It's that time again....

We now have 10 days before I have to go back to work.  It's sad but exciting too to only have 10 left.  We've had a really good summer.  It was long enough that I actually got bored at times. It was great.  But now it's time to start prepping for the upcoming school year.

We have been to my classroom a few times to start getting things ready there.  It takes a lot of work before school starts to be ready when the students come!  Plus, all last year I kept thinking of things I would change for next year once I had time to do it.  Well, the time is now!  I arranged things very differently in my class, hopefully making movement through the room easier.  I have begun thinking of lessons, but am not ready by any means for the first week of school. We are not departmentalizing this year since we are a 3 man 5th grade team, so I will be teaching math this year.  I am pretty excited, but also nervous since I have not done it much before now.  That is what I have spent most of my working time on this summer - getting math lessons ready, finding good web sites to borrow from...

This week I painted the bulletin boards in my room.  They were looking pretty pitiful, but I didn't have the time or money last year to take care of them.  I think they turned out great, but I do wish I had used chalkboard paint instead of plain black (didn't think of that until halfway through the 2nd coat, unfortunately).

I am planning on 30 students, so the desks are what they are.  There are a lot of little people to fit into a room, so desk arrangements can only be so creative.  I actually only have 27 desks right now, so I still need to find a few more somewhere in the building.

It's a work in progress, and I have only one more visit before work days begin (I'm allowing myself one day a week to work in the classroom).  Next time I will be contact papering my well used furniture to make it look a little less well used  We'll see if I can get everything done that I want to before school starts.

Forgive the blurry pictures.  They were taken with my phone, which has a ding in the lens and blurs the right side of every picture.

My class library has been moved away from the pencil sharpener.  No more pencil shavings on (and in) my books!  Right now, the books are just out, they are not arranged at all.  Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.

Computers moved across the room using 100 ft. Ethernet cables and a 25 ft. power strip.

My constant companions.  They are such a great help to me.  I would not be able to get nearly as much accomplished without them. And shockingly, they actually LIKE going to my class during the summer.  Probably since they get to play on the computer or watch movies the entire time we're there (unlike at home where their electronic time is limited).  My babies!