Knock Knock!

When I was a little girl, I remember a trick my mom use to play on us kids. Yeah. She was a sly one all right. She would tell us that (insert person here) was coming over and that we needed to clean up the house stat. "Hurry!" she'd spur us on. We'd vacuum, dust, sweep, wipe tables and do whatever else we needed to do in order to prepare for our supposed guest of honor. We, of course, wanted them to know that we "took pride in our home," humble as it was. When the cleaning was complete, we'd bask in the glory of having made our mom proud. Then we'd wait. And wait... and wait. "Huh?" we'd naively wonder as minutes turned into hours. Come nightfall, we'd realize that she'd done it again! Once again we had fallen prey to her nefarious plans. In the end, she accomplished what she set out to do--hoodwink a bunch of kids into spending a Saturday morning cleaning the house. Yeah. She was good. Real good.

Her ways may have been questionable, but she did instill in us a great sense of pride--at least until we'd mess up the house again. Well, today I'm the adult motivating my students to take pride in our classroom. Undoubtedly, for many of our children, our classrooms are a home away from home. We can't control our students' home environment, but we can ensure that when they walk into our classrooms, they are met with an inviting, organized, and tidy space in which to learn and grow.

On Friday, I did what I refer to as a backpack, desk, and binder check. As students are working independently on the computer, I call them up one at a time. With their permission, I check their backpacks to see what they've accumulated. You would be surprised at what I find, but that's a conversation for a different day. I also check their binders and desks to see if they are keeping their items organized. I commend those who've successfully kept a tidy backpack, an organized binder, and a neat desk and I would gently and discreetly encourage those who have not to do better.

Like a home blessed with active children, our classrooms are never going to be perfect. We are in the business of educating young minds and, truthfully, that can be messy--both literally and figuratively. That being said, we should get our students in the habit of keeping an uncluttered work environment. Knowing how to maintain an orderly work space will do our students well in whatever profession they choose.

Still Living the Dream (albeit with a little less mess!),

Lola Jollie