10 WORST Classroom Purchases Of ALL TIME
I’ve spent a LOT of money on my classroom and teaching materials over the years and unfortunately… not all of them were good purchases. I previously shared the BEST classroom purchases I made but today we’re breaking down the WORST purchases so you can avoid making the same mistakes!
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10 BEST CLASSROOM PURCHASES OF ALL TIME VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/z1tgAfG_LS0
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Love this! I purchased so many of these things too. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the tiny erasers🙄😂
My coworker had a bunch of bean bags and she left school and gave me the bean bags. I bought a pillow to fill it cuz it was flat. Then I got bean bag covers and put three flat bean bags in it. At least they’re sturdy and don’t go flat now.
I had a couch and rug area. It was a disaster. Students were always racing to sit there and the rug was a nightmare to keep clean. After 19 years of teaching I have become a minimalist! 😂
Omigosh I’ve made almost all of these same purchases (and yes, lived to regret them!😂🎉)
There’s different fonts for the LetterBoards??!
Thanks for being vulnerable! Great video
Year 7 teacher here and I have about 4 of these items 😂😂
I have that straw dispenser and I’m sure it was social medias fault!! 😅
When you were talking about a straw holder, I thought you meant the pull up ones. I have seen those used for pencils and that is a mess too.
Thank you. I'm a long time substitute teacher and working as a special education paraprofessional this year. This coming fall semester (2023), I will be student teaching and then be ready to have my own room. I can't wait, I am totally looking for things that I can use and this will help me avoid some items!!!
I have used magnetic borders for years. It has been very handy to divide up my white board specs so there are designated sections for different things. Kids know where to look without asking. This is really important too since I teach a second language class.
I remember you buying every one of these, and how much you loved them. At the time. Bye useless stuff!
I enjoy watching your teaching and non-teaching videos! Would love for you to do a Classroom Management video (elementary school).
I remember you talking about the acrylic pencil container and I purchased it. It was a good idea but I agree that there are cheaper things that worked worked well:
I like this video. It made me look back at my years and really think about what was needed and what was hype .
Uuugg. The bean bag. chair! II bought four very large bean bag chairs. My kiddos love them. And destroyed them inn less than a year. I spent about $50 each on them.
Me encanta tu honestidad. Gracias por compartir estos consejos. Saludos desde Panamá. 🙂
I love mini erasers. However, I am a Kindergarten teacher. I think its easier to use for the little ones.
This is your funniest video in a long time. I love the vibe of this – a dose of teacher reality + humor🎉! We have alll been there with you on the regrettable classroom purchases train.
Yes to all of these Michelle! It is my first year teaching and I bought about 50% of the stuff in this video and the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze!
I love most of these, agreed, not worth the juice! BUT I love my acrylic pencil dispenser (aka straw dispenser) and call it the magic pencil picker. I use it to reward kids. I throw in some regular pencils and then some "fancy" pencils (bought at hobby lobby after whatever holiday was just done) and lordy, my kinders think they are the best things ever. They are delighted to get a snowman pencil in August or a flip flops pencil in December. Thanks for making cute videos so we can all chuckle at our mistakes and teacher enthusiasm!!
What fun and comfortable (core building a plus) seating do you suggest for middle schoolers?
Your video just came in time for me not to buy the pencil dispenser, eventough the ones I was going to get were smaller and cheaper! By the way I do have one of the metal cart with the flimsy drawers that keep falling out of the rails!!
I bought outdoor ottomans from Target last year for flexible seating this year. Deflated within a couple weeks. I refilled them with fabric scraps. One's seam broke and the other is partially deflated. They work well for the short table I have so maybe I'll repurchase and use the partially deflated one and the broken one for refilling?
Maybe I'm in denial.
Yes, bean bags are the worst. LOL
About the light-up letters that spelled R-E-A-D…..I wanted to offer an alternative that I've had for years and love! I found extra-large, wooden Scrabble tiles on Etsy, and I also bought 4 that spelled out R-E-A-D. They still look brand new after 7 years, and I love them! I typically use command strips to mount them on a wall in my reading nook. Sometimes I mount them horizontally, sometimes vertically. Just wanted to share! LOVE your channel and videos so much, thank you!! 🙂
I love how you made yourself vulnerable in this video. Thank you so much!
Best video!!
I totally understand about the letters. I meet you in April of 2020. I saw you had the word IMPACT, so loved it so finally 3 years ago I broke down and bought my word BELIEVE. Sadly, this year some of my letters fell of my wall and broke. I wanted it replaced badly, but did not want to spend the money. I finally got the idea to just purchase letters from TPT! So much cheaper!!
I remember you living right by Target. I also made some of those poor judgments for storage and decor. Although I've been teach8ng almost 30 years, you give me some fresh ways of looking g at my teaching. I've been purging the useless and remaking my classroom. Thank you.
I appreciate the information about the rainbow carts. I have wanted to buy one forever, but I couldn't justify the cost.
It has taken me 30 years of teaching and kind colleagues to learn less is more.
Teachers are under appreciated. I have taught in nontraditional settings. I do not know if I could even substitute teach in public school. Too many poorly behaved parents, yes ! Parents, horror stories if kids behavior and the school being afraid to provide consequences to students
Totally agree with every statement… 100%. Thank you for sharing this video 😂❤
I finally bought shredded memory foam for mine. That worked much better.
I almost bought the straw container on your recommendation but decided the price was out of my comfort zone. Currently using a 50 cent cup from Walmart best sharp pencil storage ever!
It’s always good to know your weaknesses and own it! As an OG subscriber I feel your pain going back down memory lane! I currently have a decor item that I purchased for my Dad’s classroom when I was in middle school (I’ve got a post on Instagram about it). I found this item at a QVC outlet (that was a thing before 2000). It’s called a “poop moose”. It was an expensive ($30)candy dispenser that poops candy. My dad would use it during exams as an incentive. Greatest idea I ever had until some students complained to admin 🤦♂️!
OMG… yes! I had the EXACT SAME ISSUE with the rainbow carts and switched over to the Sterilite ones as well! Those are still going strong! I think the biggest lesson we have both learned is making sure you have a purpose for something before you buy it – instead of "I like it" or "I'll find a use for it… someday!"
I agree with most but the carts! I love my carts! For classroom use I just have to tighten them up once in awhile. I have a word work cart and a math manipulative cart.
You could repurpose your stool as a plant stand.
The thing about beab bag chairs, for those that want to find a way to make it work because bean bag chairs are awesome, is to take pool noodles, slice them into roughly 1 inch pieces (or rings), and fill the bean bags with those. Those won't get smooshed and they will hold their shape for a VERY long time.
13:29 I hate when my kids being mini erasers home. choking hazard for little siblings!
Ps. I love this video. I have made so any bad purchases in my life. I love that you share your mistakes ❤
Somewhere on the internet someone suggested putting plastic grocery bags to refill the bean bags. Best hack! That truly saved me a lot of money. However, you need over a hundred bags. 😅
Love the dose of reality😂…I think we've all had 'those' kind of crazy purchases …the kind you wonder what in the world were you thinking😬.
YES, to a comfortable chair…yes to Lakeshore 'if' you think you actually 'need' a bean bag chair😅 (I had 2 from childkraft in the shape of arm chairs…they were nice…but you still had to readjust the beans) Sterilite were my organizing 'go to' since drawers actually would work. Thanks for sharing your insights with others. After 35 years in the primary grades, my list was just a tad bit longer🤦🏼♀️…lol
Loved the video!
Curious, what greens where you referring to? 😅 I think I’m in that situation at that moment. 🙊
are you talking about athletic greens? It’s so gross I don’t understand the raving about it.
I knew the rainbow rolling cart would be in here somewhere. In my first year of teaching, my mentor teacher asked me to just throw that thing away for her. She said it made her frustrated and sad everytime she would have to use it, yet she could not bring herself to throwaway her investment.
Guilty of many of these!