Pencils

One of the things that is driving me CRAZY this year is students not being prepared for class.  You may think I referring to the fact that their notebook isn't organized or that students don't do their homework.  I have a system for them to organize their notebook and keep it in class, and I gave up on homework a long time ago, which is a whole other post, but what is driving me ape $**T is that when I begin class about 6 or 7 kids each class rush to me, "can I have a pencil?" And, I don't have them.

I've already gone through hundreds of them this year. There is no classroom money to buy more, and I do not make a practice of spending my own money on classroom supplies for these students. Call me crazy that I don't donate my own money to school.

Maybe in this digital age, kids don't need pencils really; they need ipads and computers for school, but there are no resources for that either. At what point are we or "the system" going to take over and just give kids every little thing they need to succeed and ask the parents to supply nothing?  If we want them to be successful for the almighty standards, then maybe we might should give the students every resource we require them to have. But if we want them to be successful in life, they need to figure out a way to get their own resources, don't you think?

As a parent, I have a totally different sentiment. I do not mind one bit sending in supplies for my daughter's classroom. In fact, when she received a field trip request form and the ticket was almost $20, I offered to pay for another child to go if there any who couldn't afford it (in addition to my own cost since I'm going on the field trip as well). When a student of mine's parent asked if there was a fund for the kids who were on free and reduced lunch to get to go on a extra curricular field trip, BJ offered to pay her way. When I heard of kids who couldn't afford to run track last year, I called my parents to see if they would be able to pay for them and they did. I'm not telling you this so you will think, "ah, isn't that nice?" Seriously, it is about being charitable and knowing to whom much is given, much is expected.

As a teacher, I have a problem, though, with a system built upon teachers supplying their classroom out of their own pockets. Yet there are plenty of teachers who do a lot of the extras, dipping into their own pockets to supply their rooms and supply rewards.  There are so many fabulous teachers out there who spend an inordinate amount of their own money on their classrooms and on their students; they spend hours and hours on the weekends and in the evenings on school work.  There is an understood sentiment that in order to be a good teacher, we should be doing that, that we should volunteer our time.  The limited amount of funding for our classroom leaves me to believe we are to supply the pencils, and the hanging folders, and the glue sticks... the list goes on.

Charter schools get much acclaim for their success. It is pretty clear that typical profiles of charter school teachers are teachers who spend hours and hours and hours in their dedication to work.  Those type hours with typical teacher pay is not sustainable.  Do we really want to build a systematic paradigm for the success of our public schools which depend on the charity of the teachers?  My point is this, I'm a charitable person; I'm a pretty good teacher but I refuse to feel the obligation to supply all 150 of my students with pencils (or notebooks, or paper or _____) for the entire year. Does that make me a sub-par teacher?

Sometimes I wish I could be better, be more generous, but after ten years into this career, I can live with the fact that while I did feel "called" to teach, teaching is my job, not my charity. Is it too much to ask for someone other than my salary to supply kids with writing utensils?!!