Overload, Adjust, Overload, Adjust

These past weeks have been repeated moments of feeling completely overwhelmed. Today's little gem came when I was observed. It wasn't actually an observation of my actual teaching, but whether or not my walls were up to par. I was being evaluated as to whether I had the right stuff up. Did I have my sound spelling cards up? Did I have my behavior stuff up? Did I have my high frequency word wall? (For which I have not found the research for fifth grade.) Did I have my key standards posted? Did I have my theme table with realia, books and pictures? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHh! Let's start with my laundry list of things that aren't getting done to help me:

(1) Materials. I have too many materials because I got everything for both grade levels (fourth/fifth.) We are busting at the seams. I have sets of guided readers for fourth grade reading, fourth grade science, fourth grade social studies, fifth grade reading, science and social studies. I have math books in Spanish, which are not being used because of some adoption issues. I have two sets of teacher's editions in math for 4th and 5th, but none in English. They come in these giant cumbersome carts as well. I have these large plastic drawers that are cumbersome - in both English and Spanish, for each grade level - that contain "Workshop" materials. I have six large plastic bins with Science materials for experiments. Its like an explosion and every so often I stuff things in cabinets.

(2) Materials. A severe lack of the needed. We agreed that we would use literature (gasp, actual novels) for our Spanish language arts, but after several attempts to get them ordered, still NOTHING. I don't have, as aforementioned, the teacher's editions for math in ENGLISH. I need bookshelves to store the billions of materials.

(3) Things that I was supposed to have received last year for my walls that were never given to me. I just refuse to create more stuff when I already have so much to do.

I am learning three new curricula because of new adoptions, not to mention a new grade level for science and social studies.

In addition to the fact that I am at school from 7:30 to 6:00 every day, we have events this week and next and then parent conferences. Its such a joke. I thought I would do this after school science class two days a week, and then Saturday school to prepare for the state tests, but honestly, I'm feeling done and its only October. Great.