A teacher who spent more than $5,000 of her own money to make a cozy classroom explains why it helps kids learn

• Elementary school teacher Michelle Medintz spent thousands of dollars in 2022 on books and other items.
• Medintz said it's her choice to spend her own money on her class and that this doesn't make her a better teacher than others.

The "cozy corner" in Michelle Medintz's fourth-grade classroom is a book lover's dream. The corner not only includes her classroom library but cushions, a canopy, and stuffed animals.

"It's a calm down corner for the kids when they're overstimulated or just really emotional," Medintz told Business Insider.

The corner is filled with items she bought herself.

Medintz said she wants her classroom "to feel homey" for her students with books, math manipulatives, "and the necessary supplies needed for them to succeed." That means, she said, she has to spend her own money.

"I just wish that those people who say we have it easy because we get summers off dipped into their own pockets to do the same," Medintz said.

She has spent at least $5,000 in 2022 for her class, mainly on books, based on documentation shared with Business Insider.

Medintz has been a teacher for over 20 years. She's at a new school for the 2023-2024 academic year after her previous school closed. She's still in the same school district in Colorado.

She said it's her choice to spend money out of pocket. She said "you can be a highly effective teacher and not spend your own money."

"That doesn't make me a better teacher than my colleagues," she said. "I'm not one to hold it above everyone else and say, 'I'm better than you because I'm spending money.'"

A lot of teachers spend money out of pocket like Medintz.

While Medintz said she wishes teachers didn't have to dip into their own pockets, she added "I know the reality is that there's never going to be enough money for us to be able to give our students everything that they need."

New teachers should ask their school what supplies they can help out with and provide, Medintz suggested.

She also noted: "what I feel is for those people who are first starting teaching, they have to outfit a classroom. And for those people who are first coming into the profession, there is no way that they're getting paid enough to start."

Medintz said she does "make a good income" as she has many years of experience now and two master's degrees. She said she is "high up on the pay scale."

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the average annual wage for elementary school teachers in Colorado was $59,170 in 2022.

Book series, rewards, and other items Medintz has spent her money on

Medintz said she probably hasn't spent as much in 2023 compared to 2022.

"I realized I really need to cut back a little bit," Medintz said, noting she could also reuse some of her previous items.

Also, Medintz said she hasn't had to spend money on school supplies because the "school does have a lot of that stuff, and we got all of that stuff at the beginning of the year."

"This school does give teachers if we ask for something, they do actually make sure they have the money for us to be able to get what it is that we need," she said.

Medintz has spent lots of her own money buying books. Medintz said she studied children's literature in college and grad school. While she loves books, she said growing up she had a dislike for reading and didn't want to read "because there were never books in my school that I could read that I could access."

"When I thought about myself as a reader and other students that I've taught as readers, I realized I want my students to be able to put — doesn't matter what level they're at — to be able to have a physical book in their hands," she said. "And so one of the things I do every year is I look at different series that have come out that will interest my kids. I always ask my kids every year, 'what books do you want to read?'"

She then will buy books and fill baskets in her student library with them.

Medintz also has spent money on math manipulatives, which are tactile objects kids can use in math class to bring the lessons to life. She said math flash cards and fraction tiles are two math items she has bought last year.

"They need to be able to figure out how to do something rather than just pencil on paper," she said. "They need to move things around and figure out why something is."

While Medintz has spent a lot of her own money on her stuff for her students, she said she has used donation site DonorsChoose too, where people can donate money toward "projects" like classroom supplies and other requested things. Medintz said she has posted projects, mainly for snacks, for this year but none have been funded yet.

She also spends her own money on prizes like pencils and stress balls students can "buy" with points earned in class at the ClassDojo store she opens every two weeks. Medintz said her students can earn points "for positive behavior choices."

"I have also created a Dojo menu that includes things like lunch with the teacher and ice cream sundae party for the whole class and so much more," she added.

Medintz said she's not going to stop spending money on her students.

"Teaching is what gives me joy, even after a really long day," Medintz said.

She especially enjoys seeing a previous student come visit her.

"They want to come back because they remember you and they remember how much impact you had, that's why I stay in what I do," she said.

How much do you spend out of pocket as a teacher or in a different job? Reach out to this reporter to share at mhoff@businessinsider.com.