There is no end to the number of reality shows on television these days. Some of them are interesting, some unusual, and some downright horrifying. One that I can only watch occasionally explores the homes of hoarders. These are the folks who for whatever reason simply cannot part ways with their material goods. Some can only walk from room to room in their houses via little pathways that exist between mounds of useless junk.
The end of school in June was like no other year I have taught. We were in a temporary facility in the middle of a two-year construction project. It was the second year in a row that I had to pack up my entire office and music classrooms: CDs, DVDs, books, tuners, and drawer after drawer of files. In total, I packed 40 boxes, which was a slight improvement over the previous year when I packed 50 boxes.
The beauty of packing up and moving out not once, but twice, is that it forced me to prioritize the materials I had been hoarding for years. Fortunately, I have only been in my current position for ten years. That was still plenty of time to acquire a wealth of materials that I barely, if ever, used. Many people would describe me as neat and orderly, but it was amazing to find what was lurking in the cabinets and drawers.
The first set of things to be trashed were items inherited from the previous director. When you begin in a new position, it is difficult to determine what might prove useful down the road. After a decade at the school, I knew that if I hadn’t touched it, it was time to go. This included several audio cassette tapes, boxes of extra solo and ensemble medals, and many keys to miscellaneous cabinets and drawers.
I would describe the next set of things to go as supplementary materials, and not the kind of additional music used for private teaching. In the midst of a typical school year, we are inundated with handouts and curricular materials from our school. If you attend even just one conference, that stack grows exponentially. Add graduate courses and summer workshops to that mix, and you can fill a file drawer easily. The best method I have discovered is to flush out my file drawers as much as possible every year. Few of us have much energy left at the end of a school year, but it is immensely satisfying and yes, therapeutic, to remove old, unnecessary files.
Moving out of a building also forced me to scrutinize the instrument inventory. The music building that was demolished had been built in 1950. I believe that some of the instruments in my inventory were purchased when that building first opened. Part of the inventory included four A clarinets, eight alto clarinets, and one C melody saxophone; Percy Grainger would have been proud. There were also multiple instruments that had been retired as they no longer would stay fixed after multiple repairs. Getting rid of instruments can be tricky with government restrictions on public equipment, but we sold them at auction to a used instrument dealer.
As we prepare to move into our brand new facility this fall, I have the unique opportunity to reorganize my life as a band director yet again. There are some boxes that I packed two years ago when we moved out of our original music wing. I will be curious to see what items I put into storage for a full year and whether they warrant unpacking. Just as we attend conferences and workshops to stay current with teaching methods and develop new perspectives, I now fervently believe that turning your office upside down once in a while can have similar effects. A thorough cleaning of your office and classrooms can add magnificent clarity to the organization and administration of your program.
– Matthew Temple
Contributing Editor
