Lots of work, but coming together!

A week ago, my room was nothing more than piles, boxes and utter chaos.  It was very overwhelming at first, as I was moving into a new room-a room of a long-time teacher who had retired.  Teachers tend to be pack rats, and I am no exception.  I save everything, so sure that I or someone I know will "need" it someday.  So try moving 17 years worth of  teaching into a room of someone with over 30.  Daunting and overwhelming would be my words of choice.  But, my heart tells me this will be my home for many, many years, so I was determined to do it the right way.  I have spent the past week looking through EVERYTHING in my room, tossing, giving away, sharing resources that I had an abundance of to new teachers and old alike.  I still have many more hours until my new room is the way I want it to be, but I'm heading in the right direction.

My reading corner is the epicenter of my classroom-the most important space.  It is where we start and end our day. It's where we share our joys and sadness.  It's where we become "us".  Now that my reading/meeting corner is 90% done (just gotta label the book boxes and clean/organize the counter, I feel like I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.  It's going to be a great year!