#clearthelist

There is a movement sweeping the social media world as we prepare to head back into our classrooms.  No, it's not all of us posting our pinterest (or not, but that's another post entirely) ready classrooms or first day of school outfits.  It seems to have started with a teacher in Arizona who reached out across social media for help with school supplies, not supplies for students but for teachers.  #Clearthelist is being used by teachers coast to coast. Celebrities and musicians have gotten behind it.  Communities are coming together to show support for their teachers. Teachers are posting a wishlist on Amazon and sharing it with the world (or at least their own little corner of the world).
While parents are struggling with kids' back to school lists, teachers are shucking out money for their own paper clips and dry erase markers. I have to ask, "What other profession on the planet requires its employees to buy their own paperclips?" And, I am not talking about the cute colored ones. I am talking about the boring silver ones.
Now don't get me wrong. Most teachers have their basic supplies covered. Most don't have to buy their own copy paper or pens, but what isn't provided, teachers are buying themselves.
So, here is my million dollar question.  Why does a person who spent four years getting a degree to be in a professional career find herself in the school supply aisle at Wal Mart? I'll give you a hint. It isn't entirely because I have a weird obsession with school supplies. It's because I know the best prices on school supplies happen before school starts. I also know that when the supply of staples runs out in the workroom around February, there won't be any more until the next school year.  I know the dry erase markers I will be given to start the year will last only until Christmas. I know that at some point students are going to need pencils. I know that some can't afford to buy any more, and it was really hard to get the money together to buy some to start school. So, I plan for that.  I buy pencils for my students, crayons when they are a quarter, and glue and composition notebooks when they are 50 cents.  I don't "sell" these things to my students. I give them away.  Research has shown us that when students have what they need, they are more successful.  Common sense tells us that when teachers have what they need, they, too, will be successful.
For all of you helping #clearthelist, I thank you.  I thank you from the very depth of my heart.  We love kids; we love our jobs, but what we really love is when people notice how hard we are trying to make our world a better place not just by teaching reading and math and science and social studies and vocational skills and a love for the arts, but by simply loving kids, seeing their potential and doing what we can to help them realize their dreams.
If you have no idea, what I am talking about, just search #clearthelist on any social media platform. If you don't have social media but want to help a teacher out, cute colored paperclips will always make us smile!
Here's to a great 2019-2020 school year!