Vacation Ends

My vacation is over.  Today, my plan was to see a movie "Dinner for Smucks" and visit my foster father.  However, doing the visiting first put the kibosh on the movie.  By the time I finished "visiting", it was time to return home.

On my way home, I decided to once and for all try the Shopping Center I see while I'm riding on the Metro-North train.  Since I don't have a car, I'm limited by my shopping choices.  Weill with A Target, Home Depot, and a BJ's within my travel route, I now have some more options.  Especially BJ's.  BJ's is a bulk food and supply store. 

Well, I better go.  Tomorrow is the first (unofficial) day of work.  Here in NYC, teachers are required to report back to schools on the day before the students do(this year it is September 7th.  Most teachers will probably returned two or three days before.  I like having the whole week to slowly adjust to work hours.  Also, I really need more time to get organized.  Each year I've failed with getting organized and spend the reminder of the school year stressing out.  I'm hoping the that this will be the end of my losing streak.    My goals for this year are actually the exact same goals as last year.  Since I failed so miserable with my goals, there is no need to change them. 

So, will this year be any different?  Only time will tell.  The first real test (I suppose) will come tomorrow.  Each year, I've always managed to find something to distract me from unpacking until this last minute.  Even though I'm usually the first teacher back, I'm usually the last one finished. 

This year (tomorrow), unpacking will be the first thing on my To Do List.  If this year is going to be different, I will have mostly finished my Day 1 Goals:

Day 1 "To Do" List*
1. Unpack all necessary boxes (about 18 of them)
2. Arrange classroom furniture
3. Set up classroom library
4. Set up (and fill up) the brand new shelving units
5. Set up classroom computers
6. Change bulletin board paper
*In the past, this has been my Day 5 To Do List.  I've been able to get most of it done in Day 5, so I should be able to get it done on Day 1.  I hope.

If I can get most (or all) of the above list completed, this would be a good indication that my year just might be different from all of the others. 

My next posting will let you know if I succeeded.

To Be Continued...