Classroom Preview

Hi y'all!

I was out running errands today and emerged from a basement without service to find a missed text from a colleague I met the other week - our classroom assignments were FINALLY available - sent to us in a massive email about a week and a half after we expected to get them.

I still need to read over some of what my principal sent - I have been told (warned?) that she is a stickler for certain expectations in classroom set-up and management, but she did send a list of what she wants to see in our classrooms, as well as what to do in those crucial first weeks of school. So maybe it's structured and more so than others want - if she tells me to jump a certain height, I'm jumping, because she's not being vague, and I like that.

I got into my classroom this afternoon, dropping off a big bag of desk supplies and scoping out the space. Our school is huge, so I'm in the largest of several mobile classrooms. It's way nicer than the trailers my school as a kid used - bathrooms, a tech room, large classrooms, and a generally nice vibe. Plus the space is surrounded by gardens, so that's pretty lovely to see. I will be sharing my room with an ESOL teacher - we will probably collaborate on some things but for the most part, I think it's more that it's a shared space for planning and working with kids, and some of my kids will work with her. She'll also work with other third grade teachers, just call my room home base. I'm looking forward to meeting her.

Until I meet her, I don't want to do too much set-up (and I'm traveling this week, so...I can't anyway). I did a bit of grunt work today (and discovered some graffiti on some of the tables...charming), and got a feel for the room, and determined that the blinds are broken.

This is what the room looked like when I left - a few tables set up (I don't have a class list yet, and was honestly tired of lugging those things around, so I stopped after setting up four), my desk is over in the corner (it will also serve as a small group table), and I got a general idea of how much random stuff was left in the room that belongs to other teachers.

Here's my list of thoughts - I sat on a table and made notes for a while. I need a lot of things - a rug for whole group time, nametags for the hooks where kids can hang their bags and things, lots of things for a word wall, I want to figure out how on earth to lower the temperature...and so on.
















So! A lot to do, obviously, but I have a good sense of the space, and I can finally start to picture myself in that room, teaching.

xoxo
Miss Zee