For a Teacher a Dollar Only Store is a Gold Mine of Resources

The growth of the dollar only stores is certainly evident and although some have had to start charging a little more for some products their popularity has continued to grow. For teachers they are like finding a gold mine. Many of the items a teacher would want still const only $1.00. You can often purchase two child safe scissors in one package, two glue sticks, a package of colored pencils, a package of pencils or pens, two rulers, and much more for that $1.00 fee.

Teachers love the fact that they can purchase many items that will help them produce a bulletin board that looks great and can be completed in a very short amount of time. In addition these stores often have many items available that are seasonal, which means that teachers can make their room reflect the seasonal changes. A whole package of fall colored leaves can decorate a wall of the classroom.

Many books and games are also available and can easily add to the classroom much needed diversions after a long day of class work. Games teach children how to follow rules and how to work together. The huge amount of materials these stores sell that could be used for art projects adds to their appeal to teachers.

As a middle school teacher and later as a high school teacher I still found these stores a valuable resource. Just prior to state mandated testing I would purchase a few packages of extra pencils. I would sharpen them all up prior to the testing. I would only make available a dozen at a time so they were not simply taken and certainly would try to get them all back.

Even if the school would supply extra pencils, it often was only two or three per class. I always found it better to be more prepared than less. Some of the books and materials from these dollar stores could also keep students busy after they finished their portion of the testing. This made a big difference in keeping them content as they waited for others to finish testing.

Sometimes you have to think a bit more creatively when you go to these stores, As an example, they sometimes sell toys like a "slinky" (TM) which can be used in science classes to demonstrate compression and transverse wave motion through a medium. They may sell big boxes of toothpicks which can be used for art projects and even can be used in math class to calculated the value of "Pi" (a future article)., or baking soda and vinegar to use in acid / base experiments.

These stores have a lot to offer, but you may be able to get parents to supply some of the things you need for your class room. You could go to these stores first and see what they have that you could use and then create a "wish list" that you could provide to parents. Since these items will not cost parents much either, you may actually get them donated. Don't forget you can even ask the manager of the store to donate items on your wish list.