I was excited to find out I can finally get back into my classroom after the custodial staff have waved their magic wands and made the room all clean and new again. The wax on the hall floor is dry so it is OFFICIAL.

This week I have been spending a little while there each day. I always have the best of intentions of really tackling the putting back together process and getting done in a day or two and just being done. It never works that way though.

First comes the moving of furniture, rearranging, trying to find that perfect setup to start the school year. I would love to move it regularly but the laptops I have dictate that once my tables are set, they pretty much have to stay where they are to maintain power sources and room for all the cords. So getting it perfect is crucial. Last year, my classes were small with no more than 20 students per hour. This year, I can count on 28+ so my configuration has changed. But that is a time consuming project. I must move the tables, and then, let then sit for a while to decide if it is the right fit. I look, I ponder, I sit, I walk, I stand, I ponder, I sit, I stand, I scoot between chairs, I ponder, I try to imagine every possible scenario and problem. Then, one day, I know it. The tables and chairs are where they belong.

Then comes the dragging out of stuff, all that stuff I crammed into drawers and cupboards last June as I packed up my classroom. Inevitably, I find the most interesting items. Today's big find was a set of snapshots taken 6-7 years ago when I still taught 8th grade. That year I had an elective class. I think it was public speaking? For part of the class, my students went down to the elementary and read to little kids, I believe kindergarteners. I found the pictures of them all!! How cute... how adorable... Those 8th graders are long gone, graduated, grown up and off to college or the armed forces. But the little kids!! Those were my 7th graders from last year. **tears** They looked so sweet and innocent sitting there staring up at those 8th grade faces reading them their favorite books. Perched on chairs, sitting on the floor in the hall leaned against lockers, their little faces the same as when I had them in 7th grade, only younger, and sweeter, and much more innocent.

What will I find tomorrow when I am digging?? I can't wait to see...