I am moving to first grade this year. I'm excited. I taught first grade for many years. Of course the standards have changed in the recent years.  I am moving to a new room as well. It is a blank slate, awaiting my attention.  Michael came to school and helped move all my stuff, boxes and bins, oh my! This is with about 3/4 of the boxes unpacked.  I finished the boxes before I left, but the pile in the desk grew a little. I am trying to  be thoughtful on my organization. As long as I finish putting everything away tomorrow, I'll be able to get my room set up without panicking. I hope. ...

I was in town this morning. I live in the country; I really do "Go to town." Depending on the errand I need to run there are different stores I will drive by. Today was a Goodwill store in a nicer area. You know what I mean, the neighborhoods around the store are a little more affluent. I stopped in, you never know what you might find. I walked by the toy section. Nothing. Kids books. Nothing caught my eye. I always check out the furniture. Jackpot!! I saw this toy box. It is white, clean, not too big. The best part; the price $9.88. I get to the register and she's training another woman. She starts walking though  the steps to enter the item, then I hear her say something about a discount. Discount?? Yes, Please! It was on sale. I got it for $8.00. Even better!  Now, what to do with it? I don't want to paint it. I could cover the white areas with colored contact paper, dry erase contact paper, or chalkboard contact paper.  What to put in it? I have severa......

I haven't been in my room since June. I haven't really thought much about my room since June. We are lucky to have a couple of days to work in our room guaranteed by our contract. But who am I kidding, I teach Kindergarten, I always need more.  I walked into a pretty organized room. The custodians put things back approximately where they were originally. Yeah, I don't have to move the rug or housekeeping center, it is very heavy. We are also allowed to leave things on the walls. That means less chair  climbing up the ladder for me.  My room is a large rectangle with built-ins on every wall. This is my third year in the room and I haven't found a set up I love yet. I am finally happy with the housekeeping center. It is just inside the door, see the 'microwave' in the photo above. I need the custodians to turn it around, but it won't move. My tables and bookshelves are another story.  As you see, I have trapezoid tables for my students. Above t......

Here it is. All ready for me to rearrange and decorate. ...