind helping him jump in again and again and again.

Most of the weekend I helped out by holding Eliana while Sarah kept track of Jacob. He loves his momma so much and gets the biggest grin every time he sees her, even if he had been crying about something 2 seconds before! So it was a hard life holding a sweet baby, but I muddled through. She started smiling for me and it was adorable. I loved making her smile and laugh in a newborn kind of way. If I was a really excellent friend I would have helped change diapers and such too, but really I am more the I will play with your kids kind of friend, the dirty stuff is up to you.

I rounded out my weekend of kids by attending our ward Primary Activity on Saturday morning. I am the Sunbeam teacher now so I helped them rotate through the different Pioneer activities. I adore my Sunbeams and am probably biased but think we have the best primary class. These kids are smart, super cute, and we can keep them entertained for quite some time by playing Reverent Ball. (I can teach you this very popular game if you would like.) They had a blast shaking a jar to make butter, playing Stick Pull with Joseph Smith, and just generally running around the field.

So a weekend with children aged 3 and under took me out of my comfort zone a bit since I tend to enjoy children who can read and tie their own shoes a little more, but dang little kids sure know how to love and I love to be loved!


Three cute sunbeams equals one big smile for me!



Jacob was playing hide and seek with his mum(she is Canadian so I have to say mum). The best part was she didn't know about the game, but he was being a great hider!


I know you are all jealous that I spent time with this adorable lady all weekend! You can't see the dimples too well, but they are there.


I know, I know.

A Summer Guilty Pleasure

Ah...it's summertime, a time to play outside, eat yummy BBQ outside, frolic in the pool outside, you know, be outside! Well I have had an excellent view of the outside from the window of my room as I have been in there most of the summer so far watching (hold your breath) a silly tv series called, Bones. Now, I feel the need to point out my friend, Sarah, is the one who introduced me to this series which I always thought seemed too yucky to enjoy. But after watching a few episodes with her, I was hooked. Once I watched all the epidsodes I could find for free online, I needed to get my fix from somewhere else. This is where I can blame my roommate, Cami, who suggested I become a member of Netflix where I could get all 5 Seasons streamed directly to my computer. And this is where my summer fun went from outside to inside. I go to work, come home, watch some episodes of Bones, eat dinner, go to the gym, watch some episodes of Bones, sleep, go to work, watch some episodes of Bones... you get the idea. While you may be disgusted at the thought of me wasting away in my room watching tv, you know who to blame and on the upside, if I ever find some bones in a stranded field or crammed in a closet somewhere, I will know exactly how to identify the remains and begin the search for the killer. See I am having a learning experience this summer! I am on Season 4, almost done! What should I learn about next?

Fishin' and Frolickin'

Well I have to admit I probably did more frolickin' than fishin' this weekend, but my first camping trip of the season was highly enjoyable. Saturday was free fishing day in Utah and my friend, Chris took this opportunity to make a camping trip out of a fishing trip with all his closest friends. We headed up Friday afternoon to Blawkhawk campground on the Nebo Loop. Green trees, snow-topped mountain peaks, and happy sun made for the perfect weekend getaway. After carefully choosing just the right spot with a meadow and big trees to shade our tents, we set up camp and waited for the rest of the group to arrive later that evening. Sitting around the campfire with 20 other people I caught up with old friends, made new friends, enjoyed a yummy foil dinner and a Smore or two, and nearly died of smoke inhalation. Okay the last part was a bit dramatic but the fire was very smoky and I found myself choking and dabbing away tears after being attacked by the smoke monster more than once.(Fortunately it was not the Smoke Monster from Lost, though had the same appearance at times.) The temperature was perfect, even the evening chill was very mild. There was a bit of a feisty wind that would make itself known at times, but it soon subsided making for a wonderful evening.

The next morning we awoke to birds chirping and another gorgeous sunny day. We got ready and headed to Payson Lakes to do some fishin'. This is where I admit I was merely a bystander in the fishing process. I brought a good book, enjoyed watching my friends fish, and took in some rays. I would have fished if I really wanted to. :) After a few hours with no real bites, we headed back to clean up camp and head home. On the way home we stopped to enjoy a small hike on the Nebo Loop called the Grotto. It took us to a quaint waterfall where we dipped our feet in the ice cold water then headed back to our cars. We parted with all our friends, then it was time to go home and enjoy a much awaited shower. I have washed my hair four times and still don't have the smoke smell out of my hair. I guess that smoke monster did more damage than I thought. It was a delightful weekend and I hope to post of many more campouts I will enjoy this summer. I do love Utah's mountains in the summer!


The view from our campsite. Pretty nice eh?


Kathryn, Suzanne, Me, and Kim enjoying our yummy tinfoil dinners.


The gang enjoying the campfire. This would be one of the rare moments the Smoke Monster was not attacking me.


The view of the lake, serene and peaceful. Good thing you can't hear the kids to the side of us yelling, "I got one! I got a fish!" So much for peaceful day at the lake.

A Weekend of Loves

Well this was the first official weekend of my summer and I spent some quality time with people I love and doing things I love...

I spent most of the weekend with one of my dear friends who I love very much, Sarah Parson. Her husband went out of town and with a 2 year old boy and a new baby girl, Sarah enlisted the help of me! I was happy to spend some time with her and her cute kids. I spent most of the weekend holding sweet Eliana, which I didn't mind, so Sarah could help out her boy, Jacob. And he is all boy. But he is the cutest, I loved how he would get this huge smile everytime I had him give me a high five.

I love going to church and I love spending time with my cute Sunbeams. We learned about the many things we can do today. While playing Reverent Ball I was "shushed" because I wasn't being reverent. I guess I will have to practice being more reverent this week.

Today was Memorial Day and I love seeing the cemetary by my house full of people visitng Veterans and their loved ones who have passed on. I love seeing the sea of colorful flowers showing how people remember. I should have taken a picture, sorry. I love that it was sunny and I got to play outside today. I love BBQs and I got to attend 2 of them today! I love going to the movies and after seeing Prince of Persia I may love Jake Gillenhal now. I love my friends and the fact that I got to spend time eating and laughing with them (my most favorite things) makes this day simply wonderful! I love that I am healthy, and happy, I have a family that loves me, friends who think I am funny;), and I love that the summer is here and I am ready to play!


I loved spending time with Eliana this weekend. She is one cute baby! This picture is black and white because I was playing with the settings on my phone. I also love my iPhone. :)


I do love the Step Up movies so the fact that Step Up 3 is coming soon makes me happy. And in 3D!



I love cake and I love America, so I made a Flag Cake for one of the BBQs I attended. It was pretty good!

Hope of America Looks Good

In my efforts to become the greatest person on earth, I happily volunteered to help my friend at a show put on by hundredes of children called Hope of America Showcase. This showcase is hundreds of students from all over Utah Valley coming together to form a great big flag and sing some songs about our nation, very touching. My friend needed someone to help move the kids into empty spaces so we had a full, gorgeous flag, and not a spotty, holey flag. Seemed easy, ask kids to scoot over, put other kids in the places, done! Well the first night, yes nice and easy and I enjoyed the Hope of America show. Second night, little crazier, kids everywhere and I wondered why I agreed to this madness. But, kids singing and dancing altogether gets to me, that's why I work with em... behind the screaming, shouting, silliness are cute, innocent, growing minds. However, another part of the show that was my very favorite was the Dancing Grandmas! 100 grandmas from ages 50-90 dressed up in their sparkly, cowboy hats, doing the Robot dance equals pure joy. The 90 year old grandma even does the splits at the end. They are a Utah favorite and I believe they will be appearing on America's Got Talent this summer.
So I had fun with kids of all ages and believe the Hope of America is strong, sounds good, and looks gooood.


Yep, I helped make that flag o'kids look so good! Hard to believe the Hope of America can all sit there like good innocent children. Fortunately I didn't have to sit with them.

The Dancing Grandmas doing the Robot! Yep I zoomed in on the 90 year old grandma. I am going to join this group when I am a grandma, so fun!