CLEAN DESKS MATTER!
We started writing this morning and as I walked around the classroom, I could sense that something was amiss. Normally, my students are hard workers, but today, it just felt different. They were moving and shaking--their squirming was audible. I thought to myself, "What in tarnation is going on here?" as I paced around the room.
And then it hit me.
No really. A folder from someone's desk hit my foot on its fall from grace. I stopped to inspect what could have been a scene from Hoarders, Junior Edition. This desk was so overstuffed that my mere presence created enough of a wind current to send its contents flying. I looked around and almost every desk looked the same way.
Uh, helloooo? Where have I been?
How could I let these desks get so messy?
Well, for starters, it isn't always high on my list of priorities. We move so fast and cover so much each day that we don't always have time to keep things organized and neat in our desks. Also, I'm not too strict on desk organization--if they know where items are and can located them quickly, I'm okay with that.
But TODAY was another story. I stopped the entire class and called for an emergency desk intervention. We spent 15 minutes purging our desks, ridding them of unwanted scraps, graded papers that should have gone home weeks ago, and god-awful pencil shavings.
I tell you what, after those 15 minutes of organized chaos, it felt so different in my classroom. We got back to work--you could have heard a pin drop.
Never underestimate the power of cleaning.
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