First Day Back To Work

Thursday, 24 July 2008

Had a breakfast Meet-N-Greet with our new principal, who came from one of the high schools in the district. Gave him a hug, as he has known me since I was a little kid. He went to middle school with my dad and played tennis with him and my uncle. He told me sorry to hear about my dad, and asked how my brother Jason was doing. Nice to have someone I kind of know as our new principal. We'll see how this year goes.

Spent the rest of the day setting up my classroom, rearranging furniture and seeing what could go here and what could go there...like putting together pieces of a puzzle. My part-time teacher Christina came in for a little bit to help check purchase orders and look at our class lists. It's coming together. Of course there were moments where teachers walked around and socialized, peeking into each other's classrooms, seeing what furniture was being thrown out and which might be able to work in our own classes, seeing how each other's summers were. But, most of the day was pretty quiet, as people had their A/C's going and everyone was working hard to get their classrooms ready for the first day of school, which is on Tuesday. I like our class setup. Each year I change things around a bit. Now with a bigger classroom and more space, I'm trying to maximize my bookshelves and furniture, purging old materials and books, and trying to make the best use out of the resources we have rather than having them collect dust in the closets. Just need to finish putting things away, and hopefully our new principal will help me get rid of all the music stands and band equipment in my room (since we don't have a band at our school and for some reason all of this band equipment moved with me from my old room to my new room, when there is an empty classroom next door to me.)

Chase and I were out all day. After I picked him up from the Halsalls, we went back to school and then went to meet Chris so he could get me a Sam's Club card. We ended up getting him shoes at Macy's and then had an early dinner at Nordstrom's Cafe. Chase, of course, left a big mess from his mac-n-cheese kiddie meal (of which we ate most of), so we left a big tip. Skipped on the gelato tonight so we could get the tired kiddo home to bed. He practically fell asleep in the shower.

Tomorrow should be another productive day at school and then a busy, social weekend of relaxation before the kiddos come back to school.