*The Experts*

Today was the first day I started working on my classroom. It was the weirdest thing because I was moving stuff around and looking in boxes so carefully like it all belonged to a stranger. I have lots of supplies that don't feel like they belong to me so it was odd going through everything. I asked the principal if I could open up the file cabinet and she said: "This stuff is yours…it's all yours! Do whatever you want!" Crazy. After being a guest in other people's classrooms for so long, it's surreal to think that we were standing in MINE today. Even writing that feels strange…is this realllly happening?

I sat in there for literally an hour just mentally trying to figure out where I wanted the furniture to go. I finally left with a little bit of an idea but still wasn't exactly sure. I showed up to work a little stressed and decided it would be best to just call in the experts right away. I quickly recruited my 7 year olds and took a vote on my top two classroom arrangements.

I ended up drawing a rough sketch of my room and all the little girls quickly grabbed a pencil and paper and started drawing it, too. They were labeling everything like "desk" and "white board" while giving me ideas on what I should do. "You definitely need to have a carpet in the reading corner FOR SURE." "I think you need to make a place where they can get glue and crayons really easily." "Miss Abby, you have to have the alphabet on the wall and you have to make sure and sing at carpet time." "You should have a book case FULL of books! Colorful ones!"

We did this for about fifteen minutes and each kid could'nt tell me what I should do fast enough. I had to make a talking time for each one because each were yelling ideas at the same time. It was the cutest thing EVER!!! They took it on themselves to plan my classroom and were VERY serious about it. It was like a legit business meeting to them. When we were out at recess a few of them ran up to me and said: "Can we plan your classroom again when we get inside?" Even after the planning was long gone, a few of them kept re-sketching it over and over. It was adorable!

I think sometimes we as adults try to make decisions about children without asking the actual experts. Trust me, they are full of great information and are very ready to talk if only we'll let them. A lot of my questions are put to rest thanks to my wonderful team….I couldn't do this without them.