Opening the Year

Tomorrow will be the first day I go to school to get ready for the upcoming year.  (I did one day in early June, but that was not targeted toward The Coming Year - just maintenance-type stuff.)  One of my little goals for the year is to plan out my weekends at school (as opposed to my usual "Oh, hey - I'll just go in and do some stuff on Sunday).  This is intended as a time-management strategy.

You see, when I go to school on the weekend I invariably have a lot of stuff I should've taken care of on Friday afternoon waiting for me.  Friday tends to be Enormous Messy Project day.  If I know I'm coming in on Sunday, why stay to clean it up?  I forget that I am coming in for a reason - say, to make a month of homework and pull materials for an ELD unit.

And then when I get to school?  It's Sunday - the weekend!  I am supposed to be relaxing and having fun on the weekend!  So clearly I should do the things I like: planning out the arts and crafts extensions for a thematic unit, making a new bulletin board, organizing my pens.

This ends up being a colossal ADHD dramafest, wherein one of the following happens:

1. Although I plan to leave at 1:00pm, I stay until 5:30, forget that the alarm is on a timer and re-arms and set it off while locking the back wing.  By the time I get to the front and disarm it, I am having a panic attack and my eardrums have exploded from the noise.
2. I do exactly what I want to do, leave at 1:30 and end up coming into school at 5:30 Monday morning for a massive clean/pull/craze extravaganza.  This is a bad start to the week.
3. I do exactly what I am supposed to do and feel bitter and grumpy about it.  I engage in shopping therapy, typically purchasing arts and crafts supplies for the classroom.

Anyway, it's not really ideal.  I'm thinking that perhaps setting myself a list of required, conceivable and Absolutely Do Not Even Think About It tasks will help me manage more successfully.  So for tomorrow, I will definitely be:

• laminating several sets of flash cards for long-term viability,
• mapping out where the furniture goes this year, and 
• hanging fadeless paper and bordette on all appropriate surfaces.

I may also consider:

• Moving the library to the other side of the classroom (this is a major endeavor),
• Plugging in the computers and printing out game sets, and
• Hanging filters and contact paper on all the windows (to cut down on glare/heat).

However, under no circumstances may I:

• Start making homework packets or
• Pull out all my quilling materials, quill a demo project and plan a craft unit.

While I'm on a list-making adventure, my other little goals for the year are:

• Write at least five successful Donors Choose grants,
• Keep/Train another Resident,
• Support the Ex-Resident, and
• Avoid all psycho-social interpersonal drama at my school site.  My school site is highly functional and the adult culture is okay, but a high-needs environment is high-stress for everyone.  Last year I tried to help people mediate their way through the pressure cooker and it's just too much vacuum-sealing for me to be healthy and stable.