The big news this week is that I finally got confirmation of my new teaching assignment (sixth-grade English at the school less than half a mile from my house!) and got access to my new classroom.
The room itself is aggressively beige, and it didn’t smell bad exactly, but it smelled … liminal, if that makes any sense. You know how it smells when you walk into a motel room where the housekeeping staff has cleaned everything thoroughly, but there’s just no overriding the fact that the carpets and furniture haven’t been replaced since Clinton left office? It was exactly that smell, and probably for the same reason.
I guess that’s OK; after all, unoccupied classrooms are liminal spaces, which is probably why they feel weird. After I transferred two truckloads of school-related stuff from my house to my classroom Thursday morning, I dug out my wax warmer and melted some scented wax to make it smell a little more homey while I unpacked boxes and tried to come up with a decorating scheme that would overcome the drabness of the room without running afoul of fire codes*.
I’m not sure how effective this effort will end up being, as the district has vetoed my request to repaint the walls, but you can do a lot with lighting and contact paper, so I remain cautiously optimistic. After I’ve been there long enough to demonstrate that I know what I’m doing and can be trusted with a paintbrush, I’ll lobby for a policy change, but for now, I think I’ll just let myself enjoy having a rare summer free to think about something besides school.
The other big news this week is that Burrito Dog and I are taking a road trip to Colorado so I can learn some new training methods. I considered taking one of my other dogs, but Pearl is my little road warrior — she enjoys riding in the car almost as much as Scout did — and this trip is likely to include Pearl’s two greatest loves: doughnuts (there are at least two Krispy Kremes between here and Boulder) and hiking (I’m told we’ll be exploring some trails while we’re in the mountains). After everything the Burrito went through last year, I think she’s earned an adventure.
I’ll try to take plenty of pictures so I can share them when we return.
Emily
* Yes, I realize the wax warmer is technically a fire-code violation, but the fire marshal isn’t likely to roll up on us for an inspection during the summer. I’ll swap it for an essential oil diffuser or something when school starts.
Red Fork Hippie 