No, I Didn't Spend My Friday Night At School

Hi! My name is Ashley and I have a problem leaving school.

The beginning of the school year is fast approaching. Before I know it, there will be a classroom full of 22 little adults. We'll be focusing on working together, learning lots, and being awesome (Our goal this year!). While I am getting super excited to see all of my kiddos, I am also a little worried about getting everything ready. There's moving furniture, organizing, and planning. Here's what I came back to:

I always start by getting the furniture where I want it. It's easier for me to get organized if all of the big stuff is where it is supposed to be. Bonus: I feel super productive once I've moved some desks! This year I am facing my carpet a different direction. This pushed all of my desks closer together. We'll try this out for the first month and see if we can manage it.

It's a good thing they are little people!

My next stop is a to-do list. This is a must! It helps me to vizualize everything that still must be tackled. Now, let's not pretend that this is a one-and-done list. This is a working, breathing, living document. I constantly add to it. That's OK. It gives me a central location to keep my thoughts and it is a crazy motivator once I start crossing items off.

Slowly but surely working my way through it all!

Today I tackled the teacher area by my desk. This was pretty much done but I had to declutter from everything I smashed over there as I was packing up my room at the end of last year. C'mon....I'm not the only teacher that does that. One day I'll be so advanced that at the end of the year I will simply put everything in its place.....That definitely wasn't last year. Maybe it'll happen this year!   :)

My Space!

I also tackled my computer center. I love to take pictures of what the center should look like. It helps to do this before students have even entered the class. This will give you a "best-possible" look. I then post the pictures by the centers so students know how I want the center to look when they leave it.

Computer Center

I am one to bounce around the room when I start organizing, cleaning, sorting.....I'll be honest. I always bounce around. I was, however, able to get my reading table organized. The ottomans were an investment last year. Students are able to store their books in them for my guided reading groups. This puts the responsibility on them to get their materials when they come back to see me. I keep colored bins behind the table for each group. Most of my other necessities are in the storage on the easel and behind it.

Here's hoping we can keep it this nice!

 The last thing I tackled was our "extra" space. This has been the area I changed up the most. I've moved our "Proud Wall" around and add more space for our "No Name" area. I also made it where students could more easily reach it. This puts all of the responsibility in their hands. They are responsible for posting work they find that is nameless. They are also responsible for grabbing their papers if they see them. Because it's lower I no longer have to even touch that section. They can run it themselves.

I also finished our "Early Finisher" drawers. This has been a work in progress for an entire year. I currently have them filled with word building, sight word, rhyming and other language arts activities. I'll switch these out with different topics as the year goes on.

There are also bins for their poetry. Who would have thought it would be smart to put those materials by the actual center? This will help during centers!

I've definitely worked my bum off today. I rewarded myself with a mini apple pie.....I earned it!

Here's to more work days, organizing, and flying through my to-do list.

P.S
Teachers:  What do you tackle first when you come back from Summer?
Parents: What do you do to get ready for school?