So I decided to start going through everything in my classroom last week, continued into this week. There was SO much and I figured that I had to look at what I had anyways so why not make some decisions of whether or not it should stay or go.
After going through the first few shelves I determined that the deciding factor for whether or not something would be thrown away was its publishing date. If anything was published BEFORE I was born (1987) then it FOR SURE could be thrown away. This was according to me, myself and I. No consulting or guidance, just pure and simple --> garbage!
Well I was continuing to go through things and loving it (I absolutely LOVE organizing....just wait for the labeling to start :) ha ha!) when I came across a push cart piled high with stuff. I looked at it and using my deductive reasoning skills decided it was stuff from the other school (Brookline) that was combining with my school (Newfane) to make the new combined school of NewBrook. So I begin to go through it, either throwing things away or putting it away where I thought it belonged in my classroom. Done. Happy with my accomplishment I packed up to head home (this was Friday afternoon).
So the weekend comes and goes (nothing too exciting here: just me running errands, going to the farmers market and the library).
Monday morning - I have to go to the central office to get my iPod Touch set up and syncronized with my email and contacts (yes I get an Ipod Touch). So I do that and then head over to school. I have a meeting with my paraeducator that I will be working with. I meet a couple of other staff and paraeducators and then start my very informal meeting with my para. We chat, and discuss how things work, blah blah blah.
As she is leaving to go, I point to the now empty push cart and tell her that I sorted through all of the stuff that came from Brookline. She looks at me and tells me that it was not from Brookline but it was the Speech/Language Pathologist's (SLP) stuff. OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I begin to panic. I threw stuff away. I went through it all. AHHHHH!!!! My para tells me it is okay, she won't be mad because she is a very laid back and free-spirited person. Still. I am freaking out. The minute my para leaves I begin to run around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to sort through the recycling bin, going through my shelves and racking my brain for what was on that cart to put it back.
I have now put stuff back on and hope she won't be pissed and hope that I have remembered/found everything that belongs on it.
Another DUH! moment. How many of these are going to keep happening to me? But on a good note I ran into my Special Ed director and told her about going through everything (well not the SLP's stuff) and about my throwing away anything published before 1987 thing. She said that was great and that I really could throw away anything published before 2000 if Iwanted to. Looks like another round for me!
Well tomorrow and Wednesday I have a RtI (Response to Intervention) Workshop/training, in my classroom organizing Thursday and then all district staff meeting/special ed meeting Friday.
Then comes inservice Monday and FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL Tuesday the 31st. I am super excited to finally meet all my kids, after reading and hearing about them but at the same time I can't help but feel slightly overwhelmed and very nervous too.
Congratulations! Good work.
ReplyDeleteMy only advice is adding an intermediary step to your organizing/purging process. You'd need only find a 'pushcart' of your own that could become your 'limbo'(of sorts). Just give this 'Limbo collection' an expiration date upon which you give it the final 'push'.