Closet vs. Ikea

Just a quick post today!  Got some news today about what I might or might not be teaching next year, and I am still sorting through the emotions.  I hate this time of year when the master schedule is still in rough draft.  I like to know exactly what I am doing for the next school year, oh around...Christmas.  And in the reality of middle school master scheduling, that just does not happen:)  So, I will fret and clean until I find out what I am teaching.  

Before you look at this next picture, you need to remember that I have had very little time to indulge in my OCD tendencies at  school over the last few years - I had to fly out the door to get home before my father's caregiver left.  And that this cupboard contains what is left of four big boxes of workbooks and resources from the room of one of my colleagues who passed away last summer.  No one had had the heart to sort through her stuff, and the poor teacher who had her room now was not sure what to do with it all.  So over the last week I sorted through the shelves and boxes, deciding what to throw away, give away, or keep.  It was a little bit like an educational archaeological dig through thirty-five years of teaching, mixed with bittersweet memories and amazement at the items that I discovered or rediscovered. 


As you can see, I have a little bit of stuff to still sort through and clean out.  However, there are NO ditto books (look it up if you are too young to get it:).  I am seriously thinking about selling some of it on eBay.  And, I wonder if I am on the only one still on a quest to find the perfect workbook for each subject and strand?


This is the walk-in-closet.  And yes, that is a poster of Vin Diesel.  One of my students gave it to me, and since I love the Diesel, I didn't mind:)  The blue tubs are empty now - they did hold the extra R-Books and Decodables for Read 180.  (For those of you who don't know, Read 180 paraphernalia takes up a mind-boggling amount of space and I teach three other subjects.) Those have been moved into an empty upper cupboard.  The Alpha Smarts are one of those things that another teacher was giving away, and I snatched from the heap.  Really not sure if I am going to keep them or pass them on - maybe Special Ed can use them.  The shelves are full of class/lit circle sets of novels.  The cardboard box holds my new audio books for the Rick Riordan series and Harry Potter books - it pays to be talking to the categorical clerk at the right moment:)  And I am obligated to tell you that there were two boxes of standard filled notebooks that were being broken down that were removed for the picture.  I had been working my way through them in spare moments and I shoved them in the closet to make the room look nicer for a distinguished visitor's walk through.

Cupboard and closet...meet my friend Ikea.

And I made a little run to Ikea this weekend.  5 packs of magazine holders for $1.99!  Twenty packs of them - I didn't want an excuse to go back there too soon, their chocolate is delicious!  

Since some of my next year's assignment is still up in the air, I will start on organizing my teacher resources.  Hopefully, there will be a prettier and slightly more obsessive picture to show you this weekend!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!

4 comments

  1. Oh Boy!
    Can't wait to see how this turns out!

    Kim
    Finding JOY in 6th Grade

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  2. Me too! It is all I can do to remember that I am supposed to be TEACHing and not organizing.

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  3. LOL! I am a neat freak! I love this time of year. Everything gets cleaned and organized...it's a beautiful thing. ;)
    Brandee @ Creating Lifelong Learners

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    1. I agree! I have been in the same room for more than a few years, so every other year I clean out as if I am moving. This is one of those years:)

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