How much comes out of your own pocket? I just finished my first year in K, and I spent so much on my classroom. I'm looking in catalogues/on the internet for stuff for next year now. I only get $100 from my county which doesn't go very far.
Our school gives us $200 a year for our classroom - of course this money is for things such as construction paper, markers, glue sticks, scissors, etc. for your classroom. The only kind of things that our school actually supplies us with is tape, file folders, rubber bands, etc. I mean I personally have to pay for such things as resource materials/books, bullentin board borders, candy, grading pencils, classroom books for my library, grade books, colored paper for newsletters, etc. This was my first year of teaching and I don't make alot of money at all so to have to pay for so many things out of my own pocket has really been a hardship! Anybody else feel like this?
I probably spend at least a thousand a year and sometimes more. The upside is all of the things I have purchased with my own money can go with me wherever I go teach next. I try not to spend much money on consumable materials but when you need something for a great lesson and you know the school won't or can't purchase the materials, it's hard not to buy the supplies yourself.
Probably a good third of my salary. I'm just being honest. Yet I hope to be more economical this next year because I've realized how much I have.
My county ranges from $350 to $500 for classroom materials. And that includes stuff like rubber bands, pens, staples, etc. The first year I taught, I think I spent around $1000. But this last year I spent around $400. I keep trying to spend less and less and ask for more parent donations. I do however keep every receipt and report my spendings on my taxes. They only account for $200 or so but it is better than nothing.
Too much!!! I just counted the books in my student library that I personally bought over the last 3 years and I am up to 150 right now. I have packed 3 boxes of teacher resources that I bought and I still have 4 more boxes that I have to look through.
I'm with you there. I'm sure that I've spent in excess of $5000 over the last 4 or 5 years. I had my daughter inventory my classroom library last June (and I've bought books since then!!! ) and the total was over 600 books - this isn't counting my teacher resource books! I also spent money on craft supplies, post it notes, markers, pencils, erasers, cardstock, lined paper, tacks, ..... need I go on? I swear it's a disease!!
Wow...I just went into a teacher supply store the other day...and I wanted everything! I could have easily spent hours in there (if my fiance weren't with me)...and I'm not even a teacher yet!
Do you know of any where that sells cheap children's books? What library books do you suggest for a new teacher to buy if she doesn't know what grade level she will be in yet?
Countrygirl... check the library, used books store, thrift stores, and garage sales for books. Most of thel ibraries around here have 'friends of thel ibrary" sales, where peopel will donate book or they'll place books that for whatever reason they don't want/need in their collection... kids books usually sell for either 10 cents or a quarter. There's a used book store around me that has a pretty good collection of kids books. I haven't gone in a while, but they give me either 10 or 15% off just for being a teacher. Garage sales and thrift stores are great, too... tell them you're a teacher and you'll usually get a better deal. What grade levels are you certified in? I'm PreK-3rd, so I usuallyl ook for picture books on varying levels, both classic stories and ones I just like. I also have a bunch of beginning readers and early chapter boosk that I've picked up, who knows if I'll ever use them. Remember that whatever age you get, you'll have a WIDE varioety of ability levels... keep that in mind as you find books
We don't get any money from the school or parish for our classroom. We can give the school a list of what we need and they will sometimes get some of it (rubber bands, paper clips, pens, etc) You always have some that get more (a co-worker just got a new vcr/dvd player). I am fortunate, we do a fundraiser for our field trip and the money that is left over goes to our classroom. We had close to $500 this year. It went away very quickly! I'm going to be self-contained this year so it's going to be very nice to only have to pay for science materials for 1 class instead of 3!
We get $100 for our classroom (supposedly $150 but they let us save the other $50 for Christmas time, but I didn't know about it). Our school has been really good about supplying paper clips, tacks, tape and all that kind of stuff. They're slacking off next year on it (big paper shortage this year so I assume they're saving money to be able to buy more paper next year). I usually get classroom markers, scissors, crayons, and colored pencils on my own. I wait until target and walmart and staples do they're BIG sales and get them for 10 cents or a quarter! I also go to the teacher store and spend at least $50 over the summer. I'd say last year I spent my 100 from the school and another 200 or so of my own money (and still feel like I should have gotten so much more!). Edit to add: ICK! I just thought of how much I've spent on Scholastic for classroom books this year as well!!! If the kids don't order, I spend $20 to get the $10 of free books.....I'd say there goes another $100-$150 there this year!
The amount I spend has decreased these past few years since I've stayed in the same grade level, but I still spend about $500 each year (at a guess) on art supplies, incentive prizes, resouce books, books for the class library, etc. We get $100 for supplies and stuff at the beginning of the year, but that generally goes toward consumables such as desk plates, stickers, pencils, and such. I try to use whatever the school gives me first, but sometimes I just can't keep from buying that cute notepad or whatever.
I think the library is a good suggestion. At my local library there is a store and they usually have donated children's books priced under $1.00...most of them are 25 cents!
I guess we are pretty lucky. I get $200 from my school, $50 from the PTA and $100 from the state (a Visa card that has to be used a certain week before school starts). I still spent about $400-$500 of my own money last year, on everything from books to prizes for my treasure chest.
I probably spend about $2,000 a year. I'm in an inner city school, so I end up provided basically all school supplies- spiral notebooks, writer's notebooks, folders, crayons etc. I've basically built up my classroom library myself over the years. And of course, any special projects/activities are funded by...me!
Good grief! I didn't know how lucky we were. We have parent-teacher organization that pays for DVD players, etc... School district supplies copy paper,construction paper, laminator, copier, scissors (me), staplers, pens, pencils, markers, white boards with markers.........and more!!!! I will quit complaining and be more thankful!
OH. MY. GOD. I knew I'd have to invest, but I never imagined the figures run so high! Where does all that green go? I know the materials in teacher stores are expensive and very tempting, but I think most one can do very well without. There's building up a class library, but that lasts a long time, I hope, so it's not an ongoing expense. And you can ask parents to contribute, run a fundraiser, etc, and then keep the goods for future use. The school where I work as an aide provides a lot, which is great, but I don't think I'd want to teach there anyway -- the pay is not great (it's private), the classes are big, and the admin is sticky. What are the biggest expenses as a teacher? Not counting consumables that schools usually provide (rubber bands, paper clips, etc)
For me, the consumables not provided by the school: desk plates, book marks, notepads, stickers, birthday pencils, incentive prizes (even little ones), award certifictes, chart posters, etc.
[COLOR="Blue"]So being an inner city school Grade2rocks, means you get less stuff?? That is such a shame. I teach in a title 1 school (low socio-economic) but we still get about $200 a year from school, money from our PTA, and a lot of stuff is already supplied. My hat is off to you!![/COLOR]
We get $500 a year to spend on whatever we need for the classroom. Our PTA also provides things for us if they can. I spend around $1,000 or more each year. In my 3 years of teaching I have bought every book in my library. I have over 3,000 books. I get most at garage sales, flea markets, and Scholastic. I spend waaaay to much money, but I'm addicted to buying for my classroom. When I'm on a trip somewhere, or in a store like Dollar Tree, I'll use my own money to buy. Your first year teaching you usually buy what you need with the money the school supplies. After that you buy consumable stuff, because you know you can't take it with you. Whatever the school buys, stays at the school. I must confess, that at this point, I'm not sure which stuff belongs to the school.
That's why I love Dollar Tree. They have a part called Teacher Tree and they have desk plates, posters, stickers, sticker charts, border, etc. all for a dollar. So I go there every once in a while to see if they have anything new and stockpile what I can. It's so much better buying something for a dollar when you know in a teache store it would run you five. If I don't use it or decide to givve it away I don't feel bad.
I just totaled up my Scholastic orders this year. I spent 1000 through the book clubs and then around 250 at the book warehouse (darn thing is only about a mile and 1/2 from my house). I am with goopp on the state VISA card but our school doesn't actually give us any "classroom budget". The first three years I was here they provided pencils, paper, crayons, scissors, glue, staples, ect. However, this year I think we were out of ink more than we had it. We also had an issue with copy paper for some reason which is unusual. Hopefully next year I will spend less since I bought a large number of new books for my classroom library this year (I love bonus points through scholastic). Have any of you guys signed up with Crayola to work during your tax-free weekend? I got a request from them and I was able to sign up to work 4 hours the Saturday of our tax free weekend helping parents fill school supply orders at our local Wal-Mart and they will give me a $100 gift card to use for school supplies. As far as cheap books I would suggest Goodwill, the Scholastic Book Clubs, Scholastic Warehouse sales, and yard sales.
I'm working at the Walmart in Woodstock for Crayola on the Sat of the tax free weekend. I couldn't pass up the $100 gift card.
Use the school book clubs for books for your classroom library! You can use bonus points to get free books from each dollar a student spends!
The reason I mention that we are an inner city school is that: 1. My students do not bring their own personal school supplies. They are recent refugees, non-English speaking, and don't have the money or the parental understanding of the responsibility of school supplies. I supply them. 2. We no longer have an active PTA which would fund raise for extras in the classroom or field trips. Many of our parents work evening shifts, and again, are not in a place of understanding yet that they would be involved in fund raising. So these two areas fall to me - and I guess, at this point in life ( I am an "experienced" teacher and my own kids are grown), I am happy that I am able to share and provide for my less fortunate families (although truly, our schools should ALL be adequately funded, and schools with higher economic needs should be funded to be able to take care of our students. It really should be the total community, the state and even federal, funding , not individual teachers.)
I spend at least $1,000 every year. Just today I spent $30 in the teacher store buying some classroom games for us to play since it's the end of the year. We don't get any money at all. The school does provide us with construction paper and basic office supplies. They also give each classroom a tiny box of about 20 books that's supposed to be our classroom library. So I've spent a bunch of money (mostly through Scholastic) building up my library.
We get around $110 for the department! That's split between aprox. 6 teachers. Thankfully I teach science which has class fees which allows me to spend more money. Other departments, like math, are stuck with very little (and they tend to go through white board markers..)
