Job Discussion Forums

Sashadroogie · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:19 pm Post subject:

Never really use it. Should have bought a more swishy paper guillotine instead. And any flashcards made were not for use in tight-fisted schools : )

mimi_intheworld · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 167 Location: UAE

I have done, and I do. I teach secondary, so my classroom materials are limited to exercise books and pens (and printers/copiers, ink, a wifi connection, a laminator, white boards markers...)

Okay, after some thought I must conclude I buy all kinds of stuff for school. I don't regret any of it - it'll all get used or disseminated sooner or later. Whatever.

However, when my pay was much lower, I bought far less (exclusively a packet of A4 paper and some pencils).

teacheratlarge · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 192 Location: Japan

I have a laminator, but balk at buying an Ipod, which I probably wouldn't use except for school (not into headphones, if I listen to podcasts I do it on my home PC) .

Some of the schools here in Japan provide them, but alas, I do not work at such a place. I would love to see the schools providing tablets for use as well.

fladude · Joined: 02 Feb 2009 Posts: 432

Depends on various factors. What is my pay? Who am I teaching? If I am teaching poor kids and my pay is enough to have some savings, then yes I will buy things. If I am teaching rich kids.... then na. Lets just do without.

sohniye · Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Posts: 90

Wow, it's good to have so much insight and thought given to this thread. Thank you Smile

I had a good laugh at the laminator discussion---having taught in a high school environment this was a pretty tense issue from time to time.

I am still going over if and how much to spend...also trying to figure out if this will even be possible given luggage restrictions.

Do you think 400.00 is too much to spend?

markcmc · Joined: 18 Jan 2010 Posts: 262 Location: Taiwan

I buy small things, some graded readers, some DVD's (cheap ones) and other small items.

Luckily my university has a good laminator Smile

markcmc · Joined: 18 Jan 2010 Posts: 262 Location: Taiwan

contented · Joined: 17 Oct 2011 Posts: 136 Location: اسطنبول

IMO, $400 is too much. I'd spend $60 or less on stuff.

sohniye · Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Posts: 90

The 400.00 would be a full set of these

http://www.froebelusa.com/froebel-gifts/

Anyone familiar? I know it seems somewhat elitist but I could build so many cross-curricular lessons around them. I really could use them as an investment but the frugal Sohniye has been thinking it over for weeks now Embarassed

That being said even if I did buy them I am in kind of a pickle: 20+ pounds added to my luggage might be an issue. I can't really order them and have them sent to Russia....very likely a package that heavy would get caught at customs and never make it's way to my school Sad

A chinese manufacturer was going to give me a nice deal for these for around 350.00 but even he said he wasn't certain they would make it post Russian postal services Sad

Might just have to let this one go. It's either this or those Rammstein tickets! Oh yes.

HLJHLJ · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 1218 Location: Ecuador

Way too much, both in terms of price and weight. Plus, they are ridiculously over-priced for what they are and half the pieces will be missing, chewed, damaged or drawn on by the end of your first semester. There's nothing in there that you couldn't cobble together out of stuff that's available locally in most places, for a fraction of the price.

Buy the Rammstein tickets instead.

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

I regularly buy magic markers and erasers for the blackboard and when I take books out of the library, I xerox the exercise pages and sometimes the explanation pages as well.
I�ve bought books regularly, about 2 a year, but there is no hardfast rule on that. When I teach at a new level or grade, I usually make a trip to the bookstore to see what�s in stock. I�m always adding to my collection of books and currently have 2 dozen that I use for classroom use.

sohniye · Joined: 15 Mar 2011 Posts: 90

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

You should be posting the last question on the Russian thread.

LongShiKong · Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 1082 Location: China

I bought plastic animals from dollar stores and language-related board/card games from thrift stores back home. I prefer the type of paper cutters photofinishers use--roller style. They're actually cheaper than the guillotine style and you can cut up to 5 or 6 sheets of 80g A4 sheets at a time, and much faster. An alternative to a laminator is transparent shelf-liner adhesive which sells in rolls. I prefer this for making small playing-card sized flashcards if printed on 200g stock. I have a number of resource books and ELL readers (with audio) as PDFs but I did bring some small books for young kids.

Shroob · Joined: 02 Aug 2010 Posts: 1339

I recently had a meeting with the boss of the foreign studies department at my university. We talked about using a text book (Inside Out) and when the teachers mentioned that the CD requires audio equipment our boss suggested we each buy a CD player for the classes we teach. Which, when you consider the Chinese teachers have access to multimedia suits and projectors while my classroom lacks windows (sorry, it has windows but no glass) is a kick in the teeth.