I spent today going through all my stuff.  In the picture below is my activity cart.  There were six playground balls on top, but I really only need 30 playground balls.  I deflated the extra six and I will be taking them home to store.  I will be getting two plastic boxes to put the medium and large parachutes and stretchy bands.  I will also put the scarves in one of the boxes. 
I discovered that I need to purchase a couple of new hula hoops a few of them have kinks.  I will be ordering them from a P.E catalog because they have the ones that won't kink.

This table wasn't too bad yesterday.  Today I just took everything off and wiped it down.  I did move the notebook paper since I don't need it everyday.  I also decided to put the cubby that I store the classroom popscile sticks on top of the smaller shelf.  Now it's easier to see the class names and to see inside the cubbies.  No more bending over or squatting down to get to the bottom ones.  I have a digital atomic clock on the top.  I know that I should have an analog clock, but this year I will need the digital because our specials are running on strange times (e.g 9:24-10:13,11:02-11:51).  I won't have to waste time looking behind me at my analog clock to figure out how much time we have left.  I also like this atomic clock because it has what day it is, the date, and the temperature of the room.
The shelf under the cubby has my hacky sacks that we use for beat passing activities, in the the purple box is our rhythm folders (each student gets one), and the box in the bottom shelf has my cups for the cup passing game.

I cleaned off and dusted my tech cart.  I have the visualizer set up and it's ready to plug into my computer. The box with the sunflowers on it is our "Magic Music Box".  I put things in it that we will be using for the lesson.  Right now it has my man barbie doll, a stuff animal of a goose, and a foam letter O.  I will be using them to teach the students my name, Ms. Mangusso.  My computer will go on the purple towel.
Above my tech cart I hung up a paper organizer.  This is where I store the printed music, listening maps, and beat charts that we need for the day's lesson.   I have the fan on top because my Promethean Projector likes to overheat because my room is often very warm so it can't get any cool air without the fan on.  We are on construction calendar this year.  We will be putting in longer days so we can get out early (April 30.)  They will be redoing our roof because it leaks and they will put in a new air system.  I am hoping it will help keep my room cooler than it is now.  The tweety cup has some dry erase markers it will be moving to a new location.
  I also hung up my power strip today.  When you have a lot of tech things you need a lot of outlets.  I also hung up my 13 slot USB adapter.  I will be plugging in the Promethean board, my printer, the Activotes, the ActivExpression, and my presentation mouse.  

Here is cabinet under my Computer monitor/TV.  The picture on the left is how it looked yesterday.  The picture on the right is how it looks today.  The empty spot is where I put my teacher manuals and resource books I need for the lesson,  Then there is a paper tray.  In the bottom is the extra paper for the printer.  I will be putting my laminated music staff and blank beat charts in the empty paper trays.  Next to the paper tray is my box of dry erase markers that the students use.  Then I have all my makers, visa-via pens, scissors, tape, and a stapler.  On the bottom shelf in the black basket is where I keep my small play dough containers that we use to make play dough notes.  Next to the play dough basket is the John Feierabend's pitch exploration box. The pitch exploration cards are on the other side of the black basket.  I bought them from West Music.  In the colored boxes are my manipulatives.  One box has my beat chips that I made. Each student gets a bag with 16 beat chips.  I glued hearts to plastic counting tokens.  Another box has my note value cards that I made.  The whole note is the longest and the cards get smaller and smaller for each note.  Each student gets one set.  The last box has plastic sleeves that you can slip a piece a paper into and the students use the dry erase markers to write on them.  I bought them from an educational site, but I forgot which one it is.  They are a heavy plastic and work really well with the dry erase markers.  The black tire box is full of cars.  We draw different kinds of lines (e.g straight, zig-zag, curly, etc.) and then we drive our car on the line while making car sounds.  It's a fun pitch exploration activity.  Next to the cars are the rhythm flash cards from Conversational Solfege by John Feierabend.

The last thing I worked on today was the book case that had the tweety sheet and the gray shelves next to the bookcase.  I forgot to take a before picture of the bookcase, but here is what it looks like after I went through everything and I dusted everything.

I still have some work, but I am waiting on my baskets that I ordered from Really Good Stuff.  Most of these things will go in the baskets.  You can see I have a large Mr. Potatoe Head.  He has a family inside of him.  I use him with the students to work on singing voice.  I will sing and ask "Who has the eyes?" and the student who has them will sing back "I have the eyes" we sing it on So Mi and La.  The shark I bought because it looked cute.  I am planning on using it for rhythms.   Students can read a card with a rhythm on it and then feed it to the shark.  There is also a red cootie.  When students complain about "cooties" I tell them I am the only one with the "cooties" and I have several of them, but you have to find them.  I have 3 that I move around the room.   They love to try to find where they move to. 

Below is the picture of the gray shelves.  I almost forgot to take a before picture.  I already cleaned out the middle shelf before I took the picture.  It was a real mess things were just stuffed on this shelf.   This is all the curriculum materials for the Making Music by Silver Burdette.  I have all the CD's uploaded to my computer so I don't really use them, but I keep them for a backup.  Then there are all the resource books that come with the series (e.g piano accompaniment books, the multicultural book, and there is an Activity book for subs.)
The bottom shelf has all my tools and things I need.  I store my screwdrivers, wrenches , drills, Velcro, electric tape, duct tape, Recorder Karate belts, Recorder cleaning chemical, and there are two drawers with my VHS tapes.  As you can see the top shelf has my games, but it's still messy.  In the next picture you will see what it looks like after I cleaned it.

Below is how the shelf looks after I cleaned it.  A lot of the games that were on this shelf went in my centers cabinet.  The only thing left is the Ker Plunk game and some foam dice.  They might stay there or I might move them.  I think I will put some plastic boxes up there to store things in. 
I went through all the drawers where I keep my supplies and tools.  I took everything out and wiped out each drawer and then put the stuff back.  I did throw out some things that I forgot what they were for or I couldn't figure out what to use it with.
  Tomorrow I will be going through the blue file cabinets.  Inside are things I use for various activities.  There is no paper in these file cabinets.  It's just a bunch of stuff and things that I need to go through and decide what stays and what goes.  I also need to organize them because things have been just thrown in them. 

Today I made two trips to the dumpster with old beat up stuff that I no longer want.  I also made a trip to the car with stuff to take to Good Will.  Tomorrow I will continue to go through things.  I will make a pile of things that are trash and things that can go to Good Will.  We have a Good Will very close by that you just drive up to it and they take everything out of your car.  You don't even have to get out of the car. 
  I ended up donating my stereo system.  It was hard to get rid of it because I kept thinking I will need it, but I haven't used it in two years.  I use my computer and Promethean Board to play all my music.  I also use my iPod to play music so there really wasn't a reason to keep it.  I thought maybe I should keep it for when I have a sub, but I decided it wasn't worth trying to store just for that.  I will just have the subs use my computer.  I will create a special account on my computer that they will log onto and everything they need will be on the desktop.  I don't plan on having my sub us the computer a lot because when I am out I will just have the subs do centers with the students or a planned activity that doesn't require recorded music. 

I will continue tomorrow with my journey to clean and organize my room.
Tami

Today I went back to school to start setting up my room.  I'm trying to figure out how I want my room set-up.  I spent most of today arranging and then rearranging.  I am still not sure if I am happy with the way I have it.  I will be going in again tomorrow and we'll see how I feel about it tomorrow.  Here is what my room look like when I first got in:

I tried to arrange my room as much as possible today.  Below is what I have come up with so far, but I am not sure I will keep it this way or not.

Here is my movement/manipulative corner.   I have a utility cart that I bought from Sam's club a few years ago that I use to put my boomwhackers in.  The cart with the sheet on it has playground balls on them that we use to keep a steady beat and to show note values.  I also have my scarves, parachutes, and stretchy bands hanging on the cart.  The hula hoops are used mostly for marking where to set-up our music centers, but I also use them for rhythm (each hula hoop represents 1 beat).  On the table on the top of the shelves I have my rhythm sticks and ribbons.  Right now their is also my new large parachute, but it will eventually go on the cart with the sheet.  In the next shelf down are our my new lapboards they are magnetic and dry erase boards. The other compartment has writing paper that is not used very much so I will be moving it to a different place.  The next shelves down has my 9" poly dots, pencils, and dry erase markers.  The bottom shelf has old chalkboard lapboards that I use with play dough notes and any other messy project.  In the purple box are my plastic lumni sticks that I got from U.S Games.  Then I have my box of beanbags and on top of the beanbags are my cones.  Under the table in the pink laundry bag are larger balls that don't fit on the ball cart.  I might bring them home because I don't use them every week.  In the box with the gray lid are my clipboards we use them for writing activities.

    Next to the table is a cubby that I have on it's side.  I use this to keep each classroom's popscile sticks and any other material we are working on.  In the basket are my beat buddies (small stuffed animals).  I got the beat buddies from Oriental Trading Company. 

This is my Promethean Board that I have had for about 5-6years.  I sit on the stool when we're on the floor unless we are doing the cup activity then I will sit on the floor with the students.  I really have a hard time sitting on the floor all day long so the stool helps me out. 
My tech cart goes on the side of the board.  Right now it's not set-up.  I use my own personal computer and it's a tower and will sit on the bottom shelf.  On the top shelf I have my visualizer (doc camera).  My VCR/DVD player is sitting where I place my documents to show on the screen.  I have to find where to put my VCR/DVD player.  I still need it because I still have some VHS tapes that I use in class and for when I have a sub. 

   This year I am a little bummed because we cannot put large amounts of paper & no fabric on the walls.  I usually use the printed paper (stones) up behind my board.  Now I just get to look at the dull wall.  My wall even has two different colors because I use to have a bulletin board up and I took it down.  They painted my wall before I took the board down.  I will have to put a work order in to get  my wall painted again.

This was my TV that I use do use before I got my Promethean board.  It use to be on a cart, but I want to get rid of the cart. This is not the original TV that I used I got this one on sale and it was a good deal at the time.  It's one of the first flat screen TV that has a VGA slot (it's not as flat as they make them now).   Shortly after I bought this TV I got my Promethean board (Go figure).  I decided that even though I am getting rid of the TV cart I didn't want to get rid of the TV.  It's a 32" screen and will make a good computer screen.  I also still need it for when I do want to show a VHS tape and for when I have a sub.
   As you can see I stuffed a lot of my stuff in the cabinet under the TV.  I will be taking everything out of it and decide what stays and what goes.  I also have to clean out the book case where the Tweety sheet is.  I will also have to take the sheet down.  We can't have any material covering shelves or bookcases.  This means I have to keep them clean and organized all the time.  Lots of work to do.

I am not sure this is where I want my desk.  I might be putting it back on the other side of the door.  I kind of like it here because then I can have the piano facing the risers so I can use it in class.  I am not the greatest piano player, but I do want to play it a little more than I have in the past.  This is where the Orff instruments used to be.  If I put the instruments here, then I can't have the piano where it is now. 

  The quiet area is sitting next to my desk.  All the stuff on it will be moved once I get all the furniture in place.  The quiet area is for students who need a little break either to cool down or just to rethink the choices they are making. 
The stuff on the shelves will also be moved.  I will be discarding the computer monitor since I am using my TV as a computer screen.  I use this shelf to put most of my furry friend and puppets.  I also want to get a few plants to bring some life into my room since we have to be careful with how much we put up on our walls.

This is the other side of my desk.  My stool won't be there it usually goes by my tech cart once I get it set up.  The gray cabinet  I got from the media teacher she didn't want it any more.  I plan on using it to store all my centers materials.  The two carts with the drawers has my flashcards and other things that I use for rhythm work, music alphabet, steady beat, and for the orchestra families.  The silver utility cart I just bought.  I will be putting the ActivExpression case on the top and the ActivVotes case on the middle shelf.  The bottom shelf I will use for other things.  I will also use the cart to move things to the stage for performances and things from my car to the building.  

On the wall by the clock I will be putting up my HOWL (Habits of Work and Learing).  HOWL is the expectations of how students need to behave.  We use respect, responsibility, integrity, and compassion.  This is a building wide thing and we have to have it up.  Each quarter we focus on one trait.   I really like it because it is building wide so when I talk about it in my room they know what I am talking about. 

This is where I have my Orff instruments.  I have 12 on stands with wheels, but there are 2 glocks on two tables.  So I have a total of 14 instruments.  I also have 8 bell sets if I want everyone on a barred instrument.
The chest in front of the Orff instruments has a classroom set of drum pads and drumsticks.  We use them for rhythm reading.  This corner isn't totally done I still need to figure out if this is where I want the instruments.  The stuff in the far corner may not stay there.  There are 3 djembes with stands.  The other plastic chest will not be there.  This is what I was keeping my center stuff in, but it's getting full.  I will be putting most of the stuff in the gray cabinet.  There is an amp next to the djembes.

Tomorrow I will continue to organize and arrange my room.  My focus tomorrow will be to start going through the cabinets and shelves to declutter them.   It's been awhile since I have done this I am sure I will find things that I don't need anymore.

 Lots of work ahead of me, but I actually love to clean and organize.  I will keep you posted on my progress.
Tami