Back to My Classroom!

Whew!  I completely forgot how overwhelming it is to go back to your room in August and set it back up.  They empty our rooms during the summer to wax the floors and then just load everything back in.  I went back for the first time yesterday, and this is what greeted me:

As if that wasn't enough, 30 minutes after I got there, this was rolled in:

(Most of the boxes are because 3 out of my 4 classes are getting new textbooks and workbooks this year.  I also have the other 7th and 8th grade teacher's books in my room.)

Needless to say, I didn't even know where to begin.  I decided to start by going through my copies and laminating that came back from my district's processing center.  (What's a processing center you ask?  It's a central location that does ALL of the copying and laminating for ALL 12 schools in my district.  I cannot use the copier in my own building.  Everything is sent out and then sent back.  On a good day, my stuff returns in 4 or 5 days.  On a bad day, it can take up to 2 weeks.  Unfortunately, there seem to be more bad days than good.)

I counted out my math notebook guidelines, rubrics, grade sheets, vocabulary lists, grading policies, and first day handouts for my 4 classes and placed them in their bins.  (Unfortunately, those colorful wooden ones I got at Target don't fit 8.5" X 11" paper.  The plastic ones did though, so I'm using them for now.)  I cut all my laminating and laid it flat with boxes on top to stop it from curling.  (My district sends it back in a roll.  Some of it has been rolled since the end of June.)

Next, I went through my measly supply order.  ($125.00 does not get you far!)  Everything was there, which was good.  I'm ready to go with foldables.  Look at all the pretty construction paper I got:

Next, I started to hang some posters and chalkboard toppers.  I did a decent job, hanging 18 posters and 6 toppers.  The last thing I did was arrange the desks the way I want them and hang those adorable black and white containers to hold notebooking supplies.  I really like them!

There's still A LOT to be done, but I feel like I am off to a good start.  I'll be updating with more pictures soon.  I want to get everything in it's place before I show everyone the final product!