What do you keep in your desktop drawer? by Headteacher @RachelOrr

This post answers the 3rd question from my TeacherToolkit Thinking page of Thunks. You can see my other top-Thunks here.

Thunk 3: What do you keep in your desktop drawer? by Headteacher @RachelOrr Answer below.

“What do I keep in my desktop drawer?
My desktop drawer is a bit like the Tardis. I am always amazed at how much it holds and what I find.

Aside from paper clips, pens, a calculator, a hole-punch, ruler, post-it notes, staples and the usual stationery bits and pieces, I have a whole stash of ‘minificates’. These are a cross between a certificate and a sticker; a ‘mini-certificate’ of sorts, around the size of a business card. The ones I have made, can be for handed out for any reason whatsoever. Some of them simply say ‘WOW‘ or ‘Fabulous!‘ on a brightly coloured background. Others have comments such as, ‘Interesting point’, ‘Well thought out’, ‘Fantastic ideas’ and so on… My desk plays host to a special range of HeadTeacher’s award stickers – always a crowd pleaser!

The ideas and comments are endless. The children love receiving them – particularly attractive for the boys – as you can slip them into your pocket instead of having an enormous certificate to handle…

In my desktop drawer, I also have ‘brainy’ and ‘behaviour’ ‘bucks’ (£1’s) as part of our reward system. These come in £1, £5, £10, £20 and £50 denominations and can be awarded for anything at all – kids like to clock up the megabucks!

…A large ball of blu-tac restson one of the wells in the top drawer – it has become quite hairy of late as it collects the dust!… There’s large ball of string in the bottom drawer; although I have not had cause to use it yet, apart from hanging Christmas cards on the back of my office door.

I have a ‘petty-cash request slip’ notepad etched on yellow paper, used only when staff request extra items. Then, scanning my drawers(!), I see a range of non-teachery-type stuff in the drawer… I have this fabulous fragrance spray for the room, bought in Chester at the Earth Shop – it’s called ‘Negativity Clearing Spray’ and has a wonderful orange citrus aroma. I also keep a small bottle of Chanel No.5 along side some Elnett hairspray and Sure for Women – you never know when you or someone else may need them. I have a spare make-up bag with the bare essentials inside, for those emergency occasions.

The final part parts of my desktop drawer contain a large red soft fluffy-face from Red Nose Day – when you bounce it off the desk, it laughs for 30 seconds and then delivers another laughing sound – it’s great for breaking the ice with kids when you need to crack a smile or distract them… If I were answering this question regarding the contents of my school handbag – now that’s a different story – I don’t think the list would vary too much, aside from my ability to buy goods using the bank card – especially shoes!

If only my desktop drawer could hold a couple of pairs of shoes… For those of you who know me -especially the kids – they would say these are a must – and the higher the better of course!”

Written by @Rachel Orr, edited and posted by @TeacherToolkit.

You can find out more about Rachel by following her operatic escapades on her blog.