On Monday I ran into the High School Principal. We had a great talk. He told me about a retiring teacher who had been in the same classroom for 38 years. The teacher feared that his lifetime of memorabillia would be trashed by the next teacher. The principal assured the retiree that everything would remain in place.(But, in truth, the principal will be retiring himself after this year- and THEN what will become of the classroom??)As we mused over the sense of ownership we teachers feel about a classroom and how difficult it is to leave that home, I thought about my own experience with classroom "ownership." I had taught Second Grade in the same classroom for 13 years. When I was reassigned to 5th Grade, I had to tear down all that I had worked so hard to create. I cried as I filled boxes and boxes of books, materials, posters, supplies, files, etc. Most everything went into storage because you can't use primary materials in the 5th Grade. I had no idea if I would ever be teaching in the lower grades again. We are totally at the mercy of administration for grade assingment.Now, two years later, I am going back to the Second Grade. I don't have the same feelings for the walls. I know now that they do not belong to me. No matter how cute those workstations are, no matter how many weekends I spend hanging posters and banners and curtains, I will always remember the pain of that move. I won't love a borrowed space that way again.-Because the illusion is broken, the dream is over.I won't be truly moving in again,- just moving.