Let the Fun Begin.....

Day One- I was finally able to get into my classroom and get some work done.  When I say, “Get some work done,” I actually mean, check to make sure all of my things are still in my room and move my furniture around. 

  When I left last June, the last thing on my mind was, “How do I want to arrange my furniture for next year.”  Therefore, it was number one on my to-do list.  I couldn’t complete anything else without knowing where I wanted things to be placed. 

   I walked into the room to see this giant mountain of school items piled on my counter…..

   Over the summer I was in communication with my administrators as I wanted to trade my student desks for tables.  I had been using desks for the past 3 years but wanted to change things up a bit.  After getting the approval, I was eager to get to the room to see which tables I was getting.  Was I ever surprised to go in and find 3 long tables ALONG WITH all of my classroom desks. 

My large room suddenly looked really small.  So, first thing was first, get the desks out!  I piled them up and then looked at the room I had to work with.  I have to tell you, I am thrilled with how much more room I have now that I did away with the desks.  Honestly, while the desks are nice for storage, I find that they cause more grief than benefit.  Plus, now that I have tables, I have room for carpets in front of my SMARTBoard.  Now, I can call the students over to sit in front of the SB for a quick lesson. Afterwards, we can go back to our tables to work. 

Next, I switched my morning meeting area with my library area from last year.  Here is a picture of the new morning meeting area:

And, here is a picture of the new library area:

Next to my non-fiction collection, I placed my listening station/art station.  Now, I really love this piece of furniture, HOWEVER, it is so large and cumbersome.  Due to the fact that the listening station chairs are attached to the back of the art station, you always have to have the piece sticking out from the wall- well, not anymore.  The art station now faces outwards, while the listening station is right up against the wall.  I thought this might be inviting for the students, creating a nook of sorts for them to sit in.  I have placed a little stool near it so the students can easily crawl in and out.  We shall see how this goes.  I am hopeful.

At 2:15, an announcement came on telling us that we had 15 minutes to evacuate the building.  Grrrrr… summer hours!   I got to school at 12:30 today and was therefore only able to work for two hours.  Note to self…. get to school early!