Back to School Prep

(continued)

Since I couldn't decide what number to put after my previous post, I decided to stop worrying about it. I've been working on getting ready for the first day of school since August 1. Most days I do at least a little something, but I took a nice break from all things related to work when my cousin was visiting from Dallas with his family, and I'll take another break next week when I go camping with my family.

I went into my classroom yesterday, and made excellent use of the new bookshelves Kate gave me. I sorted my books into fiction and nonfiction, and hope that the two separate shelves will help them stay that way. I further sorted the nonfiction books into humanities and STEM topics, but I'm pretty sure it will be a loosing battle to keep them separated out as students begin using them.

My new book corner



The pencil gray smudges didn't photograph well

I had intended to work on setting up the new book report forms (the discs are already falling out, but I'll try not to worry about that just yet) however the cleared shelf space is dingy and smudged. I need to attempt to clean it with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser before setting up a display. I have seen the Magic Erasers work magic on graying classroom furniture, so I have high hopes... But if I were to design my own classroom, I would never, ever want white shelving or counters.

I also spent time organizing the cupboards and made a start at clearing the counter. I was able to set up my science closet and the student cubbies. I'm setting up for 24 students, though the last I heard there were only 39 fifth graders with completed registration forms and fees paid. My principal assures me he knows of 44 families intending to send their fifth graders to our school, and that he expects that number to grow to 48. So I'm prepping for the highest number given to me so far. I've found it's far easier to scale back to your actual class size than scale up on the first day. There's nothing worse than having a student show up and not having a place for him or her to sit or a set of textbooks ready to hand out.

24 cubbies with one set of books each

The science closet

Today I worked on getting materials ready for the school theme, which is "Let the Water Renew Us." I have been doing a version of the bucket filling activity for several years now. I started with a candle theme before I worked at a school that articulated a theme every year. As luck would have it, the first theme at my new school was "Be a Light For Others." So I kept the candle theme where students wrote compliments on paper candles to put into paper candle holders for their classmates. Last year the theme was "Come to the Table," and I made a little placemat for each of my students and cut out fruit for the compliments. This is the first year I've actually used buckets in my theme, and may move to a table top design rather than a bulletin board. The buckets are light enough, but upon opening the package I discovered that the handles fall out very easily. I still think they will do their job nicely, and can't wait to have a class list so I can write student names on the buckets. I'm thinking I'll bill the compliments written on water droplets as "drops of kindness."

Paper rain drops

Buckets and Signage

I keep crossing items off my list, but unfortunately I keep thinking of more things to add to it. I've still got quite a few things to do before my classroom will be ready for my students. Thankfully I still have almost three weeks to get there!

Some of the remaining clutter