Mission Organization

I'm getting rid of my teacher's desk this week.

I've TRIED to manage without a "reading table" for a year and a half now and I just can't get past the PSYCHOLOGICAL need for one. I'm in the middle of my second year teaching fifth grade after twelve years at second grade, and I just can't go another day with out that kidney-shaped fixture in my classroom.

I tried meeting with fifth grade groups around my rectangle table, but that just is not conducive to get contact with each student and only three or four could meet there comfortably. I tried meeting on the floor, but this is Iowa, I'm on the NORTH side of our building, and gosh darn it--that floor is COLD! And HARD! And again, it's hard to get contact with each student on the floor.

So, I'm not fighting that battle any longer. I'm bringing up the reading table to fifth grade. And something's got to go if I want to bring in a reading table. That something is my desk.

It's a nice desk. Circa mid-1990s. Buff-colored metal with three drawers on one side, two on the other (one for files), and one all important middle drawer. Dark walnut top. (It's not always as messy as the picture shows!)

I'm going to miss that desk. It was quite an improvement over the one I had in my old room. I had to use some serious upper body strength to open those drawers in that old desk, circa mid-1960s. THIS newer desk was quite a luxury. But alas, it has to go. It's so sad.

Getting rid of my desk also means CLEANING OUT a lot of stuff. Not only from the desk, but also from the two file cabinets that currently flank either side of it. (I'll have to find a different spot for THOSE, too.) And that extra rectangle table will have to go, too.

So, here I sit on a Saturday, mourning the loss of my desk, and yet, exhilarated by the opportunity to clean out and organize that stuff from my desk and my file cabinets. It's like "Mision Organization" right here in my classroom. I'm hoping the FOUR hours I have set aside for this task is enough to get me to the point where I can welcome the students back in on Monday morning.

Hmm... Maybe I shoud get started! LOL!

What about you? What big job do YOU need to tackle? What's been bugging YOU about YOUR classroom?