WGU Classroom Tip of the Month January

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WGU Classroom Tip of the Month - January

• Budget Saving Tips and Ideas for the Classroom
  Teacher

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Introduction

• Given our current economic situation, schools
  across the country are facing the tightest budget
  constraints theyve ever seen. Many states are
  under a hiring freeze and those teachers who are
  employed are encountering more and more
  shortages. Their raises/steps have been cut from
  the district budget, departmental supply budgets
  are non-existent and many fine arts classes (art,
  music, world languages) are being cut from the
  curriculum. Extra curricular activities and
  sports programs are forced to fundraise to keep
  their programs alive.

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Introduction

• Things are tough all over, yet students are
  still going to show up for school. The reality
  is they might not have any of their own materials
  if their family is experiencing financial
  difficulties. You are their teacher and have to
  figure out a way to work with what youve been
  given. Are you going to spend your own money to
  purchase what you need? Maybe you can, but the
  majority of teachers dont have a lot of extra
  money to spend.
• This presentation will hopefully give you some
  ideas to think outside of the box. You can still
  have the most exciting class in the school, with
  little to no money invested. So, put on your
  thinking cap and lets get started!

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Decor

• If you have no decorations for your classroom,
  visit your local travel agency. They have
  posters of various countries that they rotate
  with each months specials. Ask them to donate
  the old posters to your school. Not only do you
  get colorful displays for your walls, you are
  also promoting a multi-cultural environment.
  Your students will appreciate your diversity
  efforts.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Decor-2

• Along the same lines as the travel agency, visit
  your local movie theater. Once a movie has left
  the theater, they no longer need the promotional
  poster, but you do! Use it to promote your
  current course vocabulary. Students love when
  you incorporate their pop culture into your
  lessons. Youll have their attention, but you
  need to be creative with how you use the poster
  to keep them focused.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Storage

• If you change out your bulletin board each month,
  you probably are inundated with visual aids.
  Some of these items are big and bulky and storing
  them is a problem. Spend an hour and visit three
  pizza places in your local area. Ask each one to
  donate three pizza boxes to your school. Label
  each one with a month of the school year and
  store all your items for that month inside.
  Stack them in your storage closet so they are
  preserved and dust free from year to year.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Storage - 2

• Spend some time looking through your local
  want-ads or discount websites specific to your
  area. Each will display a free section. You
  will always find desk chairs, organizers,
  bookshelves, dented filing cabinets, area rugs,
  etc. If theyre free, arent they worth a phone
  call or a short drive to go get them? You just
  might be able to solve all your storage needs
  with an investment of time, not money.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Storage - 3

• Organize a trade show after school in the
  cafeteria or library. Encourage all teachers to
  bring in or donate school related items they no
  longer need/want. After school, let the teachers
  go on their treasure hunt. You know what they
  sayOne mans junk is another mans treasure.
• Hint Make sure you get your principals
  approval before organizing this and advertise it
  a few weeks in advance so people have time to
  think about their donations.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Storage - 4

• Visit your local office supply store. Many items
  shipped to their stores arrive damaged and they
  have to wait for the next truck to ship it back.
  Ask if they have an as is or scratch and dent
  section and negotiate a fair price. You might be
  able to find a dented filing cabinet or bookshelf
  at a price thats too good to pass up.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Incentives

• If you are a teacher who gives out incentives or
  prizes, they add up quickly. Instead of buying
  small trinkets to reward them, look around and
  see what else would be appealing. What about a
  free homework coupon? Or a cafeteria lunch pass?
  Make up a Student of the Month certificate to
  give them and then call the newspaper to take
  their picture and do a biography on them.
• For elementary school teachers, consider giving
  that student a coveted role/chore in the class.
  Go to your local fast food chain and ask for a
  book of coupons to reward your students. If you
  have a good sense of humor, reward your students
  with embarrassing situations for the teacher. (a
  pie in the face, your hair in pig tails for the
  day, you carry their books to the next class,
  etc.)

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Incentives - 2

• Another inexpensive way to treat your students is
  to surprise them with homemade treats! Celebrate
  neutral holidays (Valentines Day, Halloween,
  Thanksgiving) by making them cupcakes or cookies.
  If you have time, buy a pack of kids valentines
  and tell each student why you are proud of them.
  Give it to them with their cookie/cupcake and
  theyll appreciate that more than any prize you
  could buy them!
• Hint Please check with your school nurse to
  verify no one in your classroom has a food
  allergy prior to getting started.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Games

• If school funds are tight, there will be no extra
  money available to spend on fun things for your
  classroom. This doesnt mean things have to be
  boring! A trip to my local dollar store
  uncovered the following
• A) Fly Swatters buy two in different colors.
  Divide your class into teams. Cover your
  chalkboard with your current chapter
  vocabulary/terminologies. Give the definition or
  the synonym or the antonym or the parts of
  speech, etc. and the students use the flyswatter
  to swat the correct answer. Everyone
  participates, the class has fun and you
  accomplish a full review. All that for 1.98!

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Games - 2

• B) Beach Balls Put your students in a circle
  (or a few mini circles) and let them take turns
  asking and answering questions of each other. If
  you throw the beach ball, you ask a question. If
  you catch the beach ball, you answer the
  question. This is a great activity to do the
  first week of school (or at the beginning of a
  new semester) to have the students learn about
  each other. You can always incorporate your
  course material into this game, too. Prepare
  some questions up front and give them to your
  students in advance so they are ready for the Q
  and A that comes with this game. This is cheap
  fun and the beach ball is quiet. No thump,
  thump for the teacher downstairs!

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Games - 3

• C) Kitchen Timer If you tell your students they
  have 15 minutes to work on an assignment, it will
  usually take you 20 to get them to stop working,
  talking and re-focused. For some reason, if you
  add a bell to that time frame, they will stop and
  you will have their attention immediately. Use
  it during games, too. Students like to feel
  things are fair and you cant really argue with
  a timer. I used this for all my games, group
  work and timed activities. Trust me and try it.
  You will be surprised!

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Games - 4

• D) Large Foam Dice Sure, these are great in a
  math class, but have you thought about how you
  could use them in your course? They are great
  for randomly drawing pairs for a game. Seat your
  students in rows and roll the dice. Die 1 says
  2 and Die 2 says 5. The 2nd student in row
  1 and the 5th student in row 2 are partners or
  opponents or whatever your goal is for your
  lesson. What about altering the dice? Create
  your own lesson/review on paper, cut the papers
  up and glue them on to the dice. Let the
  students roll your new dice and have a unique,
  fun, cost-effective way to review your course
  content.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Games - 5

• Stepping away from the dollar store, lets talk
  about some other ways to create inexpensive fun
• A) School Mascots find a clear picture of your
  school mascot. Enlarge five/six images of the
  mascot on your school copier. Cut them out,
  color each one a different color, laminate them
  and stick a magnet on the back of them. You now
  have mascot racers. Draw a Jeopardy type grid
  on the chalkboard and every time that row/team
  answers a question correctly, their racer moves
  forward. Give the winning team extra credit and
  save the mascot racers for another days review.
  My students begged for the racers all the time.
  Use them intermittently so they dont get bored
  with them.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Games - 6

• Make your own white boards Visit your local
  home improvement store and buy a sheet of shower
  board (approximately 8.00) and a roll of
  electrical tape (approximately 1.00). Ask them
  to cut your shower board in 12 x 12 squares.
  This will usually yield 32 individual squares (a
  classroom set). Your squares will have rough
  edges, so wrap them with the electrical tape,
  pushing the excess tape onto the front and back
  of the boards to prevent this. You now have 32
  white boards for approximately 10.00. I
  recommend cutting up old towels/rags (or ask the
  students to bring in an old rag to keep in their
  desk) to wipe them off after use during the day.
• Hint If you can find a slightly damaged piece
  of shower board, you probably could negotiate a
  cheaper price with the store manager.

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Budget Saving TipClassroom Games - 7

• Memory Match Board At your local office supply
  store, buy a large piece of foam board, a box of
  envelopes and a pack of index cards. Go home and
  cut the flaps off of the envelopes. Glue/tape
  the envelopes to the foam board in evenly spaced
  rows. Remember to glue the front of the
  envelope to the board. The opening now faces out
  and you can easily slide the index cards into the
  envelopes to create a memory match game.
  Depending on what you teach, you could play
  question/answer, dates/events, synonyms/antonyms,
  inventor/invention, states/capitals,
  capitals/countries..the list is huge!
• Hint Buy security envelopes so the students
  cant see the answer through them!

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Budget Saving TipCommunity Involvement

• Dont be afraid to ask for discounts in your
  community. I recommend carrying your school ID
  badge with you and taking it out when you make
  your requests. If they say no, youre no worse
  off then when you started. Businesses get a tax
  write-off for assisting schools, so make sure you
  tell the businesses that you will personally
  deliver a thank you note on school letterhead
  (this is very important), so they can get the tax
  benefit. That extra step will most likely secure
  you a donation next year, so it is worth your
  time.

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Budget Saving TipCommunity Involvement - 2

• Know your parents. Many parents are able to
  donate their time, while other parents work and
  cant participate. This shouldnt stop you from
  counting on those parents!
• Find out what your parents do. Do they own a
  restaurant? Maybe they could bring the class a
  pizza if everyone passes their chapter test. Are
  they a doctor? They get free tongue depressors
  (popsicle sticks for art!) and they could donate
  them. Ask your parents how they can help. Most
  of them would like to do something, but they
  dont know what you need.

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Budget Saving TipCommunity Involvement - 3

• Accept student donations ask your students to
  donate items from your supply list. Some schools
  even allow you to offer extra credit to students
  who do. This excludes students who arent
  financially able to contribute from getting extra
  credit, so have an alternate assignment available
  for them. Let them write a letter to local
  business asking them to be a classroom partner
  or encourage them to write an article requesting
  donations for you school or local newspaper.

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Budget Saving TipCommunity Involvement - 4

• Visit your public library. They usually sell old
  books for .25 and sometimes, you might find a
  great book for your classroom. If you display
  your teacher badge, you might get them for free.
  This is a wonderful way to build your classroom
  library.

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Teacher Friendly Businesses and Websites

• The following companies offer budget savings to
  teachers via store discounts or promotional
  programs.

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• Barnes Noble Educators Discount 20 off
  store purchases for your classroom
• JoAnn Fabric, Hobby Lobby and A.C. Moore 10
  Discount
• El Pollo Loco Restaurant 5 off your total
  bill
• Christopher Banks Menswear 15 discount
• Ann Taylor Loft 20 discount
• Office Depot, Kinkos, Office Max each have a
  Teacher Rewards Program. You earn redeemable
  points for every dollar you spend.
• Cloroxclassrooms.com register and get a free
  clean kit for your classroom
• Smilemakers.com offers stickers to teachers at
  a discounted rate
• Sams Club offers periodic promotions to
  teachers on discounted memberships.

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• Kennedy Space Center free admission for
  teachers with proof of licensure
• Sea World free admission for teachers with
  proof of licensure
• Aquariums, Performing Arts Centers and Museums in
  your city many offer free admission or teacher
  discounts, so call ahead and ask.
• Apple, Dell, Hewett Packard (HP) each company
  has a teacher discount program for your personal
  computer needs.
• Verizon Wireless and Vonage depending upon your
  state, a teacher discount plan is available for
  purchase.
• Blockbuster Video special teacher package for
  bulk rentals paid in advance
• Home Mortgage Companies offer special loan
  programs for teachers who are first time
  home-buyers (such as Wells-Fargo Traditional
  Home Mortgage). HUDs Good Neighbor Next Door
  program is also an option for teachers
  (http//www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/reo/goodn/gnnd
  abot.cfm
• J. Crew Stores offer teacher discounts at
  select stores across the country.

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Questions or Comments?

• If you have any comments or questions about this
  presentation, please contact Marcella Ryan, WGU
  TC Alumni Mentor, at mryan1_at_wgu.edu
• If you would like to provide your own Budget
  Saving Tips, please visit our WGU Teacher Blog
  and share your ideas at www.alumni.wgu.edu.
  Click on Teachers College and then choose
  Teacher Blog to post.