When I was in teachers college, they told me I would build a toolbox over time. They talked about management and engagement strategies I could add. They talked about books and songs and stories. They never said I needed to add real tools.
For years, I kept an allen wrench in my desk for those occasions when a student’s desk suddenly collapsed on one side, a leg giving out. I had jewelers tools to replace the screws that fell out of glasses and reattached arms. My 4th graders thought I was a rockstar.
In my new school, my repair work is more mundane. I replaced the latch I’d torn off the only locking cabinet the day I forgot my keys.
Yesterday, I tackled an annoying problem that has been growing: failing laminate.
I looked in my teacher toolkit and found just the right tools
The repair was made in about five minutes. It will sit over the weekend and, when I return to school on Monday, I will remove the tape.
Mission accomplished.
booksandbassets 
Love this play on teaching tools. So true! I also have some tools in one of my drawers for similar problems!
For years I kept a flat-head screwdriver, eyeglass repair kit, and a small hammer. They got used more than I would have ever thought possible!
And they say teachers just teach. Sometimes doing things yourself is so much easier than calling maintenance.
I see this a lot in our schools. It’s hard when there’s no money in the budget to replace things that are broken.
Well done! My teaching toolkit mainly involves those little allen wrenches for putting together bookshelves. Or a screwdriver for changing the heights of desks and table legs. Fun post idea.
You are the one to go to for repairs! Hope that glue holds for a long time.
You’re so handy! These are great ideas!!
Awesome – i totally know what you mean by a toolbox – like with actual tools not teaching strategies 🙂
See how many of us relate! Nice slice.
I am old enough to remember a TV game show where they would take a break, go into the audience, and ask if anyone had (blank) in their purse. Like a coupon that expired 5 years ago, or some such odd thing. I always think teachers have lots of odd things because we really do need lots of odd things.
Love how you are a rockstar to your kids because you can solve their practical problems 🙂
Ha! I love your play on words. I’m not quite as handy as you, but I do have a hammer and nails for hanging things. Unfortunately, if I want to hang something in the brick, I have to call a custodian!
Funny! I keep a bunch of tools in my classroom, too. It’s so much easier to just do it than have to put in a work order and wait a month or so before maintenance gets around to it.
This made me laugh and think how ingenious you are. I also thought about the toolkit of actual teachers is filled with so many nonacademic tools. Thanks for that reminder.
This reminded me of my first few years of teaching when I would go to certain veteran teachers’ classrooms to borrow things. Then I finally wised up and began my own collection of odds and ends! A fun post.
As a teacher just entering this profession- it is good to think ahead of those “other tools” I will someday need.
Yes, teachers never know what they are going to have to do next. I have my tool box under my desk. I wouldn’t feel safe without it.
This is a great story! It’s so important to be self reliant. I walked past a classroom one day and the teacher was evacuating because her sink was spraying water everywhere. I said, “Well, turn off the water!” She thought I meant turn off the faucet. I crawled under the sink and turned it off at the source and saved the day! 😉 The custodian didn’t show up for another 10 minutes, so at the very least I saved a few litres of water.
I will have to share this slice with my practicum student!
Haaa! Perhaps you should go to your local teachers college and share some of your literal tools in your toolkit! LOVE it.
I love your play on words, and it’s all so true! I hope that your failing laminate is still in place for you on Monday! ~JudyK
This made me smile! We certainly are jacks of all trades in this profession! I liked the way you began this story with the tools for teaching they teach us about in college.. Very clever, and I hope your laminate repair sticks!