Real Teachers of Blog County - Junk Space

 

Happy Sunday everyone - and this Sunday is even better because we have Monday off!  That gives a whole new meaning to Sunday night.  I've spent my morning trying to organize part of my workspace in my office - and that reminded me of a fun blog linky that Hilary from Second Grade is Out of This World is hosting.  As soon as I saw this I KNEW it had my name written all over it!

I know teachers love posting the "best" parts of their lives - perfect classrooms, beautiful displays, engaging activities.... but life is real and it's not always perfect - which is what drew me to this linky.  This month's topic - the junk drawer!

I'll be honest.  I do not have a junk drawer at school.  Ever since I refinished my desk (see more about that project HERE), I have REALLY tried to keep things organized.  And honestly, it's having all my little stuff in a space ON my desk that has kept that drawer from becoming crazy.

That being said... I do have a junk place.  It's under one of my tables in my classroom.

I try to hide it with those lovely "curtains" that you can see are scotch-taped on to the side of the table (the Velcro kept falling off).  But the truth is, chaos lives under there.

I know, I know, it doesn't look that bad.  That's because I have come up with the genius solution of putting all the junk in BOXES. As long as I can't see it, it's not really there!  And what IS there, you ask?  There is very little storage space in my room to keep holiday and themed units - all the books, activities, etc. that goes with each month.  So I keep most things at home... in my basement... (which is another story that you will never see and there is no way I'm going to take a picture of that and put it out there for everyone to see - I have to draw the line somewhere.)

Soooo... when we finish a unit, I gather up all the books and centers and activities and just pile them under that table, honestly meaning to take them all home and put them away in the right box in my beautifully organized basement.  Which pretty much never happens.  Which is why up until a few weeks ago you could still find Thanksgiving (and maybe a stray Halloween) book or two in there.

HOWEVER - I DID clean and I DID bring things home, so it doesn't look so bad under there right now.  One of those boxes is actually empty! :-)

But, in the interest of really being "real"... I need to show you this:

It's a picture of the corner of my hallway coming in from the garage.  Yep.  I brought it all home, but just recently took it out of the back of my car and now it sits in the hall. 

I can't take it any more though so I'm going to put it all away this afternoon.  And then replace it with another pile very soon, I'm sure!

Want to see more "real" junk spaces of teachers?  Check out the linky and I'm sure you'll find some kindred spirits!