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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]
I was in this position. I did an intensive alternate certification program, and our student teaching was a twelve week, twelve hour day deal before we got our own classrooms. I hadn’t been paid in four months when I started my first teaching job. I ignored everyone’s “suggestions” for things to buy until after I got my first paycheck. I won’t lie, even writing was a struggle in the first couple of weeks. I couldn’t buy a new pencil sharpener so we were using those flimsy little plastic ones and my kids (elementary special Ed) couldn’t stay on top of it. If you think I’m exaggerating, I was taking public transportation and literally using coins for the fare and limiting non walking trips because my stash dwindled from quarters to dimes to nickels. My boyfriend at the time was paying our rent (on his own pitiful graduate student salary) in total because I had nothing left. Then, I’d come in to work and my supervisor would make a comment about the work I created not being printed in color. It was awful. 
I have nothing to say, but that time was really formative for me. Do the best you can with what you have, and take it one day at a time. [/quote]

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