Does anyone give a 'grade' for bringing supplies?

My kids get a little coupon worth x amount of extra credit points if they bring me kleenex and hand sanitizer. It's for a maximum of 15 points. The coupon can be used on a test, quiz, or homework but cannot be used on papers, projects, in class work, semester exams, etc... It's the only way I can get kleenex and hand sanitizer. I allow them to bring it until September 1. I've had a couple kids do not so well on a quiz and there they were the next day with kleenex and hand sanitizer :lol:

 

The problem I have with DG crayons is that the colors are not true colors. . .i.e. the red colors like a red/orange. Blue looks more like purple. Fine for older kids, but when my kinders come in not knowing their colors, they need crayons that are true colors, which is why we don't ask for the 24 or larger packs of crayons.

The other kinder teacher prefers the triangle shaped crayons because: a) they don't roll, b) they help with pencil grip.

BTW, this parent verbally attacked both me & the other teacher when she found out that her child was being moved. She'd been snippy with me before all of this, (you should know who I am. Hello, it is day 2, I'm still learning the students, parents come later.)

 

Bonus points are extra credit points. Helps to bring up that grade.

 

I see any kind of points, for a "real" grade or extra credit, as buying a grade. So, if I can barely put food on the table, you're punishing my child by not giving him the same boost the child of a more well off parent has. Gee thanks.

Again, I get why teachers resort to such methods, but it's not right. Grade or extra credit, you're still discriminating against your poor students.

 

That would never fly here, but it was a very common practice when I was growing up. I remember always having "test grades" the first week of school based on our supplies. Even when I started teaching in 92, many teachers still did that.

 

Preferences are great.

But if you're not financing it, you don't get to dictate what's brought in.

Now if she wanted to supply her whole class with triangular crayons, I would be fine with whatever she preferred.

As to the extra credit: When you're determining a grade, it doesn't matter whether the points were "bonus" points, points added to the highest test or the lowest test or the test on the day of the first snowfall. Points are points; the more of them you have, the higher your average. And I think it's incredibly wrong to give academic points for a monetary donation.

 

Alice, how do you get things like kleenex and hand sanitizer? We have a teacher at school who simply asked kids to bring it in and got like 2 boxes. I offered 5 extra credit points and I have at least 40 boxes. The school does not provide us with kleenex and I cannot go out and buy it on my own. When I run out from what the kids brought in then that's it, they get toilet paper from the bathroom.

Also, with how many points different things are worth in my class, 5 or even 15 bonus points will not increase their grade more than about .2%. I weight my grades and they cannot use it in my heavily weighted categories (papers and projects).

 

I don't use hand sanitizer. And I supply kleenex, or the nurse does. But remember, I'm dealing with kids in a Catholic High School.

Some of the lists that come home are out of control. The teachers specify the brand and the size, and what they specify isn't always what's available or what's on sale.



I'm fine with a request. But if it doesn't come in, you don't have it. The kids simply do without.

Do the parents honestly do it for the extra credit?? (If so, how sad.)

 

I'm at a Catholic high school as well but we have to supply our own stuff. We are in a big admin change this year so that could change.

I don't think the parents are so much doing it for the extra credit as the kids go home and say hey Ms. DG is offering extra credit if I bring in kleenex, can I take one of our boxes? Our parents are very supportive and while we have some helicopter parents, most are okay!

 

So if the kid went home and said "Ms. DG asked us to bring in kleenex" woudln't that accomplish the same thing?

 

I think she means the kids are far more likely to actually go home and say something if they know they're getting extra credit...whereas otherwise they'd just forget and/or not care. I can remember some of my middle school teachers telling us we'd get 5 points or something for bringing in tissues, and I'd immeaditly run home and tell my mom I needed some. Otherwise, let's be honest- not high on my list of priorities as a 12 year old.

I think I'm going to send out a list asking for "donations" this year. I don't think I'll get much (if I get anything), but I figure it can't hurt to at least ask. As a resource teacher, I often get forgotten for supplies even if the kids do bring in things for their classrooms. Last year I got a little boy that transferred to my caseload mid-year. About a week later, he told me his mom had told him to ask me if there was anything I needed for my classroom that she could help bring in. I thought it was really sweet/thoughtful...but also very rare. No one else asked or brought anything for me last year.

 

That's exactly what I mean! I have a range from 8th graders to seniors. Surprisingly my 8th graders and seniors have brought in the most. My sophomores and juniors haven't brought in as much.

I did have a parent talk to me about being willing to donate books. She loves The Outsiders and I told them I'm working on getting a class set so she asked if she could donate some. I thought that was really sweet. However, we also have a few "I pay tuition for my kid to go here so I'm not paying a penny more" types. Quite a range from the parents to the students at our school! We also have a lot of kids on full scholarships who come from lower income families who can't afford a lot of extras.

ETA: I can also honestly say that my seniors definitely wouldn't do it without the extra credit. They're still getting into the swing of things with school/experiencing some early senioritis. Once they get through their first major assignments they're usually much more on the ball. The 8th graders still might.

 

I think maybe we're underestimating their intelligence.

If we can ask them to remember to bring in Crayola thick washable markers and triangular crayons, I think we can assume they'll be able to remember the kleenex.

And, if not, then we're doing something very wrong. I constantly read educators claim that "It's NOT all about the test." How is this different?? If we tie every action in to a grade, then we're saying it is very much about the grade you receive.

 

Ditto.

 

DG, Rose Art, and other similar brands of crayons should be banned. Banned, I tell you!

 

We aren't allowed to use hand sanitizer (health and safety regulation). We are able to use some of our supply money for Kleenex, but I usually bring my own. I stock up when it's on special, so don't spend a whole lot.

 

I'm definitely pinching my pennies and I don't want to spend it on anything I don't have to so if I can get kids to bring in kleenex I'm all for it. I'd rather use any money I have to buy books!

MrsC-Can YOU use hand sanitizer? Or can you not have it in your room at all? I'm a slight germaphobe (sp?) and constantly use it throughout the day when I can't get to the staff room to wash my hands!

As for underestimating their intelligence, I still have kids who keep forgetting to bring in their binder dividers, journals, etc... They come to class without pens, papers, etc... If they can't remember something they use every day, how in the world are they going to remember kleenex?

ETA: Totally agree that crayola should be the only allowed brand and I don't even teach the young kids! :lol:

 

I agree!

That's why I spend part of my budget money on crayons, markers, watercolors, and the like... or I stock up during the sales and try to remember to submit the receipts. I want a particular size, and I want WASHABLE. And I want to know that when we get a red crayon, it's actually going to color like a red crayon is supposed to.

I have mostly at-risk kids. We rotate bringing snack for the class... My supply list is kleenex, paper towels, wipes, and cups for snack. And if they don't bring it in, oh well. I've been known to put a note in my newsletter asking for whatever it is we're low on...some parents send extra, some don't. I get over it.

 

I would be allowed to have a small bottle of sanitizer in my desk drawer for personal use, but I prefer soap and water. All of the classrooms have sinks, so this is easy. I almost never use hand sanitizer--basically just when I'm away from anywhere where there's water.

 

I agree with Alice. However, I am one of those teachers who requires a binder. I don't specify a brand, but I put on the syllabus that students should obtain a binder that will last the entire year and should hold at least 200-300 pages. I then recommend the Staple's Better Binders. Yet, they are expensive ($6-8 depending on the model), but they are simply the best binders out there.

 

A few thoughts:

I did not realize that a free public education has to include kleenex. If it's that necessary, go into the bathroom, take a roll of tp, and put it on the counter. If kids need more than that, they can bring their own.

I am absolutely going to the store this weekend and buying several boxes of crayons. I just have a hard time believing that one brand's red is so off that kids are not going to learn their colors. And triangle shaped crayons? Come on.

I think it is really easy to assume people can just supply money whenever needed. Kleenex is cheap, yes. But I have been in situations where I have had to pay for a gallon of milk with pennies I had in a jar. Boxes of kleenex that my child may or may not even get to use (once others use it) are going to be far down the list. And for a child to not have the opportunity for "bonus points" because of that situation is tragic.

 

My students are all from families with financial challenges. I require 2-3 dollar store items and something to write with - and that's it. I just couldn't justify 100 points for $3!

 

I think my problem here is twofold:

a. Some of the lists are out of control. I'm not talking about Brendan's binder or anyone else's request for a notebook and a folder-- those things strike me as expected. But come on-- trianglular crayons? $100 calculators for kids in middle school? How do we expect familes, especially in a time with record unemployment, to find the money for this stuff??

b. Giving an academic grade for a purchase. A grade is an indication that you've shown mastery of a concept or a unit. It is not, or should not be, an indication of your famiy's financial status. I don't care whether it's 2 points or 200 points, the idea is the same.