LAUGH
If you’re here, chances are you must be a teacher… And if not, you’re probably checking to make sure those weird habits your teacher friend or partner has are NORMAL. Don’t worry, they are. Let’s just say we teachers are a unique species.
Well, whether you’re a teacher or not, everyone loves a good game, so let’s play one!
If you see something in the list below you’re definitely addicted to, you get 2 points. Keep score as you scroll down the list and find out what your score means at the end. Ready, set, go!
1. Coffee
Cliche but true. Early start times, late nights grading papers and the inevitable head cold mean that teachers are hitting up Starbucks, the
2. Target
The Dollar Spot is a teacher’s dream. Cheap, themed decor. Perfect prizes for student incentives. The list is endless and the ability to leave with only what you need is next to impossible.
3. Laminating
Is there anything more devastating than a broken laminator? Or anything more satisfying than rolling fresh new posters through that heated machine? No way. Nothing says teacher joy like document preservation.
4. School Supplies
Never get between a teacher and their good pens, am I right? As much as we bemoan the end of summer, there is nothing like the smell of fresh pencils and the promise of a new notebook.
5. Leftovers/Meal Planning
Teachers don’t get the luxury of a meal out with coworkers. Being stuck without lunch means hitting up the vending machine, the cafeteria or just surviving on candy and coffee until 3 pm. A carefully curated lunch plan takes planning and discipline but most teachers make it a priority so no one has to suffer their hangry wrath.
6. Teachers Pay Teachers
What did we do before the internet and free printables? TPT works two-fold because it can bail you out when you need sub plans or it can bring in that extra income to get you more access to those sweet school supplies. Regardless, you’d be hard-pressed to find a teacher not using this site to their advantage.
7. Pinterest
Again, how were we generating complex
8. Water Bottles
Talking all day plus being trapped in a room with no way to control the temperature? It’s a recipe for disaster but teachers know what’s up and almost all of us are toting a giant water bottle on our way in each day. The trends change–Nalgene, Hydroflask, Yeti–but the sentiment remains. Hydrated teachers are happy teachers.
9. Personalization
Once you get that fly new water bottle, the next step is stickers. Whether you’re a monogrammer, a proud alumnus, or a hobbyist–teachers are known for slapping something personal on the standard-issue items.
10. Free Stuff
You will never see teachers run faster than when the “snacks in the breakroom” email hits. Food, books, school supplies–they’re all a hot commodity when served up free. We are broke and we know how to work the system. Gimme!
11. Cleaning Supplies
After the beg, borrowing and pleading for school supplies at the start of the school year, teachers can become pretty territorial with the cleaning wipes and good tissue. See them on clearance at Target? All of them. We will take all of them.
12. Planners
Various planners have taken on a sort of cult following amongst teachers. There are special pens. There are stickers. There are Erin Condren people. There are Plum Paper people. Teachers love nothing more than organization and planners play right into that joy.
13. Music
Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music. Whatever your streaming channel of choice–teachers tend to be obsessed with cultivating the perfect classroom playlist. Something soothing for individual work. Peppy but appropriate tunes for physical tasks. Thumbs up the wrong song? You’re not touching the computer for weeks.
14. Incentives
Duty-free pass, jeans pass, free optional workday, free food, free anything. When
RESULTS:
0 to 10 points:
You’re probably a new teacher with only a few years of experience. You know these addictions are real because you’ve seen the ways of the experienced veteran teachers around you. Come back in a couple of years and you’ll see…
12 to 20 points:
This definitely isn’t your first year in the biz. You know the ins and outs of the game and what it takes to make it through each school year. You’re a classroom warrior but you haven’t succumbed to the ways of a true veteran quite yet.
22 to 28 points:
Hey there, seasoned vet, we salute you. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people who were once children in your humble classroom are forever in your debt. You’ve poured your heart and soul into this job, under all circumstances. You’ve seen it all, heard it all, and smelt it all. They call you by your first name at Target AND the Dollar Tree, and you own a few vintage laminators. Now, kick your feet up and pour yourself one because tomorrow’s another day.
