Anonymous
08/12/2025 09:28
Subject: Amazon wishlist from teachers in wealthy schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We know a family with a recent teacher grad. Her mom, dad and younger sister pitched in to help her setup/decorate her first classroom. In what other kind of job would you ask a family member to come in to set up your work space? Also, a lot of this happens outside of contract hours because they are flooded with in-service trainings, paperwork, etc…
Decorating classroom isnt part her contract and she doesn’t have to do it. But as far as preparing her classroom for lessons- yes, every professional has some amount of preparation they do before starting their job, sometimes outside of “paid hours”
I can’t think of a job that has the same type of preparation as a teacher. You may have to set up a desk, but that’s not to the same scale as a classroom. You may have to set up email and other programs, but teachers do that as well as create class websites. It’s prep at a much larger scale. I spend about a week preparing in my classroom before pre-service week even begins. (No, I don’t have a Pinterest-worthy room, so I’m not going over the top.)
Add to that the “mental load” teachers carry over the summer planning out and thinking of how they will afford to organize, supply and decorate their classrooms. Also, NO, they do not get paid over the summer months!
Anonymous
08/12/2025 09:14
Subject: Amazon wishlist from teachers in wealthy schools?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We know a family with a recent teacher grad. Her mom, dad and younger sister pitched in to help her setup/decorate her first classroom. In what other kind of job would you ask a family member to come in to set up your work space? Also, a lot of this happens outside of contract hours because they are flooded with in-service trainings, paperwork, etc…
Decorating classroom isnt part her contract and she doesn’t have to do it. But as far as preparing her classroom for lessons- yes, every professional has some amount of preparation they do before starting their job, sometimes outside of “paid hours”
I can’t think of a job that has the same type of preparation as a teacher. You may have to set up a desk, but that’s not to the same scale as a classroom. You may have to set up email and other programs, but teachers do that as well as create class websites. It’s prep at a much larger scale. I spend about a week preparing in my classroom before pre-service week even begins. (No, I don’t have a Pinterest-worthy room, so I’m not going over the top.)
Anonymous
08/12/2025 08:53
Subject: Amazon wishlist from teachers in wealthy schools?
Social media has only made this worse.
Anonymous
08/12/2025 06:48
Subject: Amazon wishlist from teachers in wealthy schools?
Anonymous wrote:I think the only way to fix this issue is for ALL teachers at a school to make a pact, and only use what the school supplies.
As a former private school teacher, also with a small school provided budget, and a smaller salary, there was a lot of “un-upmanship” within teachers. There were older, married teachers, who worked “to get out of the house”. They had a lot of extra cash, and had the best looking classrooms. Meanwhile, the new teachers, who were struggling to pay off their student debt, and had three other roommates to make ends meet, felt the pressure from admin, fellow teachers, and parents to spend more of their own money.
If the whole school went “bare bones”, parents would loose their minds! Teachers could just refer them to admin, or even higher ups. But there are always a few teachers who will sacrifice themselves “for the kids”, and they make the others look bad.
There’s nothing parents can do to avoid the one-upsmanship (other, apparently, than fueling it by fulfilling these wishlists…) but I think this is the right idea with basic supplies— if a kids classroom was truly dirty there would be a serious outcry from parents.
Anonymous
08/11/2025 16:53
Subject: Amazon wishlist from teachers in wealthy schools?
I have a good friend that's a teacher and she posts pics of her classroom finished every year. She has massive themes and she changes it every year. One year neon, then Harry Potter, then white boho chic, complete with reading tents. I think the theming is the issue and what costs the most for teachers.
But yes, I personally work best in a bare bones room. I couldn't imagine being surrounded by all that every day and trying to focus.
But yes, I personally work best in a bare bones room. I couldn't imagine being surrounded by all that every day and trying to focus.
Anonymous
08/11/2025 16:41
Subject: Amazon wishlist from teachers in wealthy schools?
Anonymous wrote:We know a family with a recent teacher grad. Her mom, dad and younger sister pitched in to help her setup/decorate her first classroom. In what other kind of job would you ask a family member to come in to set up your work space? Also, a lot of this happens outside of contract hours because they are flooded with in-service trainings, paperwork, etc…
Decorating classroom isnt part her contract and she doesn’t have to do it. But as far as preparing her classroom for lessons- yes, every professional has some amount of preparation they do before starting their job, sometimes outside of “paid hours”