I've been noticing a lot of posts about spending on school supplies, how much to buy, what to buy, etc. For a new teacher this can be an exciting but daunting process. (who doesn't love to buy school supplies?) How much do I spend? Actually, not a lot. Most of it is replenishing my "prize drawer."
My secrets: Golf pencils. They're never on sale, but you can get a box of 300 for 7$. When I'm close to running out, I make the frequent users give me a nickle (they usually don't have one, so give me a quarter and feel really generous). to buy a new box. I never give out pens - they can borrow from a classmate if needed. Try hitting up friends who work in offices. My mother sets up a box every August for people to donate school supplies. When the box is full, it get split between my brother, my aunt and me. I still have paper from last year. We get everything from crayons, calculators and lots of paper!
For new teachers - at the end of the year, ask your students to give you stuff they're going to toss. Binders usually end up ripped up trash and half-full notebooks are used for confetti. Save yourself and the janitors. Just tell the kids if they're going to toss it, to toss it in a box you put out. Take a few minutes to rip out the used papers (or get a helpful student to do it). Save for next year and re-use. The same thing for anything they had to buy for your class but probably won't use - copies of literature books, etc. Surprisingly, I get quite a few dictionaries this way.
Last - now that it's August, start hitting the garage sales. They're a great place to pick up books for classroom libraries and dictionaries (again!), especially the old ones with all the SAT words.
My secrets: Golf pencils. They're never on sale, but you can get a box of 300 for 7$. When I'm close to running out, I make the frequent users give me a nickle (they usually don't have one, so give me a quarter and feel really generous). to buy a new box. I never give out pens - they can borrow from a classmate if needed. Try hitting up friends who work in offices. My mother sets up a box every August for people to donate school supplies. When the box is full, it get split between my brother, my aunt and me. I still have paper from last year. We get everything from crayons, calculators and lots of paper!
For new teachers - at the end of the year, ask your students to give you stuff they're going to toss. Binders usually end up ripped up trash and half-full notebooks are used for confetti. Save yourself and the janitors. Just tell the kids if they're going to toss it, to toss it in a box you put out. Take a few minutes to rip out the used papers (or get a helpful student to do it). Save for next year and re-use. The same thing for anything they had to buy for your class but probably won't use - copies of literature books, etc. Surprisingly, I get quite a few dictionaries this way.
Last - now that it's August, start hitting the garage sales. They're a great place to pick up books for classroom libraries and dictionaries (again!), especially the old ones with all the SAT words.
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