Memories: Room Remodeling Ready or Not!

Finally, after 21 years of teaching, I was loving my classroom!  I finally had it the way I wanted it.  I had my groups and centers down to a fine art for my kids, with coordinating bulletin boards and accessories for the standards we worked on throughout the year.  

I also had my manipulatives sorted

 by standards for easy access.  

This one mural alone took me almost an entire day to put up...I move slow.  I was so proud of it.  I even blogged about it a few years ago when I first put it up. It had stayed up with no evidence of peeling!

I was rocking the Word Wall bulletin board, (to coordinate with my other standards based bulletin boards).

Then...it was a dark and stormy night...not really. However, it might as well have been, that awful day in January when we had to pack everything up and move to temporary rooms while contractors tore out our ceilings and our ancient heat/air units to make way for new, improved, gi-normous heat/air units.  They hurried us out of our classrooms, relocated us, and covered the 4th grade hallway with heavy plastic to torture us, because we weren't allowed to sneak a peak. The construction took about 2 weeks to complete. Right before they let us move back into our rooms, we got to go view the "remodel."

  I was speechless.  To prepare for the new, ugly unit, my bulletin boards on the outer and corner wall, as well as my beloved mural, were taken down.  (I never knew that much muck could be behind cutesy bulletin boards).  I still find bits and pieces of my mural, that was ripped from the wall, underneath furniture from time to time.  I was really sad about that and I am still not over it, as you can tell, since I had been reassured several times that every effort would be made to save it.  I felt it was the centerpiece of the room. :(

DUST, DUST, and more DUST!  I had to go on a z-pac before it was all over with.  I have since moved everything back in my room. I have put everything back in its place and made a new place for my bulletin boards.  

Just as I, (an OCD type personality) was finally feeling a sense of normality again, (you just don't fool around with a teacher's bulletin boards and space), I found myself this week, (inservice week), having to move again.  Oh well, I have all summer to get my room in order.  I think I will pass on the mural  this time but, I am rather excited about the fact that there is no monster heat/air unit in my new room...yet!  Yikes!  This may become a "stayed tuned" post. :)