Teachers Pay on School Supplies

Most teachers decide to buy school supplies for their students. Nearly all public school teachers report digging into their pockets spending nearly $480 a year on school supplies. Teachers across the country walk to protest low pay and demand pay raises because after they do all that spending for their students, the teachers tend to have less money. Ninety-four percent of public school teachers say they spent their own money on notebooks, pens, pencils, and other supplies, the average spent is $479. About 44% spent $250 less, while 36% spent $251 to $500. Teachers who spend their personal money on children's classroom needs are able to reduce their taxable income by $250 and will have roughly $30-$60 in savings. Teachers in high poverty schools are more likely to spend personal money on school supplies. I feel that teachers should allow help to the students by buying certain school supplies for them because their are children in this world that are not able to get everything that they will need for there classes. It's all about being considerate of others.

Articles Regarding Teacher Pay on School Supplies:
 https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2018/05/15/nearly-all-teachers-spend-own-money-school-needs-study/610542002/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-teachers-spend-themselves-for-classroom-needs/

Video About Teacher Pay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj4yY1lJFEs

QUESTIONS FOR CLASS:
1. How do you feel about teacher pay for supplies ?
2. Do you think teachers should pay for supplies ? Why?
3. Is it good for teachers to pay for supplies, even though it's coming out of their check ?

September Mentor Reflection

I met with my mentor for the first time on the 6th of September to discuss what its like being a teacher and just getting to know our mentor more. My mentor is my English teacher, Ms. Ivy,  that I have known since my 10th grade year of high school, but even though I have known her for 3 years, I don't know a lot about her other than her being my English teacher and lecturing all the time. Before going to my mentor, I wrote down some questions that I could ask her about being a teacher, like what's most challenging, her career outside of education, what she likes about teaching.. etc. After getting all those questions answered, my mentor and I discussed some of the standards of being a teacher and I asked her what she would like for me to help her with in order for me to be teacher ready, as far as making quizzes, helping grade..etc. Being with my mentor for the first time went well, although at times it was awkward because it would get silent, but then we would get right back on track and talk about the importance of being a teacher.

About Me

My name is Leah and I am currently in the Excel program and I am taking the teacher cadet class at UALR. I would love to be an elementary teacher in the future. With me taking the teacher cadet class, I have learned so much about being a teacher and everyday I come to class, I am excited and ready to learn more and more. We have just finished writing our own children's book and we are getting ready to go to different elementary schools so that we can read our books to the children and in everyone's book, there is a meaning behind the story, whether it's building confidence in yourself, helping others, just being nice, whatever the case may be, it's a great meaning behind every book. I cant wait to explore more about being a teacher with the help of the Excel program !

Reflection 1

At the beginning of the Excel Teacher Cadet program, all of the other strands that are connected with the Excel Program went to boot camp at Metro. Boot camp was for three days and everyday we went, we had to do a teamwork activity and one of the activities we did was called "ball and string." With this activity we all got in groups of five. There was a ball on top of a pipe that was on the ground and everyone in the group had five strings and a medium sized metal ring. With those materials, everyone had to put their strings through the ring and without using our hands, put the ball inside of the cup that was attached to the wall. In this activity, I learned that communication skills and collaboration are important because without us collaborating and communicating in the right way without arguing, we got the job done and won. This activity was very competitive because we were timed and we were all trying to win. After this activity, I realized that being a leader is most definitely something I should take advantage of and I say that because while doing this activity, I was the one who was telling everyone how we were going to pick the ball up, which was by me pushing the ball onto the ring, then everyone moving up really slowly in order to place the ball into the cup.