33rd Day: Cleaning Comes First

If only I had posted my Common Core woes earlier, I would have saved my summer!

Thank you to each person who posted a comment (and those who wished good thoughts, even without typing them). My spirits are buoyed--like a balloon rising with each nod of agreement. Although we seem to be a bit "tardy" in readying ourselves (and our students) for Common Core in my district, it sounds like the "growing pains" I have been experiencing are not completely unusual. Thanks for the encouragement, sweet BloggyFriends!

In an effort to take my mind off Common Core, I decided to chronicle my steps to getting prepared for the new school year. Nothing is particularly unique or extraordinary, but taken together, it is my passage to readiness. In addition, I really am trying to be a more consistent blogger, so this is a challenge I've set for myself.

Consequently, for the next thirty-three days, I'll give you a peek at one of my accomplishments. I admit this is probably certinly more helpful for me than for you--but it will keep me moving forward and help me focus on getting things done. In our district, we still start school the day after Labor Day. By that time, many of my BlogFriends will have been in school for a month (or more!). But we are also still in school until the second or third week of June, so it all evens out eventually.

For me the best approach is to do as much cleaning as psooible in advance. Before I lock the door the last time, I like to have most everything scrubbed and ready for the new year. And it is not unusual for my bathtub to look like this for a few days as different items get washed and scrubbed.

Once I've got everything washed, I put it in plastic bags, so it doesn't get dusty when the custodians come in to do the floors. And here it stays until I return in August.

I love coming into my classroom for the first time when the floors are still shiny and there aren't eraser bits on the floor and crumpled up math papers stuffed into the dim recesses of the desks.

Here are my supplies. There wasn't a lot to clean because I had done most of the hard work in June, but I had everything I needed in one place and I could get the task done quickly and move on to unpacking.

One last comment: This is the BEST product I have ever used for taking off all things adhesive (as well as ink pen and marker markings!). It's a bit oily (which is, I think, why it works so well), so you have to "wash" the surface afterwards, but I have used this to take off stickers, price tags, labels and the residue left from ancient contact paper. Just look at the promises on the labels!

We have lots of restrictions governing what can and can't be used at school, but if you're free to choose, this might be worth investigating!

Whew. One day down, thirty-two to go. I hope I can come up with enough tasks to fill the days (and the posts!), but I'm feeling determined (today)!

Sending good wishes,

Five for Friday (UN-linked)... and a Bear or Two...

Doodle Bugs Teaching is on hiatus... but my Five for Friday post (from last week) was already finished when I discovered that bit of information. So, I am posting this unlinked and alone... but with sweet thoughts toward Doodle Bugs just the same.

When I left off on my travel saga, we had left San Francisco to begin our camping adventure. Here's our sweet little tent...

 

We were camping in the southern Sierras, and the weather was cool and lovely. We even met a nice ranger who directed us to examine this...

And then we took a careful look at this...

Which would have all been nice precautionary information had the ranger not continued with a detailed description of the bear that had been in the campsite the previous evening, snuffling through the area and trying to remove the doors from cars in search of a late night snack.

Which meant I went to sleep with some "tools" right next to my sleeping bag...

Fortunately, the noise-makers remained unused, and we moved on to our next camping adventure... although I sort of felt like I was living a cause-and-effect essay!

Our next stop was a campground next to the Kern River. It was warmer, but not too hot. I was feeling more-than-proud when I put up the tent all by myself., (Of course, then I wanted to drive back to civilization and get ice cream!)

It was just beautiful sitting next to the river... {sigh}

Isn't that just lovely?! Of course, it wasn't long before the campground host came by to inform us that a bear had been spotted roaming the area...

Needless to say, I was already prepared! And, fortunately, we heard nothing but the peaceful sounds of the river and woke up to a gorgeous (bear-free) day!

 I brought some professional books (carefully enclosed in plastic bags, sandwiched between cardboard to keep the corners from getting bent... OCD anyone?) and I loved reading them in the quiet sunshine. It was heavenly!

And here's a little secret: I remembered that I had downloaded a movie on my iPad. And, just because I could, I watched it in the tent! FUN! (Does this contraband technology disqualify my adventure as "camping"?!)

I finished a novel too! If you haven't read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, it's a great book. This is the sequel, The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, and it wasn't quite as good, but entertaining nonetheless. If you like mysteries, you'll love the adventures of Flavia de Luce, an eleven year old with a love of chemistry, disdain for her sisters, and an uncanny ability to put together details in order to determine the culprit in a murder in her little village in the English countryside.

The day after we got home I had to scurry back to school to finish cleaning my classroom. I know, I know, many of you are getting ready to go BACK to school, but I am always behind, so my classroom had remained semi-disastrous. (Don't I have the most forgiving principal and custodial staff on the planet? After all these years, I don't think they were even surprised to find I was the last one to check out...)

The first thing I saw when I walked into my room was one of the programs from our sixth grade promotion. I am still missing my last group of kids... I generally love September, but June often tears at my heart. And the chance for a Do-Over is always a good/bad thing about teaching!

And then it was time to start getting things in order. As I cleaned my classroom, I filled up my car with things to sort, clean and organize.

 

I love to go back to school with everything already washed and scrubbed and clean-smelling. I clean out my cupboards and drawers in advance so that I can return to my classroom and focus on the new year. I haven't tackled my library yet. That is always the hardest task for me to accomplish. And I have a lot of books to sort and label.

But, for now, I am still in summer mode... reading, planning and thinking--and enjoying it all.

I am sending you happy wishes for at least a little more summertime before you have to return to the classroom...