The Most Important Classroom Supply

A very good friend of mine is going to be returning to the classroom after a number of years away. She was amazed at all the changes within the classroom and posted a question for her friends on Facebook:

Teacher friends I need to know must haves for the classroom. All of my supplies are in transit and I will be setting up my 4th grade classroom in a week!

She received the expected responses: whiteboards and markers, paper, pencils... Some responses got a little deeper and realistic: lunch money for kids that don't have it, some breakfast snacks, playground balls.

Where do all of these supplies come from?  According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 94% of teachers purchase supplies for their own classroom. The age of the students, the average student's family income, location in the country, rural, urban - none of those impact that statistic. The average amount spent? Between $450 and $550 per teacher.  Multiply that by 3.7 million teachers in America and you get $1.85 billion spent by teachers out of their own pockets for the 2019-2020 school year,

Many teachers have resorted to doing crowdfunding, such as gofundme.org or #ClearTheList, to help defray some of these costs.  But now, districts are starting to restrict these options.  A few teachers that I know locally have been told they may not do any sort of crowdfunding for their classroom and more globally through Ohio districts are wary about the risks of this income, specifically the concern of how it might be spent and who owns the supplies should the teacher leave the classroom.

This leads to my thought on classroom supplies...  My response to my friend's post was somewhat different than the others:

"For me it isn't the 'stuff' - it is the presentation and passion - integrate the math with the writing. show how social studies is impacted by science. Show them how they are important to the community. Show them that they are loved. You have so much empathy and compassion. Bring that and everything else will fall into place."

I am not saying that a classroom can survive on passion alone. A classroom needs supplies - notebooks, pencils, paper, and novels (yes novels, even in math class) are just the basics. However, even the best supplied classroom - one with a full stock of interactive notebooks, properly labeled binders, post-its, standing desks, and a 1:1 iPad program - will not succeed unless the teacher is trained and passionate.  How I interact with my students is far more important than any type of physical supply you can put in my room.

To all of the teachers that are starting up in the next few weeks - good luck, enjoy building those relationships with the students, and remember the kids that need you the most are the ones that may show it the least.

The teacher is the most important resource in any learning environment.