New teacher, I cannot afford to set up my classroom…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have a nieghborhood listserve? There are probably a bunch of lego boxes, books, and games gathering dust on a few shelves. Monitor freecycle Can you do a DOnors Choice request?

I have picked up lots of books at garage sales/goodwill and have some board games. I need to buy several book shelves, a rug, calendar set, calming toys for the calm down center, books bins, desk caddy’s, I’ll need storage carts, and supply organizers. I’m so overwhelmed. When I taught preschool we got a budget at the beginning of the year to set up our room and I naively thought elementary school would be the same. The only thing in my new classroom is desks, a projector, a small group table, a teacher desk and some filling cabinets.

Would it be horrible if supplies were in boxes rather than carts? Prioritize rather than worrying about everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just in tears, since I’m not currently getting paid, I do not have any extra funds. My coworkers are talking about buying legos for back to schooo night, wallets for their class cash, prizes for the treasure box. I can’t even afford a bookshelf to my books on! I don’t have decorations, posters, supply carts, organizers, clipboards….I don’t have anything and I don’t know what to do. I mean I always knew teachers had to spend some of their own money, but I never realized how much. It’s a low income school so we also have to make sure to have extra supplies on hand for the kids who do not bring anything. We also cannot ask parents to donate. I’m just so discouraged and have cried all day.

If you cried all day about such a petty matter, are you really emotionally stable enough to be teaching in a low income school? Seriously, you need to transfer to a school where the PTA has funds to help teachers decorate classes. Absent that, have the children decorate the class with you. Go into any real estate office, and they will have stacks of magazines that they will happily hand to you. Cut out pictures of flowers, birds, skies -- most of which are included in the photos You or the kids can pin them up or create paper chains out of colorful pictures from the magazines. Use some ingenuity. Instead of sobbing into those tissues, makes them into paper flowers.

OP, your reaction is normal. You’re figuring out how much your responsible for and it’s overwhelming. Your response doesn’t show a character flaw at all. You don’t need to question your stability. Also, it does get better. Just tackle one thing at a time.

Also, I agree with the “less is more” approach others have mentioned. You can have a great room without a lot of posters, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just in tears, since I’m not currently getting paid, I do not have any extra funds. My coworkers are talking about buying legos for back to schooo night, wallets for their class cash, prizes for the treasure box. I can’t even afford a bookshelf to my books on! I don’t have decorations, posters, supply carts, organizers, clipboards….I don’t have anything and I don’t know what to do. I mean I always knew teachers had to spend some of their own money, but I never realized how much. It’s a low income school so we also have to make sure to have extra supplies on hand for the kids who do not bring anything. We also cannot ask parents to donate. I’m just so discouraged and have cried all day.

If you cried all day about such a petty matter, are you really emotionally stable enough to be teaching in a low income school? Seriously, you need to transfer to a school where the PTA has funds to help teachers decorate classes. Absent that, have the children decorate the class with you. Go into any real estate office, and they will have stacks of magazines that they will happily hand to you. Cut out pictures of flowers, birds, skies -- most of which are included in the photos You or the kids can pin them up or create paper chains out of colorful pictures from the magazines. Use some ingenuity. Instead of sobbing into those tissues, makes them into paper flowers.

Rude. Unnecessary.

OP, I am a 20 year veteran teacher and the pressure you are putting on yourself is not necessary. More important than stuff is going to be organization and systems for what you do have. No amount of stuff will create a safe and fun community for students.

Save your money because in many schools teachers end up having to buy their own copy paper. You WILL need that paper. As the year progresses you will have a much clearer view of what you need. Also, do not play teacher comparison. You will learn and grow. The first few years are the hardest! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP - my husband and I are empty nesters. When we moved a couple of years ago from the home where we raised our kids, we still had a ton of craft, art and school supplies. I would have been thrilled to donate it to a new teacher if I saw a post on nextdoor with a request like yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m just in tears, since I’m not currently getting paid, I do not have any extra funds. My coworkers are talking about buying legos for back to schooo night, wallets for their class cash, prizes for the treasure box. I can’t even afford a bookshelf to my books on! I don’t have decorations, posters, supply carts, organizers, clipboards….I don’t have anything and I don’t know what to do. I mean I always knew teachers had to spend some of their own money, but I never realized how much. It’s a low income school so we also have to make sure to have extra supplies on hand for the kids who do not bring anything. We also cannot ask parents to donate. I’m just so discouraged and have cried all day.

If you cried all day about such a petty matter, are you really emotionally stable enough to be teaching in a low income school? Seriously, you need to transfer to a school where the PTA has funds to help teachers decorate classes. Absent that, have the children decorate the class with you. Go into any real estate office, and they will have stacks of magazines that they will happily hand to you. Cut out pictures of flowers, birds, skies -- most of which are included in the photos You or the kids can pin them up or create paper chains out of colorful pictures from the magazines. Use some ingenuity. Instead of sobbing into those tissues, makes them into paper flowers.

You're a terrible person. Truly.

Seriously, you need to STFU.

[Anonymous]

I was in the same boat 10 years ago at my Title One school. Not PTA so teachers didn't get reimbursed for anything. I bought about $1,000 of stuff on my credit card over the first month or so. I paid it off in a few months so I didn't run up much interest. My second and third years, I spent maybe $500 each year and every year after that was maybe $200-300. Ask for used book donations on FB, Nextdoor, etc. Some teachers make Amazon wish lists and share them with family and friends. GL!

[Anonymous]

Post an Amazon wish list op! And add it to social media to share. Ask for things on your buy nothing group on fb if your community has one. I wish I could send you things. I have a rising second grader and educators in my family. Thank you for being an educator. It will all work out!

[Anonymous]

What school district are you in that does not have a bookcase/books in the classroom at the beginning of the year unless purchased by the teacher?

[Anonymous]

First - you don't need as much stuff as all those teachers are saying. You can create a lot of the decorations with anchor charts and student work as you go.

Like others said do an amazon wish list and share it with all your networks as well as on twitter with clear the list hashtag.

Send an email to principal and grade team leader asking for help and ideas. First week of school when everyone is setting up people will donate lots of stuff and put it outside their classroom for others to take.

Again, though you dont need that much stuff.

[Anonymous]

1. Ask your coworkers if they have extra classroom decorations. I always gave stuff to new teachers.

2. Create a Go Fund Me for your classroom. Share it on social media.

3. Visit Teachers Pay Teachers. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwiJqWBhBdEiwAtESPaNMZcZonydokedGBTSl7bX3OOc9KkCzyUa7_ZbRUf2YRRU0U9PDnnBoCDJQQAvD_BwE

4. Don’t feel like you have to have everything by the first day. Keep it simple and add as you can.

5. Ask on FB Marketplace. Visit thrift stores. Let people know you are looking for.

[Anonymous]

I have only taught in a title 1 school and we always had a lot of money for what we needed. Sometimes we didnt have the money at the right time when I needed it, but there is a lot of money there. Dare I say that we waste a lot of money. Our classrooms are filled to the brim with stuff - its sometimes just not with the right person that wants to use it because teachers are also picky and want everything their own way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OK, I'm just going to put it out there, OP.

My children, now teens and tweens, always found the walls of their classroom WAY, WAY too distracting. There's always too much on there. It's visually confusing and not aesthetically pleasing at all. For my child with ADHD, it was worse than that - he couldn't find anything that the teacher said was on the walls, because every surface was covered by posters and pictures and admonitions! It made functioning in the class harder than it should have been.

So by all means, ask the Principal, ask the PTA, and inquire as to whether you have a sister school who can help. I was a PTA board member for years at my children's elementary and we donated to our lower-income sister school. Your administration should not be leaving you in the lurch like this.

But please also think about the beauty and calm of empty surfaces. Your students will thank you.

Ita. This is why montessori classrooms are so calm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Ask your coworkers if they have extra classroom decorations. I always gave stuff to new teachers.

2. Create a Go Fund Me for your classroom. Share it on social media.

3. Visit Teachers Pay Teachers. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwiJqWBhBdEiwAtESPaNMZcZonydokedGBTSl7bX3OOc9KkCzyUa7_ZbRUf2YRRU0U9PDnnBoCDJQQAvD_BwE

4. Don’t feel like you have to have everything by the first day. Keep it simple and add as you can.

5. Ask on FB Marketplace. Visit thrift stores. Let people know you are looking for.

Don't do a go fund me - do a donors choose.

[Anonymous]

I would talk with your boss, yes.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the “less is more” posters. A lot of the things you think you need just cause visual clutter. Don’t spend any money on decorating. The kids’ work + anchor charts that you create to go with lessons should be what is on your walls. Check with the school’s office. They likely have a room with stuff like bulletin board paper, chart paper, etc. if you put an Amazon list together with things like prize box items, books, book bins, etc. and post it on social media and next door, you may be surprised at the response (I had a huge wishlist granted very quickly thanks to one of my connections retweeting it). Ask on Nextdoor and your neighborhood list serve for donations—Lego, bookshelves, gently used children’s books, etc. I’ve gotten a lot of my indoor recess games and bookshelves from neighborhood donations. I just gave away hundreds of books and tons of supplies due to switching from elementary to middle school.