I officially retired on June 1st, two years after John retired. We planned this date over 5 years ago and were able to meet our financial goal for it to happen.

As I approached this momentous occasion over the last couple of years, there were several professional things I had to take care of. I thought the most challenging would be decluttering my classroom for my replacement. I had been in the same room for 27 years. Unfortunately, I had plenty of storage for stuff.

About 7 years ago, our principal at the time let us know that our site was scheduled for construction – new building and remodeling of all existing buildings. I took her comment “those of you that are hoarders need to start going through your cabinets now so you aren’t caught by surprise when you are told to pack your room.” Did some of my colleagues ignore her? YEP! Did I? NOPE! I started decluttering my classroom that very day. Thankfully, my building wasn’t on the move list yet.

I found paper stuff in the filing cabinets from the 1970s, expired chemicals from the 1960s!, and plenty of outdated/broken equipment. It really helps that I was decluttering at home as well. By the time the end of this school year rolled around, I was feeling ready. On our last day, I took about 30 minutes to clear off my bulletin boards and was able to walk out with just my purse.

Most wall posters had already been removed for state testing and never put back up for the last 5 weeks of school. I would normally go to the effort of putting it all back up again and then take it down for whoever was using my room for summer school – not this year. Having a “minimalistic” classroom for the last 5 weeks didn’t seem to affect the students at all.

If you are a teacher, take this advice: get rid of all the extra stuff!