Extreme Makeover, Classroom Edition

After many days of bemoaning the state of clutter in my classroom to my coworkers... they, as promised, came to help. Well, not just help. As Trese put it: "I don't want to hear a word". I didn't say a thing. In fact, after I saw the dolly she brought down for moving furniture, I made myself scarce for the first half hour. I hid in the cafeteria doing car rider duty.

I guess I should explain to those of you who don't know me. I teach kindergarten. I inherited my room this year from an angel of a lady who taught at my school for 24 years. Most of them in that same small room. She cleaned out and sorted through a lot of her junk... really she did. I saw the bags upon bags of trash that got carted off at the end of school last year. However, she also left things for me, "in case" I wanted it.

While I did toss out the teacher manuals from 1976, and some very old, faded, hand-drawn room decorations, and gave away three boxes of books gradually to my students and the kindergartners next door, I still have a lot of junk.

Part of it is furniture. Bookcases, block/toy cases, tables, and so on. The special ed teacher (our classes are inclusion this year) also has her desk and computer and files in our room as well. We just got a new loft (YAY) for the kids to read in, and this created some groovy extra room. I also tend to be a packrat, though not to the extreme that the room's former occupant was.

So Trese said, "I got your back." Sure enough, she, Ashley, and Kevin all came to help. While I made myself scarce... afraid I would say something or object to a change, they moved desks and filing cabinet etc etc into the hall. Trese is a miracle worker. When I came in, there was more space, more floor, I could even see the top of my desk! I was in shock at all the junk piled onto tables still, but just asked her to put me to work. She did so, and we were finally done about 5pm.

Lots of feelings shifting 'round my frame. Gratitude that someone took charge to help in a situation that overwhelmed me. Shame that I'd been incapable of doing everything she had done. Amazement at the changes. Consternation that there'd be no way things would get back in order in time for us to have school tomorrow. I seriously owe her some breakfast... hmm... country ham and biscuits maybe.

We'll see. Trese has been having chest pains. She's already survived cancer, but hearing of heart problems sends chills down my spine. She meets with her cardiologist tomorrow.