Monday morning was my first official day of the school year. (Even though I had already had a week of district training and had been working full on since July.)  I was able to get together with my team, which is awesome.  I had already known Catherine from teaching with her for two years now, and Gwen from last year, but Kandice is also amazing, and I can’t wait to work with them!

We started our first day back with a morning meeting with the entire staff of Las Lomas, and it was so fun to see all my friends from the school.  I love that I already feel like this school is home to me.

Then it was off to Madison High School for two days of curriculum training.  Most of which was very boring and not all that helpful, but some of which was great.  I especially loved when I had a friend in the class (like Nicole from my ward, who is a fifth grade teacher at another school), or was with someone from my team.

Somehow, in the small minutes that I had to spend in my classroom throughout the week, I was able to get it put together enough for Meet the Teacher night on Thursday.  I had even found the apples I used to use 20+ years ago when I first started teaching, and hung them on my door with the kids’ names on them.

There were definitely things still left undone and hidden in the closets, but the room itself looked so great!  I love it!

And yes, on Thursday night, in came all my new fifth graders to meet Mrs. Brown.  It was exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time, but it also felt so perfect and natural.

Friday was our last day to get anything done, but it was also full of more campus trainings, as well as the big Convocation with all of Reagan Cluster at Reagan High School.  We got all spirited up in our purple and gold, even though I refused to wear a wig.  (I may have laughed so hard that my face hurt as I watched Gwen and Kandice put them on.  It was awesome!)

After Convocation, I went right back to my classroom, where I was going to stay until they kicked me out of the building.  It was my very last chance to get things ready for Monday morning, and I had so much to do!!  I had barely gotten the computers for my class the night before, and then the chargers got brought to me in the morning.  I then had to figure out how on earth to set them up in the cupboard, which my overwrought brain just couldn’t figure out.  And that was not to mention all the other stuff I still had to take care of. 

I texted Kevin to let him know the situation, and before I knew it, he, Lily and Arthur arrived with pizza for dinner and hands for helping.  Lily sorted copies for me, Kevin got the computers set up, and Arthur helped me as I did a thousand little things to prep the room.  It was a miracle, and just what I needed to finish things off. It still wasn’t perfect, but it was perfect for what I needed it to be to start school on Monday.