10 Easy Ways to Prepare Your Music Classroom for Summer

When you first started teaching, you probably just thought you’d get to wave bye-bye to your students, lock up your room, and peel out of the parking lot.  That’s not just me right?  Well, here’s the deal.  Before you get to go on your merry way, you have to do a little bit of organizing and prep work before the next school year starts.  If you’re overwhelmed in how to do this, in this blog post you’ll learn simple ways to prepare your classroom for summer.  Also, you can listen to the podcast episode all about this too here.

 

1. Storing your large items

Let’s talk about storing your big items first.   The large items include any large instruments, tables, risers, and chairs.  Where you put them depends largely on whether your room will be used for a summer program and how much storage  you have in your classroom. 

If you’re able to keep your instruments in your classroom, move them to the stage (if you have one) or against the walls.  If you have tile floors, your custodian will probably be doing some deep cleaning over the summer, so as much floor space they can get to the better.

Other storage options include an empty classroom, the basement, or another teacher’s classroom.  Or, just take them home with you and store them in the garage or wherever else you have room. 

 

2. Packing up the smaller stuff

The smaller stuff I’m talking about here are your bulletin boards, teaching resources, and smaller instruments. Put the wall stuff in ziplock bags and label them.  The smaller instruments can be put in tupperware containers with lids.  Then, all the teaching resources, you can put in large Rubbermaid bins that you can take home if you’re planning to go through your resources over the summer. 

 

3. Make sure you’re ready for the first day of school

Obviously the first day of school (like discussed in this blog post) is the furthest thing from your mind.  But, when you think about the first week of school while cleaning up during the last week of school, it really helps set you up for success. 

While you’re cleaning up, put what you’ll need for the first week of school on top so it’s easy to get to when you come back.  This can go in the same bin you put your resources in like we talked about in point number 2. 

 

4. Label everything

I’ll never forget coming back to school in the fall and not being able to find the few chairs I had used the previous school year.  I didn’t label them, so of course that meant they were free for the taking.  So, I would highly encourage you to label everything with tape and marker.  I’m talking on the back or bottom of the chairs or tables you want back or any other larger items you’re not able to take home with you. 

 

5. Make a spot at home for your stuff

Make a spot at home to store things if needed.  Create a storage shelf on the garage or in the attic.  Or, just designate a spot in the house for your music teaching stuff.  Your family will get used to it and know this is just part of the job.  

 

 

6. Start prepping before the last day of school

When I say to start prepping before the last day of school, I’m not talking about completely taking down all of your bulletin boards.   If your students sense that you already have one foot out the door, they’ll have two out the door.  What I mean is organize your instruments that will be stored together. 

With your classroom book shelf, alphabatize them or organize them by grade level or genre so they’re ready to go for next year.  Then, take things down you absolutely don’t need up or that the students won’t notice like the procedures that have been posted all year.  This is also the perfect time to start taking down your teaching resources too. 

 

7. Make checklists and take pictures of your classroom

There are two checklists that are good to keep.  One is a checklist of everything you need to get done with preparing your classroom for summer and the other is a little diagram of where everything goes.  Keep a running list of what you took down and where you want it to go so you remember when you get back in the fall.  

Another great thing to do is to take pictures of your classroom.  You may have one of those photogenic brains where you’ll just automatically remember where everything goes, but for the rest of us, take pictures.  That way, all you have to do is look at the photos in the fall and you’ll remember where all your stuff goes.

 

8. Do some deep cleaning

Yes, your custodian will be cleaning your classroom over the summer, but do a little house keeping yourself as well.  Clean your classroom by lysol wiping down all the things.  Your book shelves have probably gotten dusty, clean your white board thoroughly, and run those recorders through the dishwasher.  Your fall teacher self will thank you tremendously once school starts again. 

 

9. Store technology safely

There are simple ways to store technology safely.  Obviously, unplug everything from the wall.  Then, the same as the large items talked about earlier, find a safe place to store your stuff.  Make sure you put them somewhere where nothing will be placed on top of the computers or keyboards. 

Also, if you have classroom iPads, make sure they’re put into their cases and put away.  Another trick is to put trash bags over any computer screens if you don’t have laptops.  This really helps with keeping the dust away over those hot summer days. 

 

10. Treat others the way you want to be treated

Now, if you finish organizing and preparing your classroom for summer, offer to help another teacher.  Remember to treat others the way you want to be treated.  Look for ways to reach out to that teacher maybe you’ve had a hard time connecting with this year.  By offering to help them clean up their room, you might notice a little bit of respect and niceness coming your way from them next year. 

 

How do you prepare your music classroom for the summer?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments or tag me on Instagram and let me know!

Also, I’d love for you to share this post or any of the resources on my website with a friend or colleague who you know NEEDS to see it.

P.S.  Are you feeling frustrated or stuck as an elementary music teacher?  Check out these free resources to help you teach elementary music with confidence!