Classroom Supplies for New Teachers

Remember those days when your parents took you shopping for school supplies? My parents were always late in doing so, as they were shift workers and this was not priority. There were times where we were not overly well off, so there were no bells and whistles, like liquid paper. Only the rich kids had liquid paper or a calculator. Never mind a calculator, how about the newest kind of calculator– solar powered!!!

Things have changed when it comes to school supplies, especially in high school. If you are new to the teaching profession and don’t have a clue about how to prepare, your department probably has a budget so you can hopefully order the items your students need. I mostly teach geography, so I usually need:

Of course those are items for the students to use. If I can provide some advice for the new teacher with regards to their own school supplies, it would be to consider having the following to make the job go a bit more smoothly:

#10. A tidy Google Drive or file bins

Things take much LONGER if you are constantly searching for something.

#9. Personal space

If I am sharing a classroom, I need to know of a cupboard or shelf where I can keep my stuff and it won’t get thrown out.

#8. Extension cords

Board approved of course. No daisy-chaining!!!

#7. Kleenex

Seriously, if your school doesn’t supply it buy it in bulk. The kids will need it! And then once they give you their cold, you’ll need it too. So buy the soft kind and keep a separate box for yourself:)

#6. Paper

This one is to be top secret. Purchase a package of photocopy paper for yourself and keep it in a secret spot for your own use. It is pretty crappy to stand in line forever at the copier and then there is no paper left for you and there is none to be found in the last 5 minutes before the bell rings… Then you can sell each sheet to the people in line behind you at a premium. I’m joking of course:)

#5. Black, Blue, Red and Green pens

Black and blue pens are interchangeable. The color red can be harsh, so save it for evaluations. I always use green for assessments. It’s the kinder color.

#4. Classroom binder for extra copies of worksheets and forms etc.

There’s always someone who lost theirs or who was absent when they were distributed.

#3. All of the student supplies above

It makes it pretty hard to do a classroom activity that you feel is valuable when the students don’t have the tools.

#2. Extra IT related items

Your USB drive, phone charger and laptop cord etc. are so important! Not having one of these items almost ruined a colleagues performance review evaluation…

#1. REAL paper towels

I’m not kidding! You will need these no matter what grade or subject you teach. And keep them HIDDEN. This is a teacher life saver. You’ll see…

Phew! I never knew there were so many words waiting to come out. If you made it to the end of this post, I thank you. If even one of these suggestions makes your teacher-life flow better, or if you have items that you think should be added to this list, I would be so happy to know and hear any stories you might have:)

Best,