Why I Don’t Have a Teacher Backpack

I see a lot of educators online always talking about teacher backpacks or bags and which one to get. But today I’m going to discuss why I don’t have a teacher backpack. Yep. Shock. Horror. I do not have a teacher backpack. And I don’t want one! Whenever I say this, people are always really surprised. I get questions like..

But, how do you take work home!?

I don’t.

How do you carry stuff back and fore with you?

I don’t.

But how do you survive as an educator without doing that?

By being organized. Looking after myself. And refusing to become another statistic of working myself so hard until I burn out.

Having a teacher backpack just encourages you to carry work back and fore. And as educators – we do not need encouraging to do that!

The Handbag Problem

I like to call it the handbag problem. It’s like when you have a small handbag, you only carry the absolute essentials with you. But when you get a bigger handbag, all of a sudden it’s still full – because you’re just filling it up and putting as much as you can in there!

So when you don’t have a teacher backpack.. You can only carry things in your hands. So you’re only going to carry around the absolute necessary things. But if you have a teacher bag or a teacher backpack.. All of a sudden you’re going to see that big space and start filling it up with all of the things. And that’s not healthy.

Taking Work Home

Teachers and educators are known for taking work home. I mean, it’s known to each other in our field. Outside of the field can be a different story. I’ve had comments like..

“Oh it must be so nice to work part time.”

“It must be great to have every weekend off.”

“Wow. It must be great to have so much time off through the year.”

I mean.. I don’t know what planet they’re living on. But they make it sound like we have such nice and easy jobs that take up so little of our time. But in fact, the majority of teachers and educators are constantly overworking themselves. Turning up early for work. Working later in the evening at school. Taking work home in the evenings, on weekends and even through school breaks.

But all of this extra working isn’t good for your mental or physical wellbeing. Take away your teacher bag and backpack. Now if you absolutely have to take work home tonight.. What are you going to carry it with? Your arms, most likely. Or your handbag. Both of these options mean you won’t be taking much home. And instantly your brain is going to kick in and decide what exactly has to be done as a priority and what doesn’t.

Temptation Can Be Painful

Let’s face it, temptation is the hardest thing to avoid. And with that backpack, you are tempted to take home everything. I’ve seen people with stuff in their teacher backpack that has been there since the beginning of the school year.. And now it’s April!

All of that stuff weighing you down everyday is not good for your body. Think of all that extra weight you are carrying around.. And you aren’t even using it! As educators our jobs are demanding and often physically draining without having all that extra baggage to carry around – pun intended!

More Money

Yep. More money. When I have talked about how much money I’ve spent on students and classrooms over the years with professionals in other career paths they’re blown away. They genuinely don’t understand why we spend money on our students and classrooms. Most of them don’t even pay for their own uniforms – or if they’re in business, they claim back to the money they spend for their suits and outfits.

For us educators, we always seem to be purchasing something. Maybe it’s things to decorate the classroom. Or maybe we’ve run out of something in the classroom. We could be out shopping and see things our students like, and so we pick those up. And if you’re anything like me – I like to pick up Christmas presents, birthday presents, Easter presents. Because I build such great connections with these students, that they really do become an extended family for me.

Then, there’s the clothes. I go through so many clothes through the school year. Now don’t get me wrong, I won’t be winning any Pinterest fashion contests any time soon. I learned long ago not to spend too much on school uniform, because it gets ruined fast! Between crafts, cooking, being outdoors, and just general everyday classroom stuff, clothing gets ruined real easy. And I feel like I’m probably picking new work clothes up all the time every school year.

So why am I going to voluntarily spend out even more money on a teacher backpack?

And some of the prices on these backpacks that I see are crazy. Some educators are paying over $100 for a backpack to carry work back and fore. That’s $100 of your wages that you have earned through hard work. If you want to spend it on a teacher backpack – you go for it. But if you want to keep your money – do it! Do not feel pressured to get a teacher backpack.

Fitting In

And while we’re on the subject of pressure.. A lot of the times we are doing things to fit in with others. Because we see our colleagues, or other education professionals on social media all sharing their teacher backpacks. And we think oh no.. everyone has a teacher backpack. Which means I must need it. So now I have to get one!

But it really doesn’t work like that. If you feel like you absolutely have to have one, then go for it. But honestly, I’ve survived all of these years without one. And I don’t ever feel the need to purchase one in the future. So don’t feel pressured to do what everyone else is doing.

Exception to the Rule

But, like with most rules in life, there is an exception. Now I don’t have a teacher backpack. But I do have a cheap backpack that I use for when we go out on field trips. Our staff usually rotate who wears thiseach trip so that nobody id always lumbered carrying it. Or if we’re going out for a few hours or the day, we’ll take it in turns to give us all a bit of a break.

In this backpack we usually have;

• Baby wipes.
• Anti-bac hand wash.
• Tissues.
• Spare snacks.
• Mini bottles of water.
• Mini first aid kit – and any medical equipment that students need.
• Student information book.
• Rubber straws.
• Towel.
• Spare change of clothes that would fit students.
• Spare nappies.
• Class funds purse.
• Carrier bag.

We will also add things and switch the backpack up depending where we are going and what time of year it is. We might keep a spare set of scarf and gloves in there. Or a pair of ear defenders. In the summer we’ll take some sunscreen and sunglasses as spares. And it’s just stuff that we’ve learned over the years. Like when we’ve been at the beach and wished we had brought carrier bags to take away our rubbish.. Now we keep a carrier bag in there. Whenever you’re on a field trip and wish you’d brought something, make a note of it and take it in the class backpack the next time. We usually get it checked over the day before the field trip to make sure we have everything ready to go. And then we just grab it as we’re heading out the door.

Exception #2

The other exception is if you’re a sub. When you’re a sub, you are obviously going to be going to different classrooms and schools, possibly on a daily basis. So you are going to have things that you need to carry around. So I would recommend a backpack for this. But don’t go wild and get a huge one, because then you’re going to be tempted to fill it and put too much into it! Lay out the things that you need to take with you everyday – remember to factor in space for food and drinks too – and then try to find a backpack that fits those without being too big and heavy for you.

Do you use a teacher backpack? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments down below.

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