Back to School

Usually the words "back to school" spoken in July make me want to plug my ears and yell "Lalalalalalalala!". But, this week I moved back into my classroom and have made tons of progress. The stack of broken down cardboard boxes in the hallway makes me giddy. Each box on the pile represents being one step closer to getting my classroom ship shape for September. The bummer is that I feel like I just packed these boxes. The good news is that I totally remember how this feels. This, meaning getting ready for a school year to begin. And hopefully that means I'll remember what it feels like to actually teach.

On Sunday night, after we unpacked the trailer from our Shasta trip, I had a brainstorm. "Hey, let's back, back, back that thing (minus one bed, which turned out to be a total bonus) up to the shed and load my classroom into the trailer." On Monday morning that's what we did. It took exactly one load to get my classroom moved in one day. One day. And not even a full day. We loaded the trailer while Libby was at camp. Then, I checked into the building at 1:00. We had the trailer unloaded and I checked out by 2:00. Since then, I've been unpacking and putting away my classroom. In the mornings with Peyton, and in the afternoons all by myself. I remember doing this. I like teaching. I'm a teacher. I think this is gonna be good.

Shane came by yesterday and I recruited him to help me rearrange some furniture and even construct some new furniture out of some old furniture. Very DIY, we are. It doesn't look like much yet, but just wait...

Peyton heads down the hallway with her backpack which hits her just below the knees. She's got her backpack because Libby's at camp with hers. I packed Peyton a lunch to eat at school just like Libby. They both resemble turtles and move at about the same pace. Here, Peyton scrutinizes the bathroom light which turns on automatically when we walk by it. Spooky. Don't even get me started on the automatic flushing toilets. Terrifying. Thankfully, the girls weren't with me when I accidentally set off the alarm system. They may have never gone back.

Note to self: When you go in that door you have exactly .05 seconds to get to the key pad (which is roughly two miles away) and disarm the system. Don't go in that door.

Deconstruction, and construction.

Lunchtime for Peytie.

As I'm putting things away I'm throwing out a lot, which is very gratifying. I've always liked the cutesy details of my classroom, but teaching fifth grade seems a little more businesslike than third, and letting go of those details is actually pretty liberating. Besides, kids have too much visual stimulation in their days already, right? Minimalistic is the way to go. I'll let you know how that theory holds up.

A huge shout out to my friend Nancy Hall who recently vacated her old (and my new) classroom. Not to mention leaving me her j-o-b, job. She left the room in the best shape possible, which has made moving in so much easier. Thank you Nancy!