I commuted to work in the driving rain yesterday morning, and when I arrived at the office, I found out that we didn't have any power. There were no lights, no heat, no computers. We were left with nothing but pencils and paper. It reminded me of many days in the classroom.

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It seems as though everywhere I go these days, I see tissues and hand sanitizer. In fact, at a recent dinner, a friend offered me a squirt of hand sanitizer. She didn’t even have to open her purse: the sanitizer was connected to her purse by a small cord. I couldn’t believe it—there is a special purse attachment just for combating the nasty germs that are going around! How convenient!

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I love routine. I love to follow the same schedule, eat the same foods, and even drive the same route to work every day. Other than my love for working with children, I think that's one of the things that helped me most in the classroom. A lot of children thrive in an atmosphere of routine, of knowing what to expect.

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Because my dad was in the air force for 30 years, I changed schools many times. Being the new kid was always a challenge, but I was fortunate to have friendly, understanding teachers to make me feel welcome and help me find my way. And, because my family usually lived on or near a base, there were a lot of other students who understood how I felt.

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When I was teaching, our district set aside one week in the fall and in early spring for parent-teacher conferences. During those weeks, we taught in the mornings and met with parents in the afternoons. Before each conference session, I set two chairs and a small table or desk outside my door. Despite careful scheduling, [...]

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During a recent conversation with my brother, he mentioned that he was in charge of getting my third-grade niece, Carly, to school by 9:00 the next day. Since I’m settled at my desk by 7:30 most days, 9:00 seemed like a late start to me. But then, thinking about my teaching days, my start times definitely varied.

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As I drove to work one day last week, I passed an elementary school with a sign out front signaling that open house was scheduled for that afternoon. It caught me by surprise because school has not yet started here. I always thought of open house taking place a few weeks into the school year.

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I know it sounds cliché, but I just can't believe that it's time to get ready for a new school year already! Preparing the classroom for my students' arrival was one of my favorite things about teaching. I know that establishing a routine can make all the difference in the classroom, so I've scanned the August/September 2009 issues of the Mailbox® magazine to find tips you can incorporate into your planning.

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I’m pretty particular when it comes to how my office looks. Since I’m at work a good bit of the day, I like my office to be neat but homey. I felt the same way about my classroom. I always made sure it was cheery and inviting. The institutional-green cinder-block walls weren’t a big help in that respect, but curtains, rugs, rockers, and pillows went a long way toward brightening things up!

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I’m curious—how many of you are working with students this summer? Many of my summers involve working with students in one way or another. For a few years, I taught a summer program for special education students. The goal of the program was to help kids maintain the skills they had learned during the year so they could pick up where they left off when they returned to school in the fall. The kids and staff worked hard, but we also had lots of fun. The summer atmosphere was relaxing, and it lent itself to activities that we couldn’t do during the regular school year. (Think sprinklers!)

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