Dumpster Diving

This might be the strangest thing that's happened to me in a long time, and I can tell you (and you can probably guess) that lots of strange things happen to me. Most of them are of my own making, but this time I'm begging off...this is just strange and there's no way around it.

You might remember that I'm moving to first grade from my former 8th grade position? I know, it would be pretty hard to forget, since I'm constantly whining about it, right? Well, a few weeks ago I cleaned out the room I was moving into. It had about 40 years worth of accumulated stuff from the teacher who was there before and had retired. It was a two day job, about 8 hours each day. I threw away a LOT of things. I also packed up some things and offered them to the other staff. The room is clean and organized and I believe I can move my other stuff in and still have room for kids. Which is, after all what the classroom is for...kids!

So, last night, after the board meeting, another teacher from the first grade came up to me and said she needed to talk to me. She told me that, when she'd gotten my email about the things I had gotten rid of she, "got nervous, and called the custodian and told him not to throw away the trash." She went in the next day and went through my trash (she told me this, I'm not making it up) and pulled out things that, "I wasn't supposed to throw away."

She told me what she'd pulled out, and I explained that I had thrown them away because they were trashed, they were torn and not useful, and I could get those same materials on line via the Smartboard. "Oh," she explained, "You can't throw them away because they belong with the curriculum and they have to remain with the materials."

So, I have some things back, that I won't use, but can't throw away, and that are not useful, but can't be gotten rid of. And I have a dumpster diving co-worker who is, evidently, not afraid to interfere in my decision making process and force me to do things in a way she views as appropriate. I'm not sure what to make of this. When I tell people they are mortified that someone would do that. Some tell me I should tell her to stay out of my room, others think I should tell her off. I've decided that I'll pack away the things she thought I needed for the next person who she'll think needs them and save her any future dumpster diving.

Did I note that this year might be a challenge for me and my politically correctedness? Well, I'm pretty sure I just had my first test, and given that I smiled and thanked her, I'm giving myself an A+. It might be the only one I get all year, so I'm going to bask in it!