On the move

Teaching Pre K-8, May 2001 by Mann, Thomasina

Packing provides an opportunity for "spring cleaning."

I just bought a tiny little house and moved, but didn't take any days off from school. Three teachers helped me pack late at night and then move on a Saturday. I ought to be finished unpacking by August.

Having one's closest friends pack up one's possessions led to some rather cheerless comments such as: "You will never have to buy another envelope of any size!" or "Do you really need all these books?" The final blow came when each of the three teachers told me they were going home to start cleaning out drawers and eliminating unnecessary "stuff!"

A daunting task

So here we are at the end of another school year. I just got my room assignment for next year and found out that I get to pack for the third year in a row. The boxes have to be ready two days after school ends because my old room has termites and needs immediate attention. Sound familiar?

I know of only a few teachers who are disciplined enough to not just throw everything into boxes in June and plan on September to be the month that one will finally organize materials, throw out odds and ends and keep only what is usable.

To help with the often daunting task of packing, I made a list with a few of my compatriots and we're going to check each other out twice before we seal any boxes to be sent to our new rooms.

The Plan

* Recycle any paper.

* Save only two copies of any assignment.

* Don't save copies of assignments that are two years old or older.

* Back up all your work on disks and take them home.

* Don't put anything into a box that you have not examined and determined that you really need it.

* Don't save any faded decorations.

* Don't save parts or pieces of decorations, games, pencils or crayons.

* Don't save books with missing pages.

* Throw away ads for products that you don't intend to buy. * Keep only current (2001-2002) catalogs.

* File every kind, funny message from students and parents.

* Retain only the best of each student's work to use as examples for next year.

Summer is short. If we do our cleaning and organizing now, September can be spent looking for and evaluating new ideas, new materials, and planning. Moving really can be an opportunity to help you focus on what is essential.

*Thomasina Mann is a pseudonym for a Teaching K-8 reader.