I forget every year. EVERY YEAR!
Usually, I buy stuff at the beginning of the year to get my room started.
Then, there are the students who don't have school supplies.
Next comes the endless need of paper, pencils, and erasers just to complete our daily work.
I have a printer in my room that isn't supported, so I have to get ink.
I am always wanting to keep up with new information and the latest publications, so books have to be bought.
Now, we enter the testing season...just ran by the local supermarket to pick up pencils, erasers, gum, snacks, etc...
It never seems to end!
However, it isn't the money that makes this career expensive.
It is the amount of time, preparation, worry, and care that goes into every student that has entered my classroom over the last 18 years.
I pray that when they leave me they realize that to me (their 4th grade teacher), they are priceless!
I hear ya! Every year I am shocked at tax time at how much I actually spend on things for my classroom!
ReplyDeleteI know!! me, too!!!
DeleteI hear ya! Every year I am shocked at tax time at how much I actually spend on things for my classroom!
ReplyDeleteOur PTO reimburses us for $100. I appreciate their kind gesture, but they really don't know how much we spend out of our own pockets. No other job has to do this!!
ReplyDeleteBuying ink for my printer kills me. I don't mind buying snacks and games and most supplies but ink really bugs me!
ReplyDeleteIf only everyone realized how much money we teachers spend on our classrooms and students!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, the real expense is all the worrying we do for each one of our precious kiddos. They are lucky you were there to love them!
ReplyDeleteYou're exactly right! I spend a lot of money, but it is the worry and that is the most expensive. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteWhat an exhausting job it is! I'm only beginning and yet I feel the same as you! Worry, exhaustion, money, time... for me, it's the time component that overdoes all else. I give all of it to my teaching and my students, but when is it left for me?
ReplyDeleteStill working on the balance and hoping to find one in the very near future...maybe next year? :P
What an exhausting job it is! I'm only beginning and yet I feel the same as you! Worry, exhaustion, money, time... for me, it's the time component that overdoes all else. I give all of it to my teaching and my students, but when is it left for me?
ReplyDeleteStill working on the balance and hoping to find one in the very near future...maybe next year? :P
Throughout their careers teachers hold up the system with their considerable contributions, monitory and otherwise. They frequently go above and beyond because they have a strong desire to be effective educators. Under funding of education is a universal issue. The system frequently takes advantage of the commitment to excellence the vast majority of teachers regularly pursue. You wrote about year long, career long expense but ended writing about how priceless you consider your students are to you. We constantly balance these perspectives. Interesting issue. Thanks for choosing to write about it. Thought provoking...
ReplyDeleteThroughout their careers teachers hold up the system with their considerable contributions, monitory and otherwise. They frequently go above and beyond because they have a strong desire to be effective educators. Under funding of education is a universal issue. The system frequently takes advantage of the commitment to excellence the vast majority of teachers regularly pursue. You wrote about year long, career long expense but ended writing about how priceless you consider your students are to you. We constantly balance these perspectives. Interesting issue. Thanks for choosing to write about it. Thought provoking...
ReplyDeleteYou need to buy your own ink! Yikes. I'd be in such financial dissaray on that one.
ReplyDelete