OOPS! This was supposed to be posted last Friday... Can't you tell it was crazy??
What a week! Uffda, I'm beat. We have survived our first full week of school/work, and you can tell! Kiddos are wired and in need of fresh air and exercise, and the staff is moving slowly thinking 'is it naptime yet?' Or maybe that's just me... But it has also been a fun week! I have met all of the 3rd graders (who are new to our school this year) and seen lots of familiar faces in the 4th and 5th grades. I feel so bad when I don't know a name and I have to ask, but I keep reminding myself that I didn't spend any time with most of the 3rd graders and hardly any time with all of the 4th graders last year. It's a valid excuse, right? I do have to say, though, there are some names that I know very well and hear often. It's much easier to prevent or stop a behavior when you know their name ;).
This week has been a lot of organizing/planning/coordinating, and not so much kiddo time. I'm going through withdrawals! And then I look out my window on a sunshiny, beautiful day and I see kiddos in phy ed. I love my view :) I am so looking forward to spending more time with these kiddos that I get to watch grow up. I get to see them succeed. I get to help them achieve their goals. I love my job!
While most of my office cleaning, organizing, and decorating occurred this summer, there are still a few things that need to be done. One major task was the two smaller desk drawers that served as the catch-all drawers for the past number of years. And I just could not bring myself to clean them out. I did manage to empty them into a cardboard box and cleaned the actual drawers themselves. But that's it. That's all I could handle. I don't have a high tolerance for icky, grody (how do you spell like, "Ew- that's so gr-o-dy?"??), and unorganized things. So I had this box of junk that I just wanted to dump. I figured that way I could start fresh and know exactly what was in my drawers. But I'm an educator- we don't throw ANYTHING away. I thought to myself, "how can I get this organized without actually having to do it?" And then I had an "Aha!" moment. Our special education teacher is always looking for meaningful work for her students. Well this would certainly be meaningful work that would help me out a bunch. So I sent the box up (I didn't get a before picture, but just imagine finding someone else's junk drawer and dumping it in a box.) and it came back like the above picture. Beautifully organized in extra plastic organizers that I had lying around. Makers were bound together in a rubber band, and all stickers and notepads were in a container. AWESOME! I decided to have a few things floating freely in my drawers, but most of it stayed in the containers that they were sorted into. Thank you kiddos!