A Classroom Transformation

From time to time, the state gives school districts money to modernize their facilities.  That is why my school went through major renovations this summer.  The week before school started, I came back to find my brand new room completely empty.  The new desks were being unboxed, but the rest of my stuff was in storage.  The next day, I came back and found this:

Yes, those are wires dangling from a hole in the ceiling.  Also note the office desk standing on end.

Over the weekend, I unpacked most of the boxes, set up my teacher desk and arranged the bookshelves and computer desks.  On Monday and Tuesday, we had staff meetings in the mornings and work time in the afternoons.  I unpacked the remaining boxes, arranged the student desks, set up my AV cart and set up my computer and printer.  That's beside the normal things a teacher has to do before the first day of school, such as print syllabi and make seating charts.

When class started at 8am on Wednesday, I still had no phone, clock or internet.  I have since discovered that the brand new, custom-made bookshelf was too small for my books, and two of my brand new locking cabinets don't lock.  Three weeks later, neither of those have been repaired, and the smart boards we were promised have not been delivered, and no one can tell us when they will be.  But I have gotten my posters and bulletin boards up. 

Here is my classroom now, in it's (mostly) finished state.