Classroom Clean Out/Up

It's that time of the year again when we realize how much paper we have been hoarding for the last 10 months and what student all of a sudden has months worth of gym clothes stuffed into their locker.

As with the past years, our chief custodian is right on top of things and strips and waxes classroom floors the the days leading up to the end of the year, and again my classroom was done at the beginning of this week.  I find this extremely helpful in making me clean out my room before the final days and forcing the students to take their belongings home.  I am also able to set my classroom back up for the following year saving me time at the end of the summer. However, instead of resetting my classroom I am packing it up in boxes to move to a new school for next year.  I have been declared surplus at my current school due to declining enrolment.  It has been quite the process of applying and interviewing for positions and then landing a new challenge.

As I cleaned out cupboards and filing cabinets, I couldn't help but relate to this article by Elizabeth Moore I read recently about how teachers hoard supplies and resources "just in case".  It has made me really think before loading my boxes if I'm going to use such item or notebook and if not, pass it along.  It never ceases to amaze me how much stuff we actually collect and then typically go buy again because we can't find it in our cupboard or closet.

I am going to be starting fresh at a new school, therefore I will be attempting to only keep what I actually see myself using.  Although I am changing grades (dramatically) I will be selective as to what I "pack" into my cupboards.

Here's to clearer, more organized cupboards!

Sunshine & happiness today & forever!

Stephanie :)

Post-pardom Shed

So the shed has begun! It was just a matter of time before reality was to set back in and it happened like a switch this week.

One of the glorious perks of being pregnant is having beautiful, full & shiny hair, but much like everything else you gain during pregnancy it too needs to be shed.  I have thin, fine, stick straight hair so when I get pregnant I was embracing the fullness I got because my hair would actually do something when styled.  It was an adjustment to the actual drying time it took, but that was just a minor con to what I was going to have for the next ten months.

But like everything else, all good things must come to a crashing halt and it was all halted this week when I kept picking hairs off of #TeamOlivier as if he had just rolled around with a beautiful dog (that we won't ever have).  At first it was one or two hairs and then it was constant.  I only realized they were my hairs when I was blow drying my hair one morning and they were falling out by the handful.  I knew it was a matter of time before my body realized the party was over & got back to normal business. Just wish I shed pounds as fast as hairs these days! ;)

I'm off to sweep, vacuum & pick hair off everything as if it was my full time job!

Sunshine & happiness today & forever.

Stephanie

Change & Routines

In all my brilliance yesterday I decided to open up my calendar and see where we were at. BIG mistake! I am now crushed and full of anxiety because I only have 2 weeks left on maternity leave before I go back to the classroom part time. I don't like change and have a hard time getting back into routine after being out of them for so long.  I feel like I just started my leave and had all these weeks and months ahead of me to relax and not think about going back.

I am not good with change or transitions.  I am secretly thankful that both #TeamAmelie & #TeamOlivier came early and that I didn't have time to say "goodbye" to my students.  I wouldn't have been able to handle that.  Instead, I said "have a good weekend" to them at the end of the week and rode off into the sunset to deliver both babies.  With "TeamAmelie I didn't go back to the classroom before the end of the year, but this time (in order to take advantage of having the summer off together) I am going back for the last 10 days.  Both times are similar too in that I have to change schools for next year.

I have been declared surplus (that's for another post) and will be transferring to Elizabeth Park PS for next year to teach grade 1/2.  My students (or their families) don't know yet and I am dreading the moment I have to tell them.  Again, wishing I could just ride off into the sunset with my boxes and avoid the emotions of it all.

Today has really hit me with what I want to get done before I head back to the classroom and have been able to stroke a few things off my forever growing to do list.  #TeamOlivier finally has his name up on the wall and next up is dismantling the growing pile of tupperwear containers thrown in the drawer and making some sort of organized sense of it all.

While I am not all that excited to think of it as my maternity leave being over, I am extremely excited to think of the notion that DH will be home with the kids and therefore with the family each night instead of off coaching other people's children (that too for another post).

So until we are all reunited for 8 weeks of uninterrupted family time on June 28th, I will take full advantage of my last two weeks of my second maternity leave because I know I won't ever get this time back.

Sunshine & happiness today & forever.

Stephanie

Spring Fever

With just one week until spring is officially upon us, I have jumped ahead and started our spring-cleaning around the house. Now, I haven’t started the traditional cleaning chores like washing windows, scrubbing floors & cleaning out the disaster zone also referred to as the garage, but I have attacked closets and cupboards in every corner of this house. I’m sure the garbage-man thought that there was a street competition of who can put the most garbage out this week because it looks like the fever has hit quite a few on the street. I ended up with 7 bags of garbage and 2 huge boxes of cardboard recycle. I didn’t let one closet or cupboard go unnoticed from the bedrooms, to the office, bathrooms & even the kitchen. I took the attitude of I can always get a new one or a fresh bottle when looking at items deep in the bowels of the closed door spaces. I tossed all the expired products and sorted through what we just didn’t want anymore. I have a bag of toiletries that I need to donate somewhere and took two bags of food to the food bank donation box of food that isn’t on our pallet anymore. It feels really good to open a cupboard and be able to see exactly what we have and what we don’t need to buy more of. For the record, we don’t need to buy pasta, crackers, cookie mix or peanut butter for A LONG TIME!!! It has also allowed me to think of easy meals that I can prepare after school using just what we have in the cupboard and a fresh piece of meat. Our goal is to just buy fresh foods (fruits, vegetables & meats) until we have cleared out everything else in the cupboard.

It’s been a busy time around here besides spring-cleaning. Marc is knee deep in his hockey school tournaments that start next month & I’ve been teaching all-day, everyday for the past month or so. I have secured my LTO until the end of the school year so that brings me a little relief. I love my job so much that I didn’t want to loose it mid way through the year. I’ve also been supply teaching every morning for teachers in my school on workshops or that are under the weather. I love this part of my job too because I get to see what everyone else is doing and to teach all the other students in the school.

With just another 3 days of break, I’m going to continue my spring-cleaning trend by sorting through clothes & shoes and then take some time for myself and maybe scrapbook or curl up on the couch for a movie & good book.

I now know why there’s a March Break built into the school year, because without it I’d still be living in an over-stuffed house wondering what I’m going to make for supper!