3 Inexpensive Ways to Hack Your Way into the School Year

Teachers spend hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets each year because there is not enough money in their budget to provide for student needs. How can serve our students without depleting our entire income for this upcoming school year? Here are some low-tech hacks to help your students. 

1. Dollar Store Table Cloths

No money for fancy bulletin boards? Plastic table cloths from the dollar store make the perfect bulletin board covers. 

Need a green screen? Hunter green table cloths make the best backgrounds for green screens. Are your students creating paper characters to appear on your video? Avoid using your hands and use green straws from Starbucks. They are invisible on your green screen.

2. No Desks? Pizza Anyone? 

I talked with a teacher a few days ago, who told me that she has more students than desks. Apparently in her school district, there are not enough desks for students. How can she solve this problem? I told her to visit her nearest pizza parlor and ask for pizza boxes. 

My friend Bryan Dean showed me how to turn pizza boxes into desks. With a little glue (or duct tape) and an extra piece of cardboard, you can create your own desks for students. 

3. Another Use for Home Depot Aprons

Elementary school teachers are always looking for places for students to store their books, pencils, and other utensils. Why not buy your students Home Depot aprons to tie to the back of their chairs? At 88 cents a piece, this is not a bad investment. 

Conclusion: 

Do you have more ideas to "hack" your way into the school year? I would love to hear your ideas! Perhaps it may be featured on my blog.