For Today (this one didn't wait till someday)

When I was a kid and I had a report to write, a test to study for, or some project to do, it would always look like I wasn't doing any such thing.  I would muddle around my bedroom, looking around my space, pondering for... awhile. Then, I would tear into my room, dismantling arrangements of objects, emptying shelves and so on.  It would look like pure chaos, until hours later, when it all came back together, furniture rearranged, items back into places, clothes put away.  Then, I would be on my way and able to settle in on the task at hand.  The first few times this happened, I was up till late at night actually completing the assignment.  As I got older, I tried to plan ahead and do some of the teardown and rebuild prior to the night before the assignment was due!!

This week, I realized on Friday afternoon, that some old habits die hard.  I had begun writing progress reports, knowing they are due next week, but by three o'clock, I was feeling dissatisfied with my space.  I kept thinking about how small my space was and how much of it was dedicated to teacher materials vs. student stuff, due to no real closet space.  One of my coworkers made a vow to minimize her teacher space in her classroom, so as much of her room as possible was dedicated for her students.  I have had some ideas buzzing around about my head since before break, but hadn't had a chance to make it happen.  So there I was books and binders knee deep on the floor, crates dumped out, tack board leaning against a table, on Friday afternoon at 3:15. Students headed out for the weekend, coworkers on their way to the grocery store or home before the weekend storm, and I was in the middle of a mess.

a little mess here 

a little mess there

Within an hour, not the half our I had told myself and my coworker, (who looked in and laughed, "You are Nuts!" I was back in shape.  Reorganized, and ready to go, with my teacher stuff consolidated to a corner, and a little extra wiggle room for my kids.

The shelf atop my desk was on the floor with student items innefficiently arranged, so I used the smaller shelf for student items and arranged teaching materials up and out of kidspace.

this small shelf was overstuffed with teacher materials and difficult to access.  It was right in the way of the whiteboard and was taking up necessary floorspace.

Now my kid space is clutter free

The work table is free to move or rotate, and the white board is accessible, and I made student goal setting sheets handy in the orange folder on the bulletin board.