High on School Supplies.

Attention Teachers!   

Shhh!  It's August.  Walk very quietly, and maybe nobody will notice you as you sneak into your classroom to pick up every single desk and chair, elevating them above the newly-waxed (3 coats!) floors, to arrange them the way you want them THIS week, not that silly diagram hastily sketched on the last day of school that was affixed to your door. 

I know I'm not the only one who has done this.

Today was my day to take the first wave of accumulated offerings to the classroom.  It has nothing to do with the fact that it is the first day in August that we were allowed in the building, and everything to do with my goal of vacuuming out my vehicle, which has been the storage spot for all the "Back to School" deals over the summer.    So I grabbed my folding wagon, filled it to the brim, and hauled the first load in.

One of the reasons I am a teacher is the intense rush I get when I see school supplies for sale.  Sharp crayons, new pencils, virginal notebooks, things that look like they might organize me, all call to me.    They call MUCH LOUDER when they are on special sale -- Crayola Markers for 99 cents?  How can I pass that up?  (Ummm.  Maybe because you have 20 unopened packs in your closet from last year?)  Glue sticks for a quarter? Protractors, THIRTY THREE CENTS. 

I controlled myself.  How much protracting is done in my room?  No more than 3, simultaneously.

This year, I've also purchased three 2 gig flashdrives to lend to those victims students who need to transport something home.  They are obnoxiously neon green, and sharpied with my name.  I will not go so far as to require shoes as collateral.  (I know a teacher who did that one year!)

And green chairs.  Yes.  Six of them.  I'm searching for 14 more, at a quality price.  Because this is the year that the classroom will be a full day gig for me.  No more traveling between buildings.  No mid-day use of the sunroof, as I jaunt quickly to the Primary or Junior High buildings.  For the first time in SEVENTEEN YEARS, I am confined to quarters.

Nearly a year ago, I pronounced Classrooms Don't Matter.  While I still support the sentiment behind that post, having a single place to focus my attention, without fleeing the building midday in a flurry, sounds like the perfect time to try this thing called organization.  I have time.  I have students who have volunteered to help establish the boundaries and space.  

And I'm sure that somewhere in the Sunday circulars are the perfect containers to make this happen.