Reality has hit me. Teachers have to be back this coming Monday in Baltimore City which basically means lots of professional development. With that in mind, as usual, I must find the self-discipline to get back to school early (without being paid at that... ugh) and start setting up my classroom. Today will be less of the set up, but more of the purchasing variety. I'll be making stops at my local teacher resource stores to pick up a few things before heading to school.
This year, our entire middle school wing is moving to a different location of the building so unpacking will also involve some serious box moving. In addition, my new classroom is a serious downgrade in size from the room I've had for the past three years. This makes me quite sad as I have one of those, get up and move around, hands on kind of teaching styles.
While these are big changes to deal with, I am excited about one change-- I'll be teaching Social Studies again! By far my favorite subject to teach and what I'm best at as well, I'm looking forward to all of the crazy simulation lessons I previously taught for U.S History and all of the cultural aspects of World Geography. When I found out I would get to teach Social Studies again, I literally "woohoo-ed" with my hands in the air and then did a little dance in the school hallway. In addition, I'll still be teaching Language Arts, making my classes a combined Humanities class which I think will be super interesting.
Needless to say, as I've started getting myself in the right frame of mind to set up my classroom, here are a few things I've stumbled upon that are perfect for the upcoming school year.
