After An Educator's Journey
Out of the classroom & into the universe
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Once upon a time, I taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. Now I’m retired and working on new ventures.
Category: Classroom organization
I was unprepared for my first ever teaching job in 1974…. why didn’t those children sit in rows with their hands folded waited for the next drop of wisdom from my brain?
Here’s how things have evolved over the last 20+ years. Maybe what I’ve learned can help you.
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About 3 years ago now I spent a winter-spring weeding and reorganizing the library in my classroom. Lots of people have lots of ways to do this — and lots of reasons for what they do. The first thing I did was to throw/recycle or donate books – relentlessly and without much sentiment. I teach…
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When you have pretty strong convictions about something, they are not always understood or shared by others. For me, one of my thoughts is that creating an environment of order and welcome is of high importance to my students’ frames of mind. With many of my students coming from existences that are not always orderly,…
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I broke down today and started to work on a room arrangement. I am planning on 24 kids – already have 23 on the roster – and have a contingency for a 25th. Here are some “before” shots from last June: Step one was to move shovemy desk out of the way. I have a…
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I’ve been spending a bit of time thinking about what the physical atmosphere and arrangement of the classroom projects. I am a packrat. There, I’ve said it. I saved egg cartons – must have had to toss about 50 of them when we moved 16 years ago – knowing in my teacher brain that I…
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We will have a lot of changes this coming Fall. Some are more global: a new administrator, a new superintendent, new Core Curriculum. On a more local level, my grade level has made a decision to locate the Inclusion classrooms side-by-side, so next year I will be a SPED Inclusion room again. And there some…
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This June, with just 3 years — or maybe 4 if the stock market takes a nose dive — left of my teaching career, I’ve started the process of streamlining. It seems like a good idea. I certainly don’t have an delusions that all that stuff I’ve been saving “just in case” is going to…
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I have a love-hate relationship with the first week of school. I love it because it is a time for a fresh start, a do-over; everything about the start of the year is new and exciting. And to be honest, after 10 weeks away from teaching, I miss it…. even the most annoying of personalities…
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Hours put in since the last post: 6+ Yesterday I met with our Team’s new Special Education Teacher, Melissa. I don’t know about Melissa, but I am definitely feeling the overwhelming panic that encompasses the start of a new year. The weird dreams have already begun. It will be good to get back to school…
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Time 4.5 hours After cleaning and arranging the large items in my classroom, it is time to start prepping for the students’ arrival. I purchased an additional 10 cardboard magazine files to be used as book boxes. That makes a total of 24. I am prepping for 24 because that, in theory, is the maximum…
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Time Spent: 4 hours This morning I loaded up the Jetta with our new shop vac — more power! — and began cleaning up the dust from the floor replacement. Here’s what was all over every surface, nook, and cranny of my classroom (even behind closed cupboards – this stuff goes everywhere). Cleanup meant first…
After An Educator's Journey 