Overview:
This veteran teacher gives 8 tips to budget for back to school.
When you are new to a school site, the first question you often ask is: How am I going to teach in an environment that isn’t suitable for children?
I asked a dozen teachers I know for tips about setting up their classrooms on a budget. Their advice, like finding a box of unused pencils way back in a cabinet, is all yours to keep.
Steal Big, Steal Early
Check with your site administrator, secretary, or especially your custodian about where the pile of “this year’s discarded stuff” is. Keep asking until you find it, because every school has one, and usually, someone is kind enough to know that new teachers could use things in it.
AAA, Always Ask Admin First
Administrators want you to succeed. They also know every nook and cranny of every budget. Asking your administrators for something they deem essential to your success this year may be something they could find money for. If you are just starting, they might be willing to offer. Just make sure what you ask for is tied to something they deem important as well.
Think Function Over Form, First
Once you are in your room, you will be tempted to walk back out to your car, drive to the teacher supply store, and shop until you drop. Back-to-school teacher’s discounts sound so enticing. But before you break out plastic, stop and look around. Then, think carefully about what you are going to actually teach. This is designing for function over form, and it is essential to how your students use the room, not just how cute or cool it looks.
Will independent reading be a huge part of your day? If so, you may want to make an elongated library, a display area for books, and plenty of shelves for bins. You might want to talk to the custodian about where there are some extra bookshelves before being tempted to buy a bright (and expensive) display case. Perhaps all you really need are some pretty genre labels that you might even make yourself with a printer, construction paper, and a laminator.
What about your lessons? Will you have a board to display genius math work? Is there an area nearby where you can post the latest math chart? Will you have a central location to post all 32 essays? Will you need a clothesline for your little artists’ masterpieces from here to wherever?
Will you need center stations? Does it make sense to have a materials area and a turn-in bin? How about your small group area? Will that be in the front or in the back? Will you be pulling kids to the rug to start most lessons? Or do you prefer they remain in their seats?
Once you can really see at least some of it in your mind, draw a floor plan of your room (a bird’s eye view) and label the different areas with as much information as you can about how you envision the room. Add and change your plan as needed, and only shop for what you really need afterward. Don’t worry; you’ll still find cute stuff. It will just be cute stuff that means stuff.
Consider Room Environment Based on Your Roster
Obtaining your roster early is also essential for your room environment. Once you have it, consider the function of these particular children in their new space. Will you need a tranquil corner for a Pete the Cat-loving child on the spectrum? Will you have students who prefer working alone or with each other? Have students been empowered to take leadership roles in the class, like in Leader In Me programs? Do you have a group of students who idolize Black basketball players?
Find all this information first. Talk with admin, talk with former teachers of the students, and check those cume folders as soon as you can. Then, design a room that these kids will be successful in.
Be Creative and Artistic
I once spent over 100 dollars on fancy blue butcher paper for my room. It was said to last ten years, but by year 2, our grade level agreed to change to orange.
Conversely, that year, my artistic friend Susan used free construction paper in the teacher’s workroom. She designed an incredible symmetrical tessellation on all of her bulletin boards, which received comments whenever an adult entered.
I’ve seen tree designs flowing over walls. The kid’s pictures in the class are inside apples. I’ve seen 3-D murals on classroom doors and construction paper kelp hanging from the ceiling. You already know these are far more authentic than a 2×3 foot poster declaring, “Accomplish your dreams!” Just don’t forget it comes shopping time.
Go On a Tour
One of the best ideas shared and championed by veteran teachers I know is to go on a tour and see what your grade-level colleagues are doing in their spaces. Where does your neighbor keep her supplies, and why? Where does a different colleague post-student work, and how does she set up her check-in/checkout procedure in the library? Why does a different colleague not have a desk, and why does she love magnets so much?
Get to know and ask these teachers. It will save you time and, ultimately, money.
When You Do Shop, Ask the Vets First
While you are stealing all of your colleagues’ ideas on your tour, make sure you ask them where, how and why they shop where they do. You’ll get great advice, often from teachers that gave it to them, long before you!
Do Not Spend Big Money Until You’ve Planned With the Team
Finally, never purchase materials for the students until you’ve planned with your grade-level team. Perhaps you want your students to keep their work in a three-ring binder. Then, after meeting with your team, you learn that student planners have been ordered. You find a deal at Walmart on spiral-bound notebooks, but your grade-level team has agreed to use composition notebooks instead. Oops. Scholastic had a deal on guided reading book sets, and uh oh, they do not match the unit plan your team drew up last May when you were not there.
Spend wisely, spend for function, and spend only when necessary. Let your imagination have fun and create a magnificent space without spending the money you’ll deserve for a mini vacation on your spring break.
