Maine Motif Issue 3, Vol. II (Spring 2018) | Page 13

Decluttering in Limited Space:
A SOLUTION BESIDES “GET RID OF ALL THE
DRUMMERS”…
By Jonathan Simonoff
In my current position I teach PreK-12 th grade, band, chorus, guitar and general music.
My classroom sees between 50 and 100 students each day for at least five different
classes. Due to the 7-block schedule we use in Ashland I often have 0 minutes between
my classes. Because of this I was finding that sometimes I had trouble transitioning
between classes and being prepared for the next group. I found that the physical layout
of my room was partly blame. I wasn’t always able to have the materials needed for a
class out and ready to go. I imagine that having students have to wait for me to get
situated or to come into a room that is not ready for them doesn’t set them up for a great
day in music.
To remedy this problem, I
asked administration if I
could get some help from
community members. I
don’t have the floor space or
instrument storage space to
change much in the room
but I do have some free wall
space. To help my guitar
class and lessons transitions
I had boards placed with
guitar wall hooks installed.
The total cost of this project
is about 20 dollars. For my
percussion section I had an
old pegboard in which I put
pegboard hooks. The cost of
this project was about 45