As teachers i think that it will be our duty to be concious of the financial status of our students. If you ask everyone to bring things for class you need to realize that some people cannot afford it. Even if it is something as small as tissues or pencils. I think that as teachers we should be able to tuck away a few extra things that we ask students to bring so that everyone will have an equal opportunity to learn and participate in classes. Most of the things that we will ask for can be found at Big Lots or the Dollar Store. Also, these things that we buy for our students can be written off in taxes i think (correct me if i'm wrong). What is everyone else's opinion?

You are right Emily, teachers can get a$250. tax right off for the supplies they spend in their class. Also at most schools teachers get a budget for the year to spend on classroom materials. Why not use that? My sister teaches in Forsyth County, she gets $1000 for her department to spend and $200 for the things she needs as a teacher. Also, they supply teachers with a laptop, I thought that was neat! But we do need to aware of the finanical status of our students,and not always assume they can afford basic things.

Emily, I think you are right about the supplies. Teachers do need to take into consideration that some children can not afford to buy classroom materials or the supplies to do some projects. Teachers could announce that anyone who needs help with supplies let me know in private or something like that. I don't know but something could be worked out. Teachers know the students in their classrooms who are not as fortunate as others. I also have a side that don't think children should have to be ashamed of their financial situations and ask for free supplies. This is a hard topic.

kristie, im curious to know where your sister teaches in forsyth county, if you dont mind me asking. forsyth county is a big possibility for me to teach in because its the county right below mine. most of the counties around where i'm from aren't really viewed as "having money" and its really a problem to deal with the financial status of the schools and the students. i was just surprised to hear that forsyth county does that for its teachers. is that all of forsyth county? or just certain schools? i do know there are some schools who are more "well endowed" than others.

Em, i totally agree! i remember in high school and middle school students being embarrassed because they didnt have the right materials in school! I also remember teachers calling them out and fussing for the for this too. Sometimes teachers would even give a student a zero for like a homework assignment because they could not get their materials. I dont think that this is fair at all!

i agree with you guys there. there were definitely instances throughout my schooling that i got chewed out by a teacher because my mom would not buy me the exact supply that the teacher would require. usually she would claim that all of that stuff was too expensive and she would buy the knock offs. it embarrassed the crap out of me to be called out of in front of the class. it was bad enough that i qualified free breakfast and lunch and my parents took full advantage of those, but for then after being picked on for getting a free meal to have a teacher call me out because i bought the $0.50 notebook instead of the $2.50 notebook that they required used to crush me. i will always understand my future students i think because of this. hopefully, we can teach teachers that they need to be more aware of their students situations, and not embarass them. it would have definitely made my days much more enjoyable.