This post contains Amazon Associates links to teacher wishlists. These links help teachers, and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Any potential earnings will help me fund more teacher giveaways.
This month, we began collaborating with Teacher’s Market to launch our new series, Teacher Feature, in order to to help teachers by raising awareness & donations for educators in need of classroom supplies. Most people aren’t aware of how much need there is – indeed, I have so many close friends and relatives who are teachers, and even I didn’t realize the extent of it or that there was a whole community online where teachers share their wishlists in hopes of assistance. I truly believe that if we could shine a spotlight on this issue, so many people would jump in to help, because it’s such a worthy cause and one can make a true difference with little to no money. I decide to write an explainer on this topic as a way to get the message out, and interviewed several teachers about their experiences. It was very eye-opening, and what they had to say may surprise you!
Why Does “Clear The List” Exist?
The average person would assume that classroom supplies are provided by the school, parents, or the PTA. However, most teachers are actually digging into their own pockets in order to give their students what they need. The needs vary, but I noticed three common, recurring reasons why teachers ask for “Clear The List” donations:
As a Community Service to Kids in Need
An ongoing theme in my conversations with teachers has been the fact that many of them spend their own money on snacks because some students come to school without getting breakfast at home. No child should go hungry, and it’s been well-documented that children can’t learn on an empty stomach. I spoke with a teacher named Sarah who said:
I work in a Title 1 school and 100% of our students get free lunch. We don’t ask parents to bring in supplies because they have other things to worry about. We want them to focus on getting their kids to school. We also have a food and hygiene pantry in my room. Food insecurity and period poverty are both real issues. Our students know they can have access to these resources, no questions asked. Students come to us daily for these supplies.” – Sarah, @MrsSTeacherChef
Sarah has a wishlist on Amazon here and is trying to add another “Care Cart” with hygiene items to another floor of her school so that more kids have access. So many schools provide vital community resources to underprivileged families, often financed by the teachers alone.
Many Schools do Not Provide Essential Supplies to Teachers
No restaurant ever asks a waiter to bring his own dishes to work; however, it’s commonly expected that teachers purchase basic classroom supplies. I talked with so many teachers who quite literally don’t have the funds to buy the things they need to do their job. One teacher I spoke to who wished to remain anonymous told me that she was struggling just to afford paper for her classroom:
I’ve come to the realization that motherhood and teacherhood are two areas difficult to balance at times. I regretfully admit that once school resumes I tend to put my family on the back burner. From lesson planning, replenishing materials, buying materials to fit my lessons, contacting parents, grading, ensuring all IEP accommodations are made, juggling from keeping up with the all the schedules and unplanned changes to schedules, and constantly checking my work email and class dojo…exhaustion is but a fraction of of how I feel at the end of a long day of work.
To top it off being told not to make ‘too many’ copies because we as a school are running low on paper poses a difficult task, since my students are so young and depend on daily paper pencil activities, not to mention weekly homework packets. I’ve had to purchase a second printer to keep at school. I recently paid about $130 for ink. Usually, early in the school year I have to replenish often due to the various projects I have my students work on. Not to mention the paper reams I purchase to ensure my students have what they need. As a teacher I have to juggle between budgeting my son’s speech therapy sessions to making sure I have paper and ink. Finances tend to be quite tight in my household but somehow we find a way to manage. I know that teaching is truly a ministry of its own but sometimes it’s truly difficult to try to juggle so many needs which do not include my own.” – Anonymous Teacher
And living from paycheck to paycheck has a knock-on negative impact not only on the teachers themselves, but their students as well. A teacher named Dani told me:
Teachers often face significant challenges when living paycheck-to-paycheck. Their relatively modest salaries can make it difficult to cover essential expenses, especially given the demands of the job. Balancing the costs of housing, transportation, healthcare, and education can be a constant struggle. This financial stress can impact their overall well-being, job satisfaction, and even their ability to effectively educate students. Additionally, limited financial resources might hinder their professional development opportunities and ability to invest in classroom materials and resources, which can indirectly affect the quality of education they provide.” – Dani
Dani has a classroom wishlist here and a resource closet wishlist here.
Some Teachers are Incurring Debt to Buy Required Items
Unfortunately, the lack of provided budget has more ramifications than just going without. Shockingly, I learned that some teachers are actually incurring debt just to buy classroom supplies. A teacher who wished to remain anonymous told me:
When I first got to my classroom, there was barely anything. Then throughout the pandemic we weren’t allowed to sing or share instruments in music class. I’ve racked up so much debt between getting instruments and materials just to do my job. I took it upon myself to do what I thought was right, for the students, but now my family is going to deal with the repercussions for a long time.” – Anonymous Teacher
How Can You Help?
It’s discouraging to learn how many educators are struggling to afford what they need for their students. But the good news is, YOU can help, even if you have little to no money to spare. Here are 3 cheap, easy and FREE things you can do today to make a difference:
Easily Help Teachers by Donating an Inexpensive Wishlist Item
You don’t need a big budget to help teachers – many of the individual items they need are inexpensive, so if we all pitch in, we could collectively “Clear The List”. And the majority of teacher wishlists are on Amazon, so donating couldn’t be easier! Here is an example of how affordable and simple this is:
This is a donation I made recently – teacher names obscured to protect privacy. All I did was pick a couple of random wishlists linked up on our Teacher Tuesday roundup, and added these two $5 items to my cart. Amazon allows you to ship to multiple addresses in one order, so I was able to send these items to 2 different teachers at the same time. This means that you could add a teacher wishlist item to your cart whenever you think of it, and then just checkout the next time you need to place your own Amazon order – so convenient, and you don’t even have to place a separate order to do it!
You can find teacher wishlists on our Clear The List Hub: We’re featuring 31 teachers for each day of August, and we also post a brand new Teacher Tuesday link-up every week where educators can drop their wishlists, year-round! You can also find teacher wishlists by searching the #ClearTheList hashtag on any social media platform.
Vote & Write to Your Member of Congress
Voting is crucial, and has a direct impact on your school district during local elections. Look into school measures that are on the ballot, and see where candidates stand on education. Obviously, this is a very large and nuanced subject – the important takeaway here is that it’s vital for you to do your research and vote in every election, both national and local. Not registered to vote? Visit Vote.gov!
You can also contact your Member of Congress and let them know how much you support teachers and education, and weigh in on any local matters pertaining to your school district. Their offices count the calls that are received on different issues, and Members of Congress take that information to their colleagues – for example, it helps if they can report that they received 250 calls about issue XYZ from their constituents. The most impactful method of contacting your Member of Congress is phone calls, followed by emails through their website. Click here to find your Member of Congress, and make sure to provide your name and zip code when contacting them.
Talk to Your Friends & Share #ClearTheList Posts!
Another great and FREE way to help is to share #ClearTheList posts on social media! It may seem like a small thing, but this really helps amplify teacher wishlists and raise awareness. If I hadn’t been tagged in such a post a couple of months ago, I never would have known this movement even existed, and since learning about it I have now been able to donate to multiple teacher wishlists and run Amazon eGift Card giveaways for teachers through Teacher Feature! You can search the #ClearTheList hashtag on any social media platform to find teacher wishlists to re-post, share a post linking to our Clear The List Hub, or just talk to your family and friends about the topic through good old fashioned word of mouth! Anything we can do to raise awareness will help these teachers.
Want a quick & easy post to share? Please help by Pinning the infographic below to Pinterest!
You can also use the share buttons below to quickly & easily share this post on social media. Thank you for your support!
Did you learn anything in this article that surprised you?
