The building my classroom is in has been undergoing renovations. I started back to work on Monday, August 5, but I couldn’t get into my classroom. Today was the first day I could.
When I got there, there were about 20 tables in the room. So many that there was no way people could move around the room. I shoved the ones I didn’t need to one side of the room until our Plant Operators could move them somewhere else. Then I realized I should take a “before” picture.
One of my classes has 37 students in it. The room is rated for 21, I think. Having 37 students in this room is going to be a challenge.
But I love that there’s fresh paint: something I never had in my past classroom. I also love that you can dim the lights. I don’t do well with full fluorescents. They give me a headache. I love that there are so many windows.
I’ve got a goodly bit of work in front of me tomorrow.
- Trainings in the morning.
- Putting up my motivational posters.
- Duct taping chairs with jaggedy backs or broken bottoms (or both).
- Cleaning said chairs, since they’ve been stored outside nearly all summer. It looks like a bird took a liking to one of them, as there is quite a lot of poo on it.
- Printing all of the things (e.g. syllabi, schedules, lab safety rules, the cubes I’ll be using for my Day 1 activity).
I’m taking it in good stride. I definitely feel a little nervous. But 4 years in, I know the rules of the game. I know how things go. I’ve got the gist of it, even in a new place. It’s just a different flavor.
And I’m excited in a good way. Excited to get to know my new colleagues, new students, a new-to-me curriculum.
It’s going to be a good year.