I'm actually pretty happy about the move. I mean, I LOVED my kindergarten team; they were amazing & we were all so close and I loved aspects of teaching kindergarten (e.g. seeing the kids read for the first time and knowing that I helped make that happen), but some of the concepts were so simple that I struggled with finding more than one way to teach them. I also had a really horrible classroom. They call it a hearth room because it's at the center of four other classrooms. I had a water fountain and five bathrooms along my back wall (one for me, plus one for each of the other classes) that was hidden from my view by a semi-wall. Kids from other classes and occasionally my own would go behind there and goof off which was very disruptive. I also had SIX doors (technically ten if you count the fact that four of them were actually double doors) which left me little wall space to put furniture against or hang things on and left me without corners for storage; so even though my room was very large it was primarily unusable space. I also had no cubbies or real storage. I did have lots of traffic though since everyone thought my room was a great shortcut to all of those other rooms attached to me. So, one of the perks of being moved to a new grade level is that I got moved to a new room. Hooray!
My new room is just across the hall from my old kindergarten team which is fantastic because I can still see them every time I open my door. I am also super excited about the things my room has AND the things it doesn't. I now have built-in cabinets, cubbies, a single bathroom (just for my class!), and a view of the weather outside (my neighboring teacher has windows to the outside and I can see them through my window that looks into her room -- trust me, it's a step up!). It also doesn't have six doors; it has two. I suddenly have tons of storage and wall space and my room won't be a major thoroughfare. I already feel at home in it. Here are some pictures of what it looks like as I'm starting out the year:
This is my door. My awesome husband made me the signs.
(I covered my name for this picture.)
Look at all of that wonderful storage space at the back of my room!
I also have storage above & below my sink, but I forgot to get a picture of that area.
This is my current desk configuration. It's subject to change.
The door in the background is one of the two in my room and it leads to a computer lab.
The view from the back corner of my room. You can see my
peek-a-boo window into the neighboring classroom on the left.
This is the area I'm most excited about: my reading area!
(That's my daughter in the little rocking chair.)
I really wanted a tree in my reading area; so my husband made this awesome one!
The trunk is made of scrunched up butcher paper, the branches
are thin pool noodles covered in butcher paper, and the leaves are tissue paper.
He also used the die-cut/Ellison machine to cut out construction paper
apples, worms, and a lizard. I think it's so cute!!!
