Last week I decided to get a jump on setting up my room. Since I won't have any time this week with training, I thought it'd be a great idea... right?!?! I was just imagining how the last few days before school I could focus on planning, and getting all those papers ready to be sent home with students... I COULD GET ORGANIZED. After all, that is one of my resolutions this year!
So, I spent 3 of my much loved (few left) summer days pulling furniture off each other, hanging bulletin boards, resetting up my classroom library, putting all my pinterest inspired projects out and about in the room....
Well, my starting early and setting up my classroom WAS A HORRIBLE IDEA.
Come Friday I learned that out of us 5 2nd grade teachers, 3 of us were going to have to move to another room.. another room UPSTAIRS.
WHY you ask?
Well before our old admin team left, they had planned to put structured learning upstairs.. our new admin now tells us that this is against the law and will be tough for those little babies to get up and down the stairs. Now as long as I have been in Texas, I thought 2nd grade could not be upstairs either.. apparently that's not the case anymore?!? Apparently this law either never existed or changed over summer because this was still my understanding when I started summer vacation.
After hearing this, our new admin team and us 2nd grade team sat down to iron out the details. Long story short- I volunteered to move. Another teammate of mine has trouble getting up and down the stairs, and she will be team teaching with another second grade teacher so the two of them MUST stay together.
So, I hesitantly offered to be one of the others to move.
Some good news:
- The room upstairs is set up exactly like mine downstairs so I won't have to rearrange much.
- I'll be up in the 3rd grade pod so I'll get to see my babies from last year all the time (MAJORLY excited about that!!!).
- I'll get a great workout going up and down stairs many times throughout the day.
My room was literally almost completely set up! If I had students coming in tomorrow, my room would be ready to fly. I had done that much to it.
And now out I move... so another second grade teacher can move in... sounds soooo counterproductive!
Thankfully my team was very willing to help me move most of my things. So as we tore things out of cabinets, threw them into boxes, we were able to accomplish most of the moving in 4 hours or so. Now everything is on the floor in my new room upstairs.
But don't worry, as I was pulling out things to put into cabinets in my new room, I FOUND THEM FILLED WITH ITEMS FROM THE LAST TEACHER!
My biggest pet peeve is having to clean out all of this random stuff that another teacher has left. EVERY year I have moved rooms, and EVERY year I have to clean out filing cabinets, drawers, cabinets, etc. It's absolutely frustrating.
I know it'll be fine in the end.. it just really bums me out that after doing all that work last week, everything had to be torn down and moved. And now I have to start over from square one.
This summer has been filled with changes! Here's hoping we get all the bumps out now so it'll be a smoother year... :)
5 comments:
I hate finding stuff from other teachers! I'm always afraid to throw it out, it case I may need it...or if I get shifted somewhere else, and someone else gets that room.
I hope your organizing goes well!
:) Kaitlyn
Smiles and Sunshine
Ughh, that is sooo annoying! I'm going into my new classroom for the first time today and am DREADING it because I know all of the old teacher's crap is in there. It's going to take HOURS just to sort through and purge. This is my third time doing it and it doesn't get any easier. I feel for you.:(
Kristin
iTeach 1:1
Oh girl...bless your heart! I know what you mean about cleaning out the junk! When I moved to my school I knew I wouldn't teach here forever (because I want to move back home to TN) so I thought it'd be best if I left all the junk so whoever teaches after me can sort through...well 5 years later, I got rid of the junk this year!
Hope setting up your room again is as painless as it can be.
Oh my! That sounds like a frustrating day, but you handled it well! I totally know what you mean about leftover junk. I took the classroom of a 35+ year teacher... boy oh boy did I have some vintage items left for me!! Good luck with your last few days of prep!
Kate
EduKate and Inspire
Oh, that's horrible! I'm so glad your team was able to help you, but ugh! What a completely frustrating experience. Hope it all works out in your new room.
Amanda
The Teaching Thief
P.S. I'm also very bothered by the "leave everything behind in case you need it" teacher. I just keep thinking, if you didn't use it for 5 years, why would I want it now? My response has always been to make sure I leave my room perfectly clean whenever I move. I'm trying to lead by example I suppose. We'll see if it ever pays off.
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