The True Cost of Classroom Supplies
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- čas přidán 16. 06. 2024
- Navigating classroom needs and teacher budgets!
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In this episode of Teachers Off Duty we will explore the personal spending teachers endure for their classrooms. Hosts KC Mack, Bri Richardson, and Mike Rivera, will share firsthand experiences and the impacts of these expenses.
We begin by recognizing the dedication of teachers who invest their own money into classroom supplies, discussing the effects on both their students and their personal finances.
Next we tackle the mystery of disappearing pencils, sharing our own stories of frustration and humor related to classroom supplies vanishing.
Mike Rivera shares his disdain for glue sticks, and we discuss our mixed feelings towards electric pencil sharpeners.
Finally, KC reveals his favorite classroom equipment, the sticky notes, showcasing the simple hacks and joys found in teaching amidst the financial struggles.
So join us on "Crying In My Car" as we navigate the financial realities of teaching with honesty and insight. Don’t forget to Like, Comment, and Subscribe!
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This episode is brought to you by:
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I’m from the UK and it’s absolutely mental listening to this because the schools hear, the government gives the school evrything you need, pens, paper, jotters, folders, textbooks, glue, scissors absolutely evrything!
Yet people here in America are still delusional enough to call us the best country in the world 🤦🏼♀️
This is such a well known problem that our county started a nonprofit called Teacher Teammates. It is staffed by many retired teachers who work on getting donations from corporations, and all types of businesses to help get teachers the supplies they need. I’ve even donated supplies that I’m not using anymore. It’s a small fee $35 for the year but you can order 25 items per quarter. I received hall passes, paper clips, pencils, composition books, candy, posters, pocket charts, and more. We are in Delaware County PA.
They are amazing!
This is so cool! I wish they'd create something like this in my area. Currently student teaching and thinking about all of the extra money I'll be spending during my first few years is a little stressful.
With the erasable pens be aware they can also erase with heat, so don't leave graded work in a hot car, it will become ungraded work
And I do mean this respectfully, but after 9 years and having to live off credit cards i will not be spending my own money. If they don't have it, they won't have it🤷🏾♀️
Former high school science teacher, I spent between $5-10K a year on my students because I did fun, educational labs with them but my district only gave me a budget of $100 to do all of the required labs.
A few years ago, several teachers in my school and a dozen or so more throughout the district did Donors Choose projects to get some flexible seating options for their students. The superintendent and other district personnel told teachers they couldn’t do Donors Choose anymore because it makes the district look bad because it made it seem like they weren’t providing what teachers needed. That was so unbelievable because they literally weren’t providing anything we asked for so we had to look into other options rather than spending hundreds and hundreds of dollars on flexible seating.
I love the kneedable eraser for art class. It's so soothing and fun to squish
When I was a kid my mom would always get my homeroom teacher - as part of back to school shopping - like a 6-20 (memory is fuzzy on the number) big boxes of Kleenex, 10-15 EXPO markers, a $25 Starbucks gift card, like 5 spare notebooks, and a few boxes of pencils. At Christmas break, she would at minimum bring another $25-$50 Starbucks gift card, and sometimes a restock on what she brought at the beginning of the year, and my parents would volunteer to cover field trip costs for a kid or two who couldn't afford it. Even now as a senior in college, I still get a pack of Expo markers for my teachers at the beginning of every semester.
As a kid I was so confused, wondering why the school didn't pay for/supply the (non-coffee) stuff for the class, especially the Kleenex and Expo markers, but now I get it, and it makes me think better of my mom.
We weren't like filthy rich or anything, just a regular middle class family, but it was still important to do because it was unfair for the teachers to have to shoulder that burden alone when it shouldn't be theirs to bear in the first place.
Mad props to you, teachers. I love the idea of teaching, maybe in an alternate timeline I would've gone into it, but the utter disrespect and complete lack of support from districts, parents, and Admin, in combination with oversized classes, no funding, and bad pay honestly scared me off. I'm going into accounting and analytics now.
You teachers are heroes, but you shouldn't NEED to be. You shouldn't be placed in a position where you're heroic because you carry a huge, disproportionate burden with no support and in terrible conditions. You should be heroic because kids can be chaos goblins and you manage to wrangle and teach them, somehow. Love and support to you all.
This is nothing new. One of my sisters taught 5th grade and 45 years ago I remember we found some crazy back to school sales with limits of 3 or 5 per purchase. The whole family would turn out, each person getting the limit 'til she had enough for her class. Pencils, spiral notebooks, folders, crayons.
My aunt is a retired teacher ( taught high school for 25 years) she used to buy her students at the beginningof the year.. paper, pen and pencils and a folders... she also bought snacks and drinks for her students.
Shout out to chobani and especially cliff bar who both have plants in our town and constantly send snacks to our schools. I mean we see still buying plenty of our own but it's nice when you see a pallet arrive to the schools without having to beg for it
Nutrigrain does the same for us. They let us have 48 free boxes a year.
Everyone has a $45 Stanley cup, but almost no one has a glue stick or a 12 pack of colored pencils.
That’s a personal purchase. I don’t have one, but if I did, it’s going to last longer than any school supplies I purchase my students.
Every teacher I know that has a Stanley cup was given the cup as a gift. Not one of them has bought it.
I am a new middle school teacher for the 24-25 school year. I am dreading setting up my classroom. My husband was laid off 6 months ago while I was working on my Master's and we have been surviving on unemployment. As a student teacher I probably spent about about $1000 because the district does not provive anything for interns working for free at their schools.
Thank you for bringing this issue up, I spend so much money on school supplies that it is just embarrassing to say how much I spend. My students know that if they do not have something, that they can always ask, so they do not have any reason to not do their work. I, at times now go to Goodwill, and buy supplies from there. When a business fails, they donate to Goodwill and that has kept some money in my wallet. Now I do have a fully decorated classroom so that the students feel comfortable, this has been done over the many years of teaching. My classroom is used as an example of what a classroom should look like by administrators. They will bring in a parent that is trying to decide if they should enroll their child in our school. Am I proud of my classroom yes, but administrator you know that this is my money being displayed in my classroom. I do consider my classroom my second home, it must have everything. 😄😄
Here is my issue with that. I think it is great that you create a beautiful and inviting space for students BUT the admin and parent part isn't cool. If the district is not funding the interior design work by paying you to decorate or paying for all the decor, than it is wrong for them to compare others to what you choose to do as if everyone is expected to reinvest their tiny paychecks the way you do. Parents should not be seeing what your hard earned money buys and expect that to be given to their children. That is not right and that type of behavior from administrators and districts pents teachers against each other. That is wrong. If you like spending your time and money the way you do, great, but that should stay between you and your kids and never be a standard set for anyone else.
@@joykinser3444 I agree with you. The only thing when it comes to my classroom is making sure that my students want to be in my class, that they feel comfortable and that on a daily basis they enjoy their environment. Administrators are going to do what ever they want, I can't stop them.
I used to buy pencils, but I would find myself getting upset that students wouldn’t return them at the end of the class. So, I stopped. Then I realized how many pencils get left behind( on the desks, floor, etc) each class period. So I started collecting the ones left behind. But the best thing is when the custodians collect them for you as they sweep the classrooms on your hallway. 😂
Sticky notes favorite and liquid glue I hate. Students are always making skin out of the glue and peeling it off.
Can you do an episode on the pros and cons of technology? Laptops help teachers save on paper/pencils, but also empowers students to that huge cheat sheet known as the internet!
They need time away from tech.
In school, when I have a tablet it has been a big plus, but laptops were more of a temptation. It was great for me, as a kid with ADHD, to be able to write things down, but in a piece of technology that I wouldn't lose somewhere like I would a notebook. I could also take screenshots/photos of diagrams and illustrations, could put clickable links to articles or videos on the topic in my notes, and could make and use digital flashcards. Plus, a lot of the textbook manufacturers still haven't gotten the hand of converting the pages from PDF so you have to zoom in and drag your box around the page on phones or laptops. With a big tablet, you can read it at nearly original size.
Of course this is with good tablets. Cheap tablets are straight-up a hindrance.
Tip: In 2023, there's a place to mention purchasing of school supplies as a deduction option!
I wish y'all would add a show in VA!
Sooo love you guys!!!! You are the best!!!!!!!
when I was in public high school if I didn’t have a pen I just had to borrow from a class mate. I don’t remember teachers ever handing out pens and paper.
Compulsive pencil sharpeners could be given an “H” pencil which has a harder lead than an “HB” and keeps its point longer. Also leads that break off is due to the pencil being dropped and causing the lead to break up within the shaft.
TODP just shed much needed light on an issue policymakers should remedy and potential teachers should consider how they'll cover, so bless em!
If the district isn’t paying for it then the kids won’t have it.
I may be old school, but I'm always astounded by students who want to be rewarded with a physical prize for doing anything and everything. Your teacher asks you to pick up a piece of trash from the floor (that you probably threw there), and you expect a prize? If I help keep my classroom clean, what are you going to give me? And you don't say thank you? My usual answer is, "My undying gratitude". This is not about needs (or basic needs). It's about wants.
The students ask me if I'm on food stamps because I buy so many snacks.
As someone who works in the financial office of a school I am curious what other schools teachers pay out of pocket for their classroom and are not reimbursed.
I wish you'd come to MN I'd spend money I don't have to get there!😂
Not a teacher, but my children learn from home. I just found pre-sharpened pencils. Its worth the extra money! Also the 3M dry erase surface. Easier to use and comes in a pack of three. Much easier to navigate than having to buy multiple dry erase boards. Especially from the dollar store. So not durable.
My daughter is in her 25th year as a special Ed para and doesn’t make much to begin with but she spends a ton on stuff for the classroom!
Are school supplies an appropriate teacher appreciation gift?
At my school we don't have food😢 plus if the teacher buys something they make a POINT about it. 🙄
Love you guys ❤❤❤
My kids get a packet of supplies at the start of the year. We could only keep the boxes of tissue from our 7th PD class's packets. Kids got over 40 pencils and got 24 pens. In addition to paper, comp books and highlighters. So I spend only on the consumible lab supplies. If they don't have a pencil they need to borrow one. I don't buy them.
What episode is this
My fave school supplies are PENCILS!!!! There the best and the worst are those scissors that have glue all over the blade AAAAHHHHH 😠
Are you guys retired or are you still teaching..how do you have the time to do this lol that Morgan freeman impression is amazing! lol snack rewards..more like bribes..lol
I am amazed how many working teachers have time for "side hustles." The occupation is very time consuming. Can eat up your weekend 😂😢
I work all day on Sunday to plan .. it is time consuming.
Anybody else have this experience with the $125 for classroom supplies KC mentions? I would go through the catalog and order pens that were good quality I knew wouldn't break and would last, only to find out in the fall when we returned that someone in the budget office went through the order and changed it to much cheaper pens that quite literally broke the moment they touched paper? The spring would fly out and the pen separate in two? I thought it was just a fluke one year but after it happened multiple times I figured out what had happened. Amazing.
When I see the bill for the upkeep and maintenance for a $170 million high school stadium in my state, and how much the district and county spends to send their football team all over the country, and then hear about how teachers have to spend their own money to feed their students, I mad. Me angry. But that’s our culture. That’s how we are and that’s how they make us live.
Since Childcare is not considered as a certified educator I can’t deduct any classroom purchases I make. That’s why I get so salty when other adults take my supplies.
I'm favoured, $60k every week! I can now give back to the locals in my community and also support God's work and the church. God bless America..
Same here, with my current portfolio made from my investments with my personal financial advisor I totally agree with you
Wow! Kind of in shock you mentioned expert,elizabeth ann graney. What a coincidence!!
Life is easier when the cash keeps popping
in, thanks to Elizabeth Ann graney services. Glad she's getting the recognition she deserves
She's always active on What's APK
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人人人" copy "it this way, "CZcams is frustrating."
KC TOP
Surely I can’t be the only one who supplies their classroom with “repurposed” Lotto golf pencils?
✏️ 😊
I mean, Lotto is supposed to fund Education, right???
💕
When it comes to printers in the classroom, Epson eco tank is the ONLY way to go! - I spend about $75 a year for ink - and I use my printer for copies ALL the time!
No decorating, not personally-bought supplies. I would just send a little paper package to my kids' homes with a picture of their barren classroom, and a list of what has been supplied by the district/school. And a liat of necessities that has NOT been approved by the district. Also, the year's funding provided to the sports faculty and sports facilities of the school. Then the direct contact info for district and department of Ed officials, and an invitation to use their voices as taxpayers and voters to push for proper funding of ed for their kid's class.
If a kid shows up without supplies, that is the district's problem. Send directly to school office to ask for district supplies because our class is out of district provided supplies.
The problem will never be fixed until many parents see -and get furious about - exactly what is not being provided by the district and department of Ed. Parents have to see if hurting THEIR kid before they force government to fix it; other people's kids being hurt just isn't enough, sadly.
Have you applied for grants?
We are blessed to have $400 a year for supplies. That is for anything and everything. We are finally able to spend up to $300 in the summer when supplies are on sale and be reimbursed. I prefer my kids just use what I provide so there is no crayon envy (that is very much a thing) and no fighting over who items "found in the floor" belong to. The answer is me. The pencils are yellow and presharpened and the excuses not to work are set to zero. The problem is that we don't get our funds until October or our first check of the year until mid September so new teachers who do not have money in the summer and beginning of the year that was drown from the previous years pay (WE DO NOT GET PAID IN THE SUMMER) often have nothing but what is willed to them by the former teacher or gifted by teamates for a really long time. It is so uncomfortable and embarassing for new teachers no matter how generous their neighbors are.
I am in that boat. Starting my first year of teaching in the 24-25 school year
hi hi!
Honestly, every state by this point can and should buy every Child, their first round of school supplies each year. Loved Rivera, I understand why Bri is semi-permanent again but can we get Two new cohost again? Hope they bring Eddie B!
Not just elementary! As a high school teacher I spend lots of money for my snack drawer. And on supplies. 🫤