Forgiven and Saved: My other home...

Today at work I just could not figure out what was wrong with me. I felt so unproductive and just could not get my act together. I was finally standing in the middle of my room and it hit me. I was working in utter chaos. I had let my classroom get so unorganized and so disheveled that I felt like I was running around in circles and getting nowhere. It was driving me crazy. Right there I stopped what I was doing and got to work. I love my classroom and I just don't really have any pictures of it. We moved into this new building when I was pregnant with Claudia. I left a tiny room that was pathetic and I shared it with my best friend, Susan. The only thing I miss about that room is Susan...but at least she is now right next door! I try very hard to keep my classroom organized. I can't stand for it to get messy. I have had so much going on lately at work. Susan and I are swamped with new referrals who need to be tested and determined eligible or not and that means PAPERWORK in the world of Special Education. I am chairing the Winter Festival AND Claudia was voted on by her class to run for 1st grade Princess. You obtain that honor by raising money...that is a whole different post. Kelly and Amy B can feel my pain on that as they also have sweeties in the running! I have also started the process of applying to take my National Boards which is yet another post and requires a massive amount of time. Add my Chez Ami trunk to that platter and it is running over right now! Needless to say, I have had little time to focus on putting it all back together so it is all piling up around me. I happened to have my camera with me today so I thought I'd do a little tour of my room AND before and after pics. For those of you who read by blog and have no idea about my day to day work life, welcome to my classroom. These are the before pictures...

My desk sits in the back of my room. My room is small with one window and a wall of cabinets. What a blessing those babies are. This computer desk with my ancient desktop sits behind my desk. Notice the AUBURN TIGER who hangs out on my screen! I never use this computer but I have to log it on everyday because it is the server between my laptop and my laser printer since my printer is not wireless. Notice all the books and junk that have piled up there.

This is a side view of my desk. I have a calendar board above it. I also hang papers on the wall beside my desk. I have to have a quick view of these often so this is a good place for them. There is a sign hanging to the right of the board that says "Teaching is difficult work: done by kindness, by watching, by warning, by precept, and by praise. But above all...by example."

My very first year teaching, my daddy had someone he worked with print that and laminate it for me. It has always hung right beside my desk. It has been there for 15 years and it will see me into retirement. The lamp makes it feel cozy to me and more homey. I love my lamp. I cannot stand all of that junk piled up on my desk!

This is my wall of cabinets. When we moved into the building there were 3 small room built for our services. One had been "sound proofed" so the speech pathologist got that one. The other two were side by side and one was accented with green and one with blue. Susan said it made no difference to her and that I could choose. I chose the blue. I decorated my room with red, yellow, and blue. She did hers with green and yellow. I love her room too and it is the mirror image of mine. We usually end up rearranging our furniture the same way at the same time. My counter tops rarely look like this so it was driving me crazy. The cart sitting out in the middle of the floor is what I pull behind me when I go to my student's classrooms to do instruction. It holds my materials and takes a load off my back!

Chad gave me this fridge one year for my birthday and it has been so wonderful to have it right there in my room. I love having something to drink right there and not having to leave to retrieve my lunch. This area is currently piled high with materials my 3rd grade boys and I are using to make a castle for their social studies/reading projects that are due this Friday. The picture on the top of my fridge is the group of kids I taught when I did my intern at Wright's Mill Road Elementary School in Auburn with the BEST teacher.

This is where I do small group instruction. I love my red chairs and cute seat sacks. I keep most of my preschool materials over in the corner where the cubbies are. I have a lamp there as well that we can turn on when someone is sitting on the rug reading.

This may not look very clean but it is. I cleaned off my desk and my computer desk and filed a ton of files. I dusted everything. The filing cabinet to the right holds some precious possessions to me. On top it holds my diploma for my Bachelor's degree from Auburn and my Master's degree from JSU. On the front of the cabinet I have a lot of Claudia's artwork/classwork from first grade. I like it being on display in my room.

Ah, now that makes me feel better. Now I can see my materials and I don't feel like the "stuff" is closing in on me! This is how it is supposed to look!

Much better! Now it looks like it is time to learn something in this room!

Oh yeah, I can work here!

Love my desk all cleaned up!

See the cowboy boot on my desk. It has contact paper holding it down. It says "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can prevail against the Lord." I put that on my desk a long time ago...maybe my 3rd year teaching but I leave it there because it is still true and it always will be!