A Work in Progress

Or is it?  Oh brother, do I have my work cut out for me.  Not only do I have little knowledge of what I'm going to be doing in my classroom, it looks like an absolute wreck.  The week after school, my parents and I boxed up all my belongings in my comfy, familiar Room 14 of Building 3.  And we made MANY trips down the long sidewalk to Room 1, Building 1.  From third grade to first grade.  Nine years of experience to zero.  Sigh.

Slowly, slowly my room is taking shape.  And today I received some of the many first grade happies that I had ordered at the end of the last school year.  So that helped me to realize that I can, in fact, do this.  I really think it will put a little spark back into my attitude.  I had just about had enough of the whole state testing gig.  I'm ready for something new and exciting.  And I truly anticipate first grade being both!

Below proves my classroom (as well as myself) is a work in progress.  Yes, I know I'm a pack-rat.  Don't judge me until you've been a teacher (and for all [four] of you non-pack-rat teachers...I envy you!).  Believe it or not, I filled at least two *huge* recycling bins (I mean HUGE!) and at least three to four huge trashcans.  I'm getting there.  I've got a lot less clutter going on.  And that is a huge blessing!  Don't judge me by all the junk you see.  When you see the finished product in a week or so (hopefully sooner), you'll say "WOW!" :o)  Maybe.

 Oh, this is so sad.  Ha.  I should have actually taken a "before" picture...even though this might seem pretty "before".  lol.  There were tons of boxes stacked three and four high.  And the desks were all pushed to the front.  So in order to get a little order in my room, I arranged the desks the way I want them and then put all the junk on the desks.  I know, I know.  Crazy.  But there is an order to my madness!

Those bulletin boards on the left, above the windows need to have the cork replaced.  There is currently a work order for them.  I'm hoping they get done before Meet the Teacher night!

Alright...a little color is getting splashed onto the walls. :o)  But look at my desk!  Ack!  Of course, that's pretty much what it looks like after the first week of school anyway!  Ha!  (I'm kidding...sort of.)

A little more color, and the curtains are getting up.  My mom spent almost two weeks with me and made curtains for underneath my bulletin boards (we removed the sliding doors), the windows, and then to cover the old air vents

I spent an entire day organizing my desk and closet along with a few other things (which include filling a few trash cans)!  It was a task! 

Looking a little better! (Ugh, that mammoth-size continent map has got to go!)

OK--this was today...and isn't looking a whole lot different from the other pictures.  Haha.  I have been doing a lot of laminating and micro-organizing. :o)  And I did get a couple of bulletin boards up.

The reading nook.  I'll have fabric on that bulletin border with super cute border tomorrow.  And I'm going to eventually (hopefully before school starts) put a curtain on the bottom portion of that bookcase so the kids aren't totally overwhelmed at the monstrous amount of books in their reading station.

The Big Book Station...by my desk.  And the blue bulletin board will be my board for notes and such.  I don't think I'm keeping the little mailbox system.  I have no idea where I'll put it if I do.  I want to paint the front of my desk with magnetic paint so I can use it as a station.  We'll see.  Thinking about it, I probably shouldn't have spent over a month in Alabama on vacation.  Ha! 

A view from the corner.  I got a lot of boxes full of first grade goodness today (hence the opened Lakeshore box).  So now I have more boxes to unload.  But I'm thrilled b/c it'll really begin looking like a first grade room when I get all those things in their proper place. :o)

This will be my small group station.  It was looking nice and neat until I got those boxes today.  And there are two extra desks (under those boxes--ha) and a chair that are leaving the room.

The Calendar/class meeting area.  I still need to put up a little math wall on the green bulletin board.  In the corner, there is a small group table.  Don't you love my rug?!  And notice the lovely curtains my mom made!

The math station corner.  The bulletin boards above the windows will be our Word Wall.  Hopefully the cork will be replaced soon!!

My desk.  Let's see if it'll soon look like the "before" picture again! Ha!  I got those fabulous file folder games (on the left) today in one of those many boxes.  Now I have to laminate and cut out all those! 

So...it's coming together.  It isn't there yet, but it will be soon.  I have the rest of this week to work and then next week some.  The kids don't come until the 22nd, so there's time.  I hope! :o)  Check back soon...I'll have more "after" pictures. :o)