Organizing like MAD

On Tuesday I finished clearing all my belongings out of my classroom because the teacher that is taking over my room is pregnant, due next month, and she is anxious to get the room set up before she has the baby. I went to the school after class, loaded a ton of stuff in my little Prius, literally until I could not fit anything else, turned in my badge and key and then left after taking one last nostalgic look at the room....

Because I felt a little rushed to get everything out of the room, my packing was not really organized and lots of things were just in crates or bins and not really packed nicely in boxes. Today I had some time in the afternoon so I embarked upon "Project Organize all my Teacher Stuff." I opened up the boxes and took most of the stuff out so that I could repack by subject and types of materials. I made boxes of

• math supplies and curriculum books
• English Language Development materials and grammar type stuff with games for my ELL students
• writing and reading materials
• general classroom decoration stuff
• desk supplies
• calendar supplies

I tried to be very specific in labeling the boxes because most of them are going straight into storage and I want to be able to easily identify stuff that I might need to be shipped over in the future. I also organized my books and packed them by themes so that I have easy access to those as well. I grouped them by theme and then sorted books into fiction and non-fiction boxes. When I had a bunch of the same type I made sure to write the author or series on the outside of the box so I remember where they all are.

I narrowed it down to 4 boxes of books that I want to take with me because I am too paranoid to leave them in storage for three years or more. I figure eventually I will get to be a classroom teacher at FIS in which case I will definitely want my books! I can't take everything because I have a lot of teacher stuff, but the books are definitely coming with. Typically apartment buildings in Germany have a storage area on the bottom or top level where each apartment gets a little storage spot. The ones we saw were decent in size so I figure I can stash some teacher stuff so it's not like it will have to sit in my living room or anything!

Now, I have to start sorting the rest of my stuff to decide what goes to Germany and what stays in storage in Oregon. I am definitely not taking all of my kitchen/cooking stuff because:

1. Let's be honest, I don't cook that much and

2. The kitchen will probably be a lot smaller than what we have now and I won't have a large walk in pantry like I have now, so I won't have room to put all my stuff.

I love to bake and have a lot of baking supplies like muffin tins, cake pans, cookie cutters etc. etc. etc. I am torn over whether or not to bring them all. I am leaning towards no, but I don't want to get there and regret not bringing that stuff. I did hear that Germany does not have chocolate chips though which is a big disappointment. I guess in any event I won't be baking chocolate chip cookies...

I am also debating whether or not to bring my craft/art supplies. I have lots of rubber stamps, ink pads, and card making supplies as well as markers, crayons, colored pencils and stuff like that. I don't use those kinds of thinks frequently, but I do like to have the opportunity to make cute thank you cards or holiday notecards. I guess if I found a nice plastic container to put it all in then maybe it would seem very organized and easier to carry along. I know for sure that storage space is not abundant so I don't want to end up not having anywhere to put my stuff.

It is so hard to decide what stays and what goes. I definitely need to sort through my clothes and bring only the best stuff. I can't believe that all this needs to be done in like three weeks!

I am going home at the end of the month to see my family including my adorable little niece and my best friend, so that means 5 less days of packing/moving project time.

So much to do, so little time!

The glory of craigslist

I began listing the furniture that we are not taking to Germany on craigslist today. We are probably going to have a garage sale at some point for the little stuff, but my husband prefers to sell the big stuff more privately ( I guess that way people don't know we are selling so much and won't feel they can take advantage of the fact that we really NEED to get rid of stuff quickly).

We are taking a few pieces of furniture with us (bed, couch, kitchen table and chairs, & day bed for a guest room) but we are attempting to sell the rest. That includes bedroom dressers and night tables, 3 desks, 4 bookshelves, a wardrobe in addition to my treadmill and car. (Karin remember the car I bought when I worked for you?....that one...) I am hoping we are successful in selling because we really don't want to/can't take this stuff with us considering we don't have a place picked out yet and we don't know what kind of space we are going to have.

I am in major sorting out mode and trying to get rid of everything that I don't need. You know how you accumulate stuff that you feel bad getting rid of, yet you don't ever use it, think about it, or look at it??? Those are the things I am trying to find and get rid of!

We are really good about sorting through clothes and making donation several times a year. We donate to the ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens) because it is a cause I feel connected with and they allow you to schedule a pickup and come take the bags/boxes right from your porch! You can't get more convenient than that! Despite our frequent donations of clothing, we still have a TON. That is what happens when your husband works for a sports apparel company. I have tons of cute tennis outfits and I don't even play tennis! We have sneakers galore and we need to be brutal in deciding what actually comes with us.

I was originally planning to leave my teaching materials and supplies behind in storage, but I am reconsidering that because I am concerned about leaving all of my children's books in storage for an undetermined amount of time. I read up on long term storage and found mixed warnings about how to store books and what to store them in to prevent damage from water, bugs, heat etc. I would be devastated to return in a few years to find ruined books! I am a TA for now, but what if I get my own classroom next year and I want to use my life cycle book sets or my Froggy stories?? I get so attached to my things this process may be difficult. When I really look at the amount of space all my school books take up, I think that it won't be so bad to just take them along. That way I won't feel like I have nothing if/when I get my own classroom at FIS.

I also don't want to put all of my professional development books in storage because I think we will still be in Germany when I am working on my dissertation so I want to have my books for reference. I refuse to sell them because when I am a professor and I get my own office in a university I want to have those huge bookshelves filled with all of my education books that tell the story of where I have been as an educator. If you look at my bookshelf I think it tells a story and shows what kind of teacher I am. Not to mention that books cost money and you can never sell them for what you paid. I have been loving the paperbackswap and have gotten some great books from trading my own, but I often have a hard time giving up books once I buy them, especially if they are related to teaching. I told you I was a book-a-holic!

Even though I have had luck with craigslist in the past, I kind of hate it. I would almost rather sit out in the yard with all the furniture and haggle with visiting shoppers rather than deal with people via email. We may get to that point, but I am hopeful we can get rid of stuff sooner rather than later. I would prefer to live in an almost empty house for a short time than to be stressing at the last minute over what has not sold.

Wish us luck!!!

New Beginnings

I officially filed my leave of absence today. It was recommended to me that I do that instead of outright resigning just in case for some reason we come back. I packed up my car with my teaching stuff and threw out a LOT of stuff.

When I dropped the form off at the district office, I spoke with the superintendent briefly to let him know that I am leaving and told him what a pleasure it was to work for the district and how much I would miss it. I am sure it is hard for the superintendent to know all of the teachers in the entire district, so I wanted to make sure he connected my face and name just in case I ever come back to the district in the future. He said he was sad to see me go because I have done a great job.

From the time I left the district office to the time I got home, they had already hired someone to fill my spot. It is a teacher from my school that got laid off this year, so I was thrilled to find out that she now has a job and will take over my classroom. I love my team, so it is very important to me that the person who gets to work with them is a great person--and she is. I am so excited for her and happy to pass the classroom (my second home) to someone who is an awesome teacher.

We are going to meet up next week at school so I can show her some of the curriculum materials I have made over time to see if she would like to have them. I already threw out a lot of stuff, but now that I know the person taking over, I am more aware of what she might want to keep.

It is very bittersweet to pack up my classroom. I am excited for what the future has to offer yet it is always sad to leave people who you care about. I will miss the students and staff at my school very much and lots of learning and happy memories took place in that classroom. There are certain students that I will remember for the rest of my life. I have one more car load to take home and then it will be time to turn in my badge, laptop and keys.