The Whys and Hows of Supporting Our Teachers

I threw a little temper tantrum at Office Max about a month ago.  Standing in front of the Post-It note display, I eyed the price tag on the oddly sized pads of paper my daughter needed to take to school.  Fifteen dollars!  The price of the sticky notes was more than her crayons, colored pencils, pens and folders combined then multiplied by three!  I was incredulous.  This was an outrage.

That was the parent in me.

The teacher in me knew better, though.  Back in my short-lived teacher days, I (or, I should say, my husband and I) swallowed plenty of costs in classroom expenses.  Posters and other decorations are expected from teachers in creating an environment conducive to learning and are costly.   Address labels, notecards, notecard holders, business cards, and business card holders were regularly used in my German teaching, and my allotted department money or PTO money didn’t cover all the necessities.  So back then, I was throwing a different kind of temper tantrum at Office Max altogether.

Technically, then, I knew exactly why my daughter was requested to bring in the fifteen dollar, oddly sized Post-It notes.  In order for her teacher to teach in the best way she knows how, she’s simply got to have these supplies.  And our contributions aid both her instruction and child’s learning without emptying her personal pocket.

See, according to this Chicago Tribune article, a National Education Survey reports that teachers spend around $500 of their own hard earned cash to cover their instructional materials.  And that’s just an average.  A new teacher walking into a bare, high poverty school district classroom is looking at shouldering an even greater amount not only for supplies, but technology as well, in order to enhance learning and bridge the education gap.  Burnside contributor and first year Special Education teacher Matt Worthington knows all too well what it feels like to start from scratch, so I sat down to ask him a few questions.  And he sat down to answer them.

BWC:  So, Matt, how have you found yourself in this predicament?  Doesn’t tax money cover teacher and student materials?  Doesn’t the PTO pay for your expensive Expo markers?  Or Post It notes?

Matt Worthington: Well, pretty much, I walked into my classroom and it had nothing. Ironically enough, it was being used as a storage room, but for all of what it had in there, there was not a single bit of technology in there. No computer, no telephone, no printer. Nothing. When I walked into my classroom on the first day, I was about $1000 short on necessary technology.

And while taxes do go to help pay for supplies, it doesn’t cover everything. For instance, I received a $100 gift card from the district to start me off, but that goes by pretty quickly after you buy flipchart paper ($30), four packs of markers ($8 a box), and printing four posters for the classroom ($9 a poster at Kinko’s) so your walls aren’t empty.

As far as as a PTO goes, it’d be nice for them to pay for our supplies, but we don’t really have one because we live in a high-poverty area, where most parents I’ve met or talked to are working two (sometimes three) jobs just to provide for their families. I’m not entirely sure they have the funds to help donate to teachers, even if they wanted to. However, I will say that my school has been fortunate enough to have the support of World Vision’s DC Regional Offices, who deliver basic supplies like those Expo Markers, Pens, Scissors, and such. Their support has been invaluable, but I’ve talked with the gentleman who runs the warehouse and even they’re limited in what they can give each year. The school also had a handful of things like staplers, rulers, and clips that were given to us. So those were a good start, but to be frank, there’s a legitimate shortage in what schools like mine have in high-poverty areas, and those teachers need really need help. Of course, I’m not trying to be the voice for all high-poverty schools, but most of my teacher friends who teach in high-poverty areas tell me much of the same things.

BWC:  What kind of supplies/materials do you need, and how would those enhance the classroom environment/student learning?

MW: Short and sweet: work smarter, not harder. And if I might add: it must be effective, and you should do it for the sake of your students. Take using a projector, your computer, and Microsoft Power point (or Keynote for all you Mac users). Students need to be taught and if you don’t have to waste time writing things on the board for them because, hypothetically, you could prepare the entire lesson on a power point a night or two beforehand, then you’ve just increased your instruction time. And when, on average, students in high-poverty areas are statistically three grade levels behind their peers in suburbs, there’s a desperate need for effective instruction time. If, on average, you spend 10 minutes each period just writing things on the board, and you multiply that times 160 calendar school days (you gotta factor in those holidays), then that’s 1600 minutes you’ve spent just writing instructions on the board, which is almost 27 hours of instruction. That’s 26 lessons you could’ve been teaching new material, or re-teaching previously instructed material or other necessary remedial skills.

BWC:  Sounds like you need that computer and projector.  So, why doesn’t a pack of chalk for the chalkboard cut it anymore?  It would be so much cheaper.

MW: Here’s the simple answer: we don’t live in the 50s. Teaching looks different now, and I can tell you that even though this is my first year. However, depending on how you look at it, technology may or may not be a need. Some people might argue it’s a luxury, but there’s an undeniable technology gap that’s closely related to those who live in high-poverty areas. If you want to know what I’m talking about, walk into a place like Wal-Mart, Target, Fast Food joint, or other places whose employment includes minimum wage earning jobs, and they’ve got computers kiosks where you apply for a job. If someone doesn’t know how to work a keyboard or they don’t have the fluency to understand a computer, they’re going to get frustrated, and they’re going to have a hell of a time trying to apply for that minimum wage job. Frustration, believe it or not, is one of the reasons students give up on trying. So, there’s this basic need for students to have fluency with computers and pieces of technology. Now, they may learn some lay skills through more popular pieces of technology like cell phones or video games, but that’s not going to teach them profitable skills like word processing, building powerpoints, graphic designing, or how to construct a resume. So that’s the basic stuff of what students need in regards to technology.

And then you have these things called SMARTBoards, which are like the iPhone of WhiteBoards. Literally. In a nutshell, they’re whiteboards that are connected to a computer and a projector, and whatever is projected on the screen can be manipulated with this stylus that comes with it. My dad says they use them at his army base, where he directs a corps of engineers for various projects. So obviously, if the government is using these, they’re worth something. Here’s the thing though, classes out in nicer school districts now have SMARTBoards in practically every classroom. So they’re being exposed to this type of technology, they’re being taught with it, and it helps.  And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying these gadgets will teach our students alone, because you gotta have good teachers. But a great teacher in a high-poverty school with students who are three grade levels behind who has fantastic technology, that’s not a bad combination. And to be honest, when you talk about differentiating your instruction to meet the needs of as many students as possible (which is actually required for Special Educators), then tools like this help in a huge way.

BWC:  What are the objectives you have for your students with these materials?

MW: I actually teach various subjects because I teach in a self-contained setting for students who receive Special Education. To be quite honest, I use power point across the board. Plus, I have various manipulatives that I use to accommodate learning for my students. But a lot of students respond to visual aides like power point, and I can understand that because I’m very much someone who learns visually.  Plus, a lot of times, it saves on printing. And that helps save both time for you and money for the school.

BWC:  How do you plan on acquiring the materials you need to create the best possible classroom environment?

MW: Currently, I’m fundraising most things I need. A few weeks ago, I sent out an email to various people I know describing my situation and listing my needs. People have responded generously, whether it’s a $100 check for supplies used in the classroom; gift cards to office depot, staples, or Kinkos; two brand new computers; and a brand new printer. So I’m feeling in better shape for my kids. I thank God for those people, and I believe so much he puts this desire in all of us to be generous and to be good. Without that, I don’t know that my students would have these things right now. So I continually pray for my students to receive more generosity. I still want my classroom to have a SMARTBoard. That’s my big goal. They’re like $1600. I just want my kids to have access to things that their peers have access to in the burbs.

BWC:  Matt, I’m so amazed at how proactive and engaged you are for your students’ sake, using your voice to ask for what your classroom needs.  Thanks for taking the time to share all of this with us.  I hope we all want to be a part of this solution by adopting a teacher in need, starting with you!  I, for one, feel like a trip to Office Max.

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For additional information on how you can support teachers with instructional materials, visit Support Your Teacher, iLoveSchools, DonorsChoose.org, or Adopt-A-Classroom.