My district got the email today that we are not allowed to have an Amazon Wishlist for our classrooms. We were told that it goes against policies. I don't have one because everyone I know is either a teacher or unable to donate to a classroom that should already be fully funded by the government.
I hope that with this new ban (we've already been told not to do donor's choose) the district stops asking teachers to decorate their classrooms, halls, or provide supplies and snacks for students.
I can see not requiring students to bring in things that are supplied, but a wish list is just that- things to enrich the classroom experience.
I had over 100 projects funded through donorschoose, and my students benefited greatly from things like alternative seating. The only one who had issues with DC was the foundation for our district who raised tons of money for extra project, but they made you jump through hoops. DC is so much easier!
I hope you don’t spend a dime on your classroom and only use resources provided.
It is time teachers stopped doing things like providing supplies and snacks if schools are not providing them for teachers. ESPECIALLY in situations where you can't even do wishlists or Donor's Choose.
If people (parents) ask why you don't have such and such for little Johnny, tell them why.
I stopped buying or providing for students about 10 years ago. That’s when I realized I could have put my ds through a year of college with my school purchases over the years. I buy things for me that make my life easier and that’s it. No pencil, borrow one. It’s made my life so much better. I use the school bought construction paper and accu cut for decorations. Teachers need to stop buying things abs let the parents see what is actually provided.
How can they even enforce that? I get how they can ban Donors Choose, but how can they ban you from doing what you want with your own facebook/Twitter account? I'm so fed up with the world we live in.
If the district says don't do it, don't do it. Don't spend your own money for supplies either. Use whatever the district supplies or go without. Why should the district supply items if their staff will do it?
We are a two teacher household, both elementary. We don't spend our own money on our classrooms. I do spend up to $80, which is what our PTA will reimburse.
how can they ban you from doing what you want with your own facebook/Twitter account?
In most districts teachers can get disciplined or even terminated for violating school policy with their personal social media. This is most likely stated in your Teacher Handbook. The best policy is to keep school business completely off your personal social media, up to and including not disclosing the name of your workplace.
I’m sorry they’re doing that to you as I’m sure you’re asking for items that would benefit your kids.
That being said, I’ve never posted a wish list, but I do know of teachers who do and the things they ask for are super expensive! I’m not talking about just pencils, glue and basic school supplies. They ask for expensive furniture, games that wouldn’t even fit into our schedules, personal desk items, fancy markers and more crayons than they could possibly go through in a year, etc. Especially since the majority of our kids DO bring their own supplies. And, sad to say, but I wouldn’t put it past a couple of them to take a couple of items for their kids at home.
I work at a Title 1 school and IMO we get more than enough supplies for the year. Would I like some of the fancy stuff from teacher stores and websites? Sure!! Do I need it? Not really. I do spend personal money on my classroom theme, but that’s my choice and I use the same theme for several years, so I get my money’s worth. Plus I don’t get to the Pinterest level of decor - I believe less is more and going over the top is just overwhelming.
We were told no to Donors Choose, Amazon Wishlists, wishlists given at open house quite a few years ago. they never shared this information with the new teachers, and there were a lot of lists posted. Superintendent sent out a very scolding email full of exclamation points to express his displeasure.
Heck, we can’t even give the parents a supply list that is required supplies just for teaching.
I’m wondering if it is a statewide ban because so far I’ve heard of people in five of six different districts saying that they got similar emails about it not being permitted.
I never did an Amazon list, but I was always doing Donors Choose or grants. Just wait until the superintendent finds out how we get the funds for the new Imagination Library that’s starting in the county.
"The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled the prayers of Washington state high school football coach at the 50-yard line after games are protected free speech and now a Tennessee teacher claims his expletive-laced social media posts on topics ranging from masking during the COVID pandemic to former President Donald Trump are also protected.
A lawsuit filed by former Sullivan County teacher Jeremy McLaughlin — suspended for three days without pay over posts he made to social media while off-duty — is set to become the first test case in Tennessee of the recent court decision that granted First Amendment speech protection to the prayers of Washington state high school football coach Joe Kennedy, court records show."
It will be interesting to see how this case turns out. The TN teacher posted on his personal FB account on his personal time.
I've always thought that if the school system wants to have control of a teacher's actions outside of school hours, then they need to pay for that part of the teacher's time, too.
We've never had that told to us, just that we can't "require" students/parents to buy certain supplies. We can make suggestions on the student supply lists. I've known teachers that did, good for them, I just didn't and my classroom and students did just fine. We've also never had the district ask us to provide snacks and supplies. We've been assigned boards in the school to decorate but that was anyway we wanted and I always just used school supplies and my own creativity without putting in tons of hours.
With our school being a Title 1 building we always received plenty of funding though so I was fortunate that I had a fully stocked classroom. Anything I bought was because I wanted to but I didn't go overboard.
We have a student supply list each year but it technically can’t be required.
We get $300 from the state every year to use on our classrooms. I’m going in to year 14 and find that there isn’t much I need to buy now.
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With our school being a Title 1 building we always received plenty of funding though so I was fortunate that I had a fully stocked classroom. Anything I bought was because I wanted to but I didn't go overboard.
How Title I funds are used varies by state/district. I’m going into year 11 at a Title I school and we get absolutely nothing from the school/district except for provided (not great) curriculum. We used to get money to spend at the supply warehouse every year but that stopped about 5 years ago. That money was used for office supplies and basic classroom supplies.
We have a supply closet that holds minimal supplies but the secretary keeps it locked and when we ask for anything it is a huge ordeal and can take weeks… even for something as simple as construction paper. Multiple times we’ve tried to do fun crafts and she refused us the construction paper since we didn’t ask “far enough in advance.” We just got a new secretary and I’m hoping she’ll be better/nicer about this.
It’s a fight to just get enough copy paper every year.
How Title I funds are used varies by state/district.
I have only taught in Title 1 schools, and have taught in 2 different states. The Title 1 funds in those states/districts were used only for the Title 1 teachers and para salaries, technology, curriculum and training for the Title 1 program, furniture, supplies, and games for Title 1 classrooms, and occasionally training for a select few classroom teachers. The money did not buy supplies that could be used by the general school population, it had to be for the Title program and those students.
I teach in Title 1 school where the gen ed classroom teachers get $125 a year to buy supplies for our rooms. The school does provide construction paper, copy paper, paint, basic office supplies for the teachers, and will supply students supplies if we have kids who show up without something. Families are expected to provide pencils, crayons, markers, glue, notebooks, and folders for their children. We CAN NOT require families to provide Kleenex, disinfecting or cleaning wipes, hand sanitizer and soap, and Ziploc baggies because these items are not necessary for learning. We can request donations of these items and most families send these items to school.
I use my $125 to buy student name plates for their desks, birthday pencils and cards, special art supplies, math and reading manipulates, and other items that I might want for my classroom.
I have only taught in Title 1 schools, and have taught in 2 different states. The Title 1 funds in those states/districts were used only for the Title 1 teachers and para salaries, technology, curriculum and training for the Title 1 program, furniture, supplies, and games for Title 1 classrooms, and occasionally training for a select few classroom teachers. The money did not buy supplies that could be used by the general school population, it had to be for the Title program and those students.
We don’t have separate Title I staff, programs or classrooms, our entire school is Title I. I’ve actually never heard of this before. Our school receives the Title I funding (obviously) but I’m unaware of how it is actually used— it doesn’t seem to directly benefit our classes/students much.
It’s paid for a parent liaison position which is an office staff member who is supposed to be a bridge between the school and parents but the one we had in the past was mediocre at best.
So, do you only have specific students identified as Title I and only they benefit from the additional funding? If so, that’s interesting… My district doesn’t run it that way. I’ve heard of “Title I” teachers on PT, but we don’t have those either.
I've always thought that if the school system wants to have control of a teacher's actions outside of school hours, then they need to pay for that part of the teacher's time, too.
I agree, if we're talking about posts that are entirely personal. But if you are using your personal social media accounts to circumvent district policy (for instance, to communicate with parents about wishlist items for your classroom), you do not have much of a leg to stand on. By the same token, if you don't have your school listed as your workplace and you are not discussing school business on your personal social media, then a school district is going to have a much more dificult time discplining you for your social media activity. Keep it all separate. That's all.
The best policy is to keep school business completely off your personal social media, up to and including not disclosing the name of your workplace.
I hate that this is true but it really is.
My social media accounts dont have my picture, my real name, or any identifying information. Could you deduce who I am based on who my friends are-perhaps-but you cant really prove it.
My school even has a Facebook profile-parents post there all the time asking questions or sharing something that happened at school (good and bad-the amount of complaining about school traffic or that we don't allow kids to congregate in unsupervised areas on campus is ridiculous) and I see parents posting there asking question I could totally answer for them from time to time but...nope-not worth the risk.
My state has protections for teacher in state ed code that don't allow districts to punish teachers for postings on social media as long as we don't act "as an emissary of or employer in that forum," so there is no chance I'm risking it.
So, do you only have specific students identified as Title I and only they benefit from the additional funding?
Yes, students need to qualify for Title services. Benchmark testing, classroom interventions, grades, and teacher recommendations are all used when making Title recommendations.
Yes, students need to qualify for Title services. Benchmark testing, classroom interventions, grades, and teacher recommendations are all used when making Title recommendations.
Thanks for the clarification.
I’ve never heard of Title I being based on academic performance before so that’s quite interesting to me.
We’re a Title I school based on the amount of students at my school who qualify for free/reduced lunch, currently over 65% at my school. We have to remain at the required percentage each year to continue to qualify.
All students qualify, as needed, for after school tutoring which is paid for through Title I funds. That’s the only additional “program” we receive.
So, all of your low performing students are all grouped together in to classrooms with “title teachers?”
This is from our district site
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Title I schools are chosen using state verified data. State Direct Certified data is the number of students/families who qualify directly for SNAP, Homeless, Migrant, Medicaid or Foster Care as verified by the state. The school list can change slightly annually.
The mission of Title I is to provide flexible funding that may be used to provide additional instructional staff, professional development, extended-time programs, and other strategies for raising student achievement in high poverty schools.
My social media is all super private and I don’t ever post anything about work. I honestly don’t post much at all but work is not for social media. I know of teachers who constantly post their students on social media and it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.
I personally am not a fan of the Amazon wish lists in general. A staffing specialist at my school just made one and posted it on Facebook for the “ESE students she works with,” she doesn’t work with any kids and never has. But, she said she isn’t a classroom teacher so doesn’t get the money from the state so her kids she works with need item. And her list was cleared… not sure what she’ll even do with those items
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07-28-2022, 09:14 AM
