Coming back from a holiday break is always semi stressful. If you're like me, I take my holiday breaks as that, a break. Meaning I get everything ready for my return before the holiday begins so I can be "school" free and enjoy my time off doing as I wish. Absolutely no plans and no grading. So this Thanksgiving I arrived to school early to ease my "stress" and give me time to review plans, get C.J. the fish back in his tank, and make a few last minute copies. Little to my surprise that was the LEAST of my worries.
Surprise surprise, I was welcomed back with the wonderful sound of running water escaping from every possible area of my portable. Oh Joy! The water fountain in my portable burst over the break and had been continuously filling and flooding my room leaving 1-2 inches of standing water for about three or four days. Needless to say, I FREAKED out!
Anything that was remotely touching the floor was ruined; pillows, rugs, big books, a lot of our new Houghton Mifflin Curriculum, and even the bookshelves! Not only did it ruin anything it came in contact with, but it's humidity caused the majority of my books, posters, and hanging curriculum to bend and cockle (look wavy) or even better…grow mold!
After the initial shock sunk in, I frantically split my class for the day while I threw away my hard earned, soaking, money into the trash can and slowly but surely transferred the "necessities" into my temporary classroom. Luckily, our school has an extra portable used for an after school parent/child participation & involvement program, "Great Endings". They graciously lent me the room for the expected 2-3 weeks it was going to take to repair my portable. (Thank heavens for that…I've heard some horror stories when floods happened to other teachers in prior years.)
2 weeks roll by, no room.
Christmas break comes and goes, no room.
The month of January has long past, no room.
FINALLY…2 Months later, I was able to get back into my room with wonderful new carpet, laminate flooring, baseboards, bookshelves, and rugs/pillows/decorations. I cannot tell you how big of a relief this was! As nice as it was to have another classroom to go to, it was FILLED with fun toys, blocks, dolls, play areas, and crafts for the parents and children who typically reside in the room. Let's just say my 6 and 7 years had a bit of difficulty staying focused and where they were supposed to be while we were there. Also our routines and class size (this room was MUCH smaller) completely changed, not something this group handled well.
Anyways, as delighted as I was, it was a bit messy…
After two days of organizing, cleaning, decorating, organizing then cleaning some more, I finally got my room back in working order. With all of the additional hassle, stress, and cost this flood created, I could only look on the positive because the situation wasn't going to change no matter what my mood was, (although I might have slightly turned toward the end). I decided to look on the bright side and did my "summer classroom makeover" a little bit sooner than planned. :)
So here it is, my NEW and improved room!
Please ignore any mess or clutter, it is being lovingly used by 15 crazy children! :)
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| View From Back Door |
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| This is my favorite part of my class and I think and the best activity of the year! At the very beginning of the school year, all of the children make self portraits and share their picture with the class talking about who they are. It adds such warmth to the class and is SO telling about the children's personalities and current developmental stage. |
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| Front of the Room/Whole Group Area |
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| My Teaching Corner |
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| Bulletin Board near Front Door/ This is where we do our greetings, Conscious Discipline Morning Routines, Recite our Classroom Commitments & Pledge! |
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| My Wonderful Promethean Board (RIP currently, the interactive pen isn't so interactive) but the projector works so I'll take it! P.S. I use this for just about everything, morning meeting, calendar math, I just love it! |
Library
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| Writing Area |
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My Guided Reading Table
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| Listening Center and Safe Spot |
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More Safe Spot/Safe Place
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| I know it's weird to have my bathroom, but my kids just love it. I had the stickers since I started, but with the new flooring they just LOVE it. They call it the ocean bathroom! |
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| Math Materials/Centers, Science Display, C.J. the Fish's Home, and Word Work (chalkboard door) area. Let's just say it's a multi use area. :) |
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| View from my Office |
I hope ya'll enjoyed my room! If you have any questions about anything please feel free to leave a comment!
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