Although it's near the end of the school year for most of us, many schools have their teachers already plan for what's coming up for next year. And, sad to say, in many situations, teachers have only a one-time ordering, and have to make it last. How to decide? What to choose?
I guess the first common-place thing to do is to see just exactly how much you have to spend! This seems pretty obvious, but it's not totally unheard-of for budget situations to change, and teachers are not notified until they ask for something, then hear "Sorry, we don't have the money." You need to know exactly where you're at in the scheme of things. Plus, do you have a specific music budget, or is it like it is in my district, where there is a site-based budget, and ALL the teachers have to share from several different categories? Is the budget divided into sections such as equipment, supplies, technology, and travel? Do your office supplies and any art supplies come from a generic building fund, or do you have to budget for that? Does the money have to be spent this year, or can it carry over into next year? Investigate every little detail you can before you start shopping.
Once that's done, find out how you can utilize what already exists! For instance, can you re-use some older octavos or band music that this current crop of kids have never seen? If you're in elementary music, are there any songs in your current series that would work just super for your programs. Is your district colleague-friendly enough that you and other teachers in your same general area can swap music?
After that's established, now's the time you can prioritize. You might break things down into: 1) I can't live without it during the next year 2) This can hold off another year 3) This is a long-term goal 4) This is something I can convince my parents' group to do a mini-fundraiser on. 5)This is something I can write a grant on (see my first article on grantwriting)6) This is something I can purchase myself and want to keep in case I move on somewhere else. Decide what your emphasis will be. Are the drum heads so lousy on your hand drums that you can snap back the broken skin for noise? When you shake your maracas, do the beans fall out? Sounds like you'd better put the emphasis on instruments and re-use older music for your programs.
