"I get by with a little help from my friends..."

I have been inspired by countless blogs. I spent last summer reading blog after blog, trying one good idea after the next. I thought to myself how I would love to start a teaching blog to record my thoughts and share my own ideas. However, when is there ever time during the week or weekends?! By the time I am finally done with my work at home during the week, my brain hurts and when the weekend approaches, there are a million other things to be done. So I continued to just browse blogs in between grading and planning and pin interesting ideas to my Pinterest - "Pin now, read later".

I finally caved this weekend and knew it was time for my very own blog. Maybe to share my somewhat novice ideas and to just have a place to write and release - start slow. Last week hit hard. With all of the wintry weather, last week was our first "normal" week. No delays, no early dismissals, and no snow days. Actually there might have even been a delay - I have completely lost track. Needless to say, not only am I frazzled, but my kids are off their schedules as well. It feels like the first couple weeks of school, but in February. I feel like my usual everyday smile and cheer has been fading and the kids behaviors are getting more difficult to handle. 

As the snow and ice have been weighing heavy on our minds, they have also been weighing on our roof tops. The water stains that speckled my ceiling tiles appeared fast and didn't slow down. Before I knew it, the building and grounds personnel, roofers, engineers, and architects were swarming through my room. (Imagine the kids hype then!) My room was evacuated and completely cleaned out. Except for a few things I left on my walls, my classroom was completely relocated to a smaller, but available room. Four classrooms total in my hallway had to be evacuated and cleaned out indefinitely. 

The faculty room was turned into a 4th grade classroom and my poor 5th grade partner is still waiting for a place to put her stuff while her class occupies the Media Center. On day 1, I went home crying. On day 2 (the big move), I faced the day head on and promised myself I would smile for the kids all day! But through all of the chaos I found happiness! I know it sounds cliche, but my colleagues (friends) were so supportive and really stepped up to the plate. They were jumping at the chance to help and it put a smile on my face to hear, "How can I help?" or "Wow! its's really starting to look like a real classroom in here." (even when it wasn't just yet) It made me so proud to work with such amazing people. Between helping hands, positive messages, words of wisdom, laughs, and of course some Dunkin Donuts, my school really came together for one another. Without this compassion and kindness, as a first year teacher, I would have felt helpless and lost. That night I went home singing, "I get by with a little help from my friends..."