back-to-school week

Back-to-school week for teachers always amazes me. We start on Monday by unpacking boxes, re-arranging furniture, cleaning, and basically trying to make sense of the gigantic mess that became our room in a few short weeks. Sometimes it's like unpacking a tetris game. The custodians pack the furniture so carefully on one side of the room so they can clean (and trust me, we're glad they do!) that you have to carefully balance yourself on a chair while slowing pulling a bookshelf off of a side-ways cabinet. This is painful at a year-round school where you just packed everything up a month earlier. Getting it packed up by the deadline was hard enough, now you have to unpack it with just as much fervor.
By Wednesday most rooms are beginning to resemble a classroom despite day-long training sessions and long meetings. By Friday names are on desks, cubbies, and bulletin boards. Schedules for the next week have been made and plans are being set for how to teach the new set of kiddos. It's exhausting, overwhelming, and exciting.
Tomorrow is open house and the first day we get to meet the new set of kids. Wish us luck!