This time of year always excites me. I love roaming the aisles of the back-to-school supplies sales. Not only do I find inexpensive pencils, paper, crayons, markers, post-its, rulers and glue sticks, I also find new things to spruce up my personal writing desk.
I’m like the proverbial kid in a candy store when it comes to school supply stores. The unfortunate side affect of having so many online sources for educators is the facts that teacher/education supply stores are becoming a thing of the past. I used to go to the local “teacher stores” and mingle with fellow educators. We didn’t necessarily speak to each other, but we eyed each other’s baskets and shopping carts and almost always I saw something in their carts that I knew I could use. I’d head back to add it to my purchases, only to discover something else on the way to check-out.
It’s old school vs convenience. Why wander aisles when you can find it online? Because you don’t find those special touches, the things you accidently bump into as you head to check-out. I liked taking an hour out of my day to wander those sales. True, I always got carried away (sometimes I still do) but I used everything and sometimes wished I’d not been so frugal when I bought 26 items and ended up with 28 students. It happened too often back before class sizes were held down!
My only chance to get crazy anymore is if a teacher or an entire school wants my assistant tool pouches. Several years ago, I made pouches for a school where a friend of mine works. The next year I made others for volunteer groups.
Why besides allowing me to back-to-school shop do I make them?
I realized that when I worked in a classroom or out in the hall, I often needed a pencil or tape or a scissors. That meant leaving the group I was working with or sending a students back to the classroom to get what we needed. That created an interruption and I lost time with my group. Bright idea! Make myself a tool pouch.
If you know me, you know that I keep on the look out to make small groups easier to manage. The tool pouch proved to be a great idea for others as well myself.
My OFFER to YOU and EDUCATORS YOU KNOW
If you would like me to build you a pouch, I’ll gladly do so. I’ll include a sturdy pouch that has 3-rings and can be fastened into a notebook, 2 pencils, 1 pen, 1 highlighter, 1 small pair of scissors, 1 eraser, 3 eraser add-ons, 5 paperclips, a short stack of post-its, 1 glue stick, a small roll of tape, 1 pencil sharpener and a piece of fleece to wipe off whiteboards. I assemble the pouches for $5 so I can’t afford to include whiteboard pens. If you live at a distance I might need to mail it, the price would go up a bit.
If you’re interested, let me know before the back-to-school sales end in mid-August. I’ll gladly do the aisle waking for you. If nothing else, consider making your own or making one for your child’s teacher. It saves lots of time and keeps small groups on-task.