Here are a few items that I bought:
The tootsie rolls are for the kids for prizes (I do a lot of free prizes, discussed in another post) but sometimes it's good to have something material and small to hand out for prizes. And I'm sure I'll eat a few :).
The soap is for myself and my students. Being a science room, there is a sink but no soap or paper towels.
Band-aids are for my students. I don't know if its the same where you are but kids get a hangnail, paper cut, or some other minor injury and they are very upset, disruptive and want to Go to the nurse. Rather than write them a pass, and have them miss half of class, I can often hand them a bandaid and have them sit down and stay in class.
Some of the others are for me. I'm finding it to make a huge difference that I'm comfortable. I can put my hair up mid-day, rather than waiting until the end of the day when I get home, and the same with lotion.
To add to that list -- pencils. But I don't get those at the dollar store. Watch your staples stores in August. They usually have a two or three day sale when packs of pencils are a penny each. There is a limit of two, but with a teacher ID, the limit is raised to 30?? That is another situation where, although I want kids to have pencils and return borrowed pencils sometimes its better to just give them something to write with and keep class moving!
(If my policies seem harsh, remember I teach middle and high school).
What do you keep in your desk or classroom to keep yourself and your kids comfortable and keep class moving smoothly.
To me, it was a good use of a few dollars!
I give candy prizes as incentives as well, and it totally works! I have a small Ikea lamp by my desk because my school is trying to save energy (we got an energy grant) and so during my plan, I turn off the overhead lights and just use my desk lamp. It is also nice when we watch a video to have a dim light on.
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