Teachers already started classroom prep for upcoming school year
Summer is here and school is out, but for teachers, it's time to prepare for the upcoming school year
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Summer is here and school is out, but for teachers, it’s time to prepare for the upcoming school year and get their classrooms. ready. When you remember going to school in a decorated classroom, most of that came out of the teacher’s pocket.
Teachers are working on their classrooms during summer break and getting everything they need can get expensive. One teacher works every day to help other teachers in America knock items off their teacher Wishlists.
Founder of “TeacherWishlist,” Robin started posting on social media about what teachers needed for their classrooms.
“I started it on Instagram, and then I slowly moved into TikTok,” Robin said. “I had 23 lists, and 88 followers on Instagram for six months. I did a TikTok trying to help those 23 teachers, and now there are 26,000 teachers on the list.”
Robin said everything on a teacher’s wishlist has a purpose.
“Teachers have themes in their classrooms usually for elementary school,” Robin said. “You’ll walk in, and it will be all rainbows or Harry Potter-themed or something. All of that is bought by the teacher. They want to make it a place a kid wants to go and sit for 8 hours. There might be a Disney stapler on the desk, and everyone is like ‘We’ll that’s not necessary,’ but what that does, is if there’s a kid in that class that loves Disney, that might start a conversation between a teacher and a student that wouldn’t have happened. It helps them form bonds with their students. I bought one year five winter jackets because kids didn’t have winter jackets. Why do you have socks on your list? – Because there’s gonna be a kid that needs those socks.”
Amazon wishlists can be especially important to new teachers. Samantha Birts is a new fourth-grade teacher in Starkville.
“Usually, a lot of things teachers put on their Wishlist are things you don’t find on their normal school supply list,” Birts said. “It also helps some students that are not able to bring supplies. It’s always nice to have extra to provide your students the best environment for them to be successful, things that would make the classroom feel more than just a classroom, somewhere they can enjoy being at.”
“Last year a teacher sent me ‘I’m a new teacher just out of college, my list was cleared and the stress is gone,” Robin said.
Robin said that even just sharing the list so more people can see it means everything.
“There’s no way to get the 26,000 lists cleared, but there is a way to get some teachers some help,” Robin said. “Seeing people get what they need is all I need to keep doing this.”
If you are a teacher who would like to post your wishlist or would like to help a teacher get some items off their list, you can visit the link in the bio on @teacherwishlists on Instagram and Tiktok.
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