SPRING CLEANING!

My name is Jessica and I teach third grade in Spartanburg, South Carolina. My elementary school is a rural school that brings in a lot of country kids with some city kids. Our school is currently undergoing a major overhaul. We added on 2 wings to our school. With over 800 students from K to 5th grade we are busting at the seams. We have added at least 4 more classrooms, another computer lab and a science lab (which I am the most excited about). We have extended our cafeteria by adding a stage, added an extra music room, and another gym storage unit. This will increase student learning but there are more opportunities to move about the school and more hands on activities for our students. Our students will take pride in our school because it's a new and exciting thing happening in our school. Not only are all these additions happening but some grade levels are switching halls. This means that all teachers are having to clean and pack up their belongings before the last day of school (which is Thursday). I have heard many teachers complaining about moving and cleaning out(especially those that have been teaching for 30+ years). I agree that it does stink that this is one more task you have to take care of before summer break but I do believe that half the teachers DO need to clean out their closet and their junk they no longer need. When I moved into my classroom I found items from the 70's stuck at the back of the closet (visit old Facebook photo albums from last summer-you'll see what I'm talking about). I believe mid-year and end of the year teachers need to clean out. Clean out the closets, clean out the cabinets, and clean out the desks. Weekly my students clean out their desks (it's amazing the things they find). When a classroom is clean and organized, the students are more organized and take more pride in the classroom. When a classroom is less cluttered, students are more able to focus and operate. Switch up the seating and movement in the classroom. I have noticed that this makes students more flexible and adjust better to last minute changes because we all know that almost always happens in a classroom. Bottom line-a cleaner organized classroom means a better way of learning.