To Do, Ta-Dah! and the pile I don't want to face

That's it. The "pile I can't face today." As character Frank Wheeler put it in Revolutionary Road, there's an inbox, an outbox, and this pile. School is out for summer as of Friday morning, so I need to attack this pile now. Immediately. ASAP. Attack, full on, with the tools of the trade: file cabinet, recycle bin, shredder, and wastebasket.

Some will go home with students. The interoffice envelopes on the left are actually weekly take-home folders. Students deliver these to their parents on Fridays stuffed with memos, and bring them back on Mondays, hopefully empty.

Any copies I haven't used will either get filed for next year or added to my "oops" or "extras" box for reusable paper.

Teachers' manuals will stay on the shelf, ready for next year.

Any homework still on the pile is graded & recorded and ready to go home.

By Thursday, the file trays will be empty. These trays hold the daily work, the sheets and answer keys and materials necessary for each day's teaching. I can have kids rinse and wipe the trays as they finish cleaning their desks and lockers.

By Friday? All will be well with the world. The cabinet will be clean, the desk will be cleared, and the room ready for summer school.

Me? I'll be ready to sleep in a little ('til 7 at least!) and play in the dirt to my heart's content.

Stumble It!