Back to School Sale & "the Before"

I'm sure you've all heard about the fabulous Back to School sale happening August 12-13 on Tpt.  Just wanted to let you know I am participating in the sale and you can get up to 28% off all items in my store. Use the promo code: BTS12  Don't forget to check out my latest Writing Resources Pack to help get the school year started!

So Monday I have staff meetings and then Tuesday the students arrive.  Where did the time go??? Hard to believe the summer is over.  But I am excited to meet my new students and get back into the swing of things :)  I moved rooms this year and this is what my room looked like when I walked in for the first time last week :( 

I took a few more steps into my room and I noticed what has to be the UGLIEST wall ever!

Do they not think when they design these portables??? I'll have to work on doing something to distract the eyes from this....
There was also no tall file cabinet in the room, and in my last room I had one that was bursting at the seams.  I talked to our custodian who kindly hunted down the only available file cabinet...

It's old, it even smells old! And again, what's up with the color???  But hey, I'm just glad to have one at all! I brought the small one with me from my old room.  Now both are full of my wonderful files.  The weird thing about this old smelly cabinet is the top two drawers.  What should I do with these? Any ideas???

I didn't know where to start! HOURS and HOURS later my room is finally ready for students.  But guess who forgot to take a picture of the after? I was so excited to be done, I almost ran out the door so I could enjoy the rest of my Saturday. So I will definitely take a picture this week of "the After" and post. 

One more thing - as I was prepping for the first week of school I took a pic of something I do every year.  I make name tags for the first few days of school for the students to wear.  It helps me learn their names and if they get lost on campus my information is on the tag.  I bought these plastic tags a few years ago and they have been one of the best investments EVER!  I also use them for our big field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  For the field trip I put the students into a different ocean animal group(each chaperon has a different animal) with the school name and phone number.  I keep the field trip tags in and just change out the name tags every year.  If you decide to get some you will be happy you did!!! I got the clips at Staples and the plastic sleeves at the Dollar Tree.

  Sorry, the picture will only load upside down....but I'm sure you get the idea :) Have a happy Sunday!