I went to my classroom today for the second day with only one mission in mind. To organize, file, and clean up the piles that have accumulated since September. (Actually, I had one basket I found that was from last summer that never was completed.) I have been thinking about what would happen if the Coronavirus makes even the teachers have to leave school for a while. I didn’t take a before picture, but suffice it to say, my desk area–top, bottom and sides–was a fire trap.
When I was cleaning up papers and items from many months ago, it was so much easier to be ruthless. “I’ll never use this again.” “Finished with that!” “Why did I save this?” Not only did I file and put a lot of things away in my room, I also ended up with a large pile of scratch paper and three bags of garbage. But along with that, I also for a few treasures that I thought I lost.
Why do I do this? For 25 years I have taught, and I never seem to be able to keep my room in order. However, for today, it is ready to go.
I keep thinking that one gift of all this uncertainty is that we get to do some of the things we’ve felt like we haven’t had time for.
Angela,
That is for sure. There is some extra time to catch up on long-neglected jobs, like this one. Also, I am taking time for cooking healthier meals and eating better. There are chances for quiet reflection, deepening relationships with those closest, and a reboot of what we were doing before. Hopefully, we can all be more thankful when we get on the other side.