What do you do first when setting up your room?

I finally saw my new room and I don't even know where to start. It is currently under construction, getting new ceiling tiles and a carpet, and the previous teacher left it a complete mess. There are teacher and student books/folders scattered throughout the room, supplies shoved in random places, etc. I can't even go shopping because I have no idea what I already have and what I need.

I'm thinking my first steps are going to be to dig through everything, tossing out junk and organizing things. I also want to bring in some bleach or something and disinfect all the toys and supplies. I fear it will take a long time to make the classroom presentable so I'll worry about setting up after.

 

That stinks! Hopefully once the construction is finished the task won't look so ominous.

 

Yes I am hoping to get in there very soon! I checked two weeks ago and the floors were being waxed, and when I checked last week there was no furniture in the rooms yet. A few rooms are being shuffled around, mine being one of them. My new room needs the current furniture to be moved out and different furniture from another room to be brought in. I'll ask again this week what the status is and hopefully start getting in next week.

 

In terms of furnishing your room, is it pretty much carte blanche, mix-&-match kind of stuff? Like, I've seen couches in rooms before. But beyond that, if you go by a garage sale and see a kid's recliner, or you see some bookcases you can have for cheap... is it as simple as bring whatever you feel you can use in the classroom? Or do you have to ask (i.e. custodian) for bookcases, tables, and the like.

 

You are so lucky! We have to box EVERY single thing in our room -- we have no closets or storage except for a single file cabinet, and even that has to be emptied and boxed. Every single box is removed from our room when they clean the floors, and then put back in the room. Then we have to set everything up from scratch, every single year. Even text books (all the book shelves must be emptied, our teacher desk must be emptied, our computers completely taken apart and taken out of the room.) It is a no fun at all!

It takes days, and a lot of determination to get everything unpacked and into its place. I guess it is one of the downfalls of working in a temporary building with no real storage areas.

 

I like doing BB too but I enjoyed it better when a student or my dh helps me. It just somehow comes out better. I also do like your friend does, keep putting on top of bb to change it up with limited hassle.

My approach is to unpack and organize as much as possible before cleaning. The last thing is to deal with the desks--- mine staying pretty much the same so I leave the easy part last.