Next Week

Sunday: day (!) trip to Boston, return sometime around midnight

Monday: car to the shop

Monday: administer 5th grade NYS Social Studies Test (I am responsible for ~80 kids' performance, since I am the 5th grade social studies teacher)

Tuesday: administer 5th grade NYS Social Studies Test

Wednesday: report card collaboration

Thursday: Thai food

Friday: 1/2 day training in a city far, far away, which will make me qualified to grade the 5th Grade NYS Social Studies Test

And we have marathon P/T conferences Thanksgiving week...

De-Cluttering The Classroom

Among the things inherited from a retiring colleague were three (!) file cabinets jammed with teaching materials. I managed to weed through two of them before the kids returned, but this last one has stood by the lockers since then. It was filled mainly with colorful, 2 pocket folders. A copy of a (mostly useless to me) worksheet was glued to the front of each (and there were literally hundreds) folder, but the folders were mainly empty.

I tore the worksheet off the cover of each folder, kept 25 for my class, offered some to students, and put the rest in the teacher's room on the give away table.

Now that I have finally gone through all old guy's stuff, the room feels officially mine. Just in time to move again!

A Scrappy Project

The Friday before school started, I was tasked with sorting through the possessions of a retiring teacher whose classroom I had inherited. All I will say about this is that there were piles and piles and piles, and the custodians and I were utterly overwhelmed with the volume of stuff I had no use for.

My principal helped out when she could, so did friends and the assistant assigned to my room. When it was time to leave for the day, I told my boss I was taking the weekend off, even though there was more work to do before kids came back. She said,
"Good for you! Make sure you do something for yourself this weekend."

So I did. I made a cover for my planbook.




It's a fitted, sleeve kind of cover.




With pockets on the inside for pencils, pens, and notes.




Made of patches and strips from my collection, and leftovers from recent projects.



I love it when my skirt matches my planbook!

School Bag

We are always receiving promotional items from textbook companies. A couple of years ago, when we were deciding on a new math series, the companies tried to out-do each other. My favorite was the company who "set" the tables for the big meeting with water bottles, chocolate bars, lunch boxes, and a tote bag. I still use the lunch box as a back up.

A company that was promoting a series on nutrition sent me some materials packed in this messenger bag. There was a logo on the flap, a big, ugly orange and yellow logo. I covered it up with a black sharpie.



And then I covered that up with a bitchin' sunflower patch. Now, I happily carry my bag to and from school, even if I don't have any homework.



(Yes, that's my new grown-up teacher chair with wheels. And I got to pick out my new desk... it's a 1950's blond wood one that does not squeak when I write! I love, love, love my new desk and chair.)

In Between

Real life for me has been on hold.
I've been on leave for almost 5 months.
At work, I'm in between classrooms, in between assignments, and in between school years. Yesterday I found out I'll either be a 5th grade social studies teacher or a 6th grade reading teacher. Ah to be general ed certified, the possibilities seem endless...

With one job, I'd be in the same building, have the same schedule and colleagues, and be half under the old boss and half under a new one.
With the other, I'd be in a new building, have a new schedule and colleagues I've never met, and be under one new boss.

I'm hoping I get the other.



I'll know next week.