Ready (or...not) - Room Envy 101

Hey y'all!

Well, I've finished our first week of teacher orientation - focused on us newbies - and I am so tired that I cannot use words anymore. I am grateful for the weekend, I have to say. Tomorrow I'll do some work in the AM in my classroom with my co-teacher, and get some things up, and I'm hoping that having a second person in the room helps me visualize how it will all come together. Right now, I have a large box of a room with furniture and leftover things from a previous teacher (she retired, so I inherited an assortment of items). I have tables for the kids, a desk/small group table for me, a filing cabinet, some rolling carts, and the things for my co-teacher.

The problem is that a lot of my friends at other schools have their rooms set up and they look amazing. I tried yesterday to get started, with visions of Pinterest dancing in my head, and ended up leaving after 45 frustrating minutes trying to get my stapler to actually staple. And I couldn't use the laminating machine. And I used the wrong marker (sleep deprivation leads to not looking at things, apparently) on my job cards, so they all smudged. And I was basically in tears on the drive home, convinced that my room would be in shambles forever.

I know it won't be. I have ideas now, and I'm going to get some stuff done tomorrow. But it is hard to look at other teachers who are all set up and feel so, so behind. I want this room to reflect my philosophy of teaching - that an education is a powerful tool for building your future, and you should enjoy your education in order to get the most out of it. I want the room to be warm and welcoming, informative, busy but not overwhelming, a safe space for my kids to learn and take risks and grow and become stronger people. I want them to love the space, school, and me. And I have to remind myself to slow down, that my room will come together, and that it's more about what I do with them than what's on the walls that will help them achieve everything I hope for them.

Are any of my fellow new teachers feeling worried about this? Or feeling the bite of envy when it comes to room set-up?

xoxo

Miss Zee