Marian Baker School K-12

Howdy blog followers!  This is Andrea!  I thought you might want to see our school and the cool situation we are in.  First of all, let's talk layout.  Mike and I have an entire area to ourselves below the school's library.  I am in room 37, he's in room 38, and there's a nice office we share in between.  Right now we rarely use the office because the spiders and dust have gotten the best of us there.  We plan on cleaning and organizing it soon though.  Rebecca's room is on the corner of another building that is literally 30 strides (or less) from my room.  It is such a joy to see her as she comes and goes to electives.  She waves to me and blows me kisses.  What a blessing!  I even get to see her skipping and holding hands with her new friends as she comes and goes.  Many times Mike and I sneak out during our planning periods and have a snack with her or watch her play on the playground from afar.  So cool!  Check out the photos below!

Bec waving to me in my classroom!  The side door leads to a small hallway
with a chemical storage area & then eventually opens up into Mike's room.  

My room is on the left, office door in middle, and Mike's room on far right.  :)

The view from our front classroom windows. 

 Fun facts we are adjusting to:
1)  My classes have this many students in five sections:  16, 19, 13, 8, and 8.  Cool, huh?!
2)  Mike's classes have this many students in his four sections:  10, 5, 7, and 12.  Before you get jealous, remember Mike is teaching AP Chemistry!
3)  Sometimes we teach 4 different preps in one day, usually 3 times a week.  That is a little difficult at times to organize space for labs, get everything together, etc...

4)  We have to submit ALL things we want copied or printed.  If you do not pick up what you printed off by noon, you cannot get it until the next day.  If you do not submit something for copies before noon, you cannot get it until the next day.  There is an emergency slip you can get signed by the Director of the School if you are in dire need of your copies sooner, but you definitely want to avoid that.  Therefore, you have to be SUPER planned out. Not having control of a printer has been a real challenge, especially when you are creating new material.
5)  The 200 kids at our school are extremely joyful.  All ages.  It is like a big family.
6)  One of my classes of 8 is an elective that is held on a piece of school property that is VERY wild and undeveloped.  We work out in the "jungle" and clear paths, rake and cut vines and try to keep the greenhouse up and going and free of critters.  We are working on building a cinder block and wire compost pile, expanding the amount of shelving in the greenhouse, and eventually building a chicken coop.  So far we have found one snake and a giant bug that the kids told me puts you a coma if it bites you.  They macheted it in half today!  Can you believe they let my students work with machetes?!            

I took this picture out of one of my side windows in my classroom.
That is Bec's classroom on the corner across the path.
We are on a bit of a hill so it looks funny and tilted.  

7)  Our school grows its own coffee and has it roasted.  It is what we drink every day and it is delicious.
8)  Our kitchen/cafeteria makes the best food.  I can get a salad with shredded cheese, carrots, tomatoes, and amazing lettuce for $2.  The meals they cook are so tempting that its hard to just eat my salad at times.
9)  We have a 20 minute break, all kids and staff, right after first block EVERY day.  The kitchen serves fresh fruit, gallo pinto, pastries, and even ice cream!