Step 1: Breathe

In the upcoming school year, I will be changing grade levels and classrooms. Honestly, I am not sure which of those two is more scary - learning a new curriculum or moving my collected treasures.The move to a new classroom is at once exhilarating and deflating.  I do welcome the chance to vigorously downsize my collection of teaching materials. My new rule of thumb is "if you haven't used it in the last 2 years, reduce, reuse, recycle." Of course the corollary to that rule is "if you toss it out, you will immediately find it essential to a lesson as soon as the trash truck empties the dumpster."Still, I am finding I must be merciless in my assessment of each item's usefulness; hanging on to something I made 5 years ago just because it has an emotional investment just makes for more to move. And organize. Off and on, I've been moving since June 22nd, this activity is getting old.The moving should finish today. I have two more supply closets to transfer to my new classroom and a willing volunteer to help me.And maybe then I can breathe... a sigh of relief.