Clean Sweep

Finally found the mojo to go do some tidying in my classroom.  On a sunny weekend with absolutely perfect spring weather... (What is wrong with me?  Other than severe tree allergies?)

My inspiration was the ability to blog the before and after photos.  So motivating to document progress in the cleanliness arena.

The view from my desk: BEFORE

Love the drama of an impressive: AFTER

My serious tidy issue is clearly *paperwork*.  I get unsightly paperwork buildup in all areas of my life.  Sometimes it just takes a big shovel to get things moving.

The credenza area to the left of my desk has been a huge pile for so long, I hardly dared to dream of it as usable space.  I couldn't even close the cupboard underneath because of the amount of miscellaneous crap on the floor, also.  The AFTER is so much more *spacious*.

Oh, I can even pile things on the floor, can't I!  No wonder I was starting to feel claustrophobic: my chair could hardly move back from my desk without me tripping over the stuff.  Note that there is still an auxiliary filing system (AKA pile?) in evidence.  Well, I'm going for better here, not perfect.

My favorite part of the transformation: underneath my desk!  No one could see it but me, but I managed to really clutter up my personal space with student papers.  Ugh.  No more.  I have reclaimed my own space!  I am worth it!!

 

 You can see that the clean sweep of the desk area didn't extend too far onto the counter.  Didn't touch the in-box.  Didn't address the student notebooks that overtake one whole wall of counter space.  Still better, though.

Saved for yet another weekend: underneath the materials table.  The paperwork dragons breathe smoke and fire over there... It's scary!

I feel cleaner.  Lighter.  Looking forward to a new energy in my classroom come Monday morning.