5 MUST-HAVE school supplies for back to school

Ahhh…a teacher’s dream is to go back to school shopping and find composition notebooks for 25 cents or glue bottles for a penny! This back to school season make sure to stock up on these 5 essentials.

1. Clorox wipes

Kids of all ages and sizes are full of germs! They bring them from home, they get it from the school bus, their friends, their parents, their boyfriend or girlfriend, and these germs make their way to your classroom, your stapler, your desks, ugh…you get the picture! It’s a germ infestation!

I can’t tell you how many times I purchase Clorox wipes during the school year. Especially for flu season. Once I hear a sneeze, it’s on! After class I Clorox wipe the desks and my supplies. Yes, it sounds a little OCD, but I can’t afford to get sick.

Once I’m sick it takes me forever to get better because I talk all day long and it’s bad enough that those first few days back teachers lose their voice or it gets a little hoarse, without having to add a full blown cold.

Don’t get me wrong, you will get sick. It’s inevitable. With so many kids and so many viruses, but at least you’ll be building up your immune system! It comes from years of being around runny noses and dirty tissues left behind on the desks and on the floor.

Besides, there’s always that high schooler that casually strolls in late with her Starbucks caramel macchiato that somehow finds its way onto my floor!

So yes, hold the electric pencil sharpener and white out, stock up on Clorox wipes!

2. Hand sanitizer

This is an obvious choice! Along with some Kleenex boxes, place hand sanitizer bottles somewhere away from YOUR teacher desk but easily accessible to all students.

I have a small table where I stack up my copies for the day’s lesson and that’s where I have the supplies my students can use freely. My desk is off limits!!!

So find a place where you can keep a bottle of hand sanitizer to prevent germs and viruses from spreading.

And yes, I’ve heard about how bad hand sanitizer can be, but trust me, the bathroom usually runs out of soap and paper towels…so…add hand sanitizer to your cart pronto!

3. Copy Paper

As we move our classrooms away from paper and into google classrooms and digital task cards, there’s still plenty of times we have to give a good old-fashioned paper and pencil quiz or test. I don’t know about your school, but there have been plenty of times when I’ve gone downstairs to make a class set of 30 copies only to have 4 sheets of paper in the machine. No there’s no secret stash anywhere! I have to run upstairs to my classroom and get some copy paper.

So definitely make sure that you have copy paper available for copies or simply to put in your printer.

Here’s a great tip: go to donorschoose.org and create a project for your classroom. One time I got so fed up with not having copy paper for my next day’s lesson, that I stomped upstairs to my classroom, sat down in front of my computer, and posted a project on donorschoose for boxes of reams of paper. And by the next morning my project had gotten completely funded and reams of paper were in my room within 2 weeks. True story!

Now, I think I got lucky because it was close to the holiday time when businesses or rich people have to dump their millions before uncle Sam starts knocking (thank you for giving it away to us poor teachers rather than paying more in taxes!). But still, donorschoose is a great way to get funds for school supplies, even field trips! Check it out.

4. Blue pens

You definitely need to get pencils, pens, markers, highlighters, and other writing utensils, but don’t forget the blue pens! There’s so much paperwork involved in education and so many forms that are “official” must be signed in blue ink. Either papers for gifted educational plans, IEPS for special ed students, or maybe just your teacher evaluation, have blue pens readily available.

5. Picture Frame

A picture frame? Yes, a beautiful 4 x 6 or 5 x 7 picture frame for you to display a picture of your motivation for being an amazing teacher this year. Maybe it’s a photo of your kids. Maybe it’s a photo of your husband or girlfriend. Maybe it’s a picture of that beautiful house you’re visualizing that keeps you waking up at 6 a.m. in the morning to get to work!

Whatever it is that makes you happy and motivated, put a picture of it in a nice frame and display it on your desk. If possible, get one of those frames with a nice inspirational message or quote.

Teaching is not always smiles and fun. There are rough days. Days when you question why you stick around. Days when you ask yourself why am I still paying off $25,000 in student loans for a teaching degree. Days when you feel discouraged by lousy salaries, helicopter or absent parents, not so nice colleagues, or unsupportive administrators. Ungrateful students. Misbehaved classes. Think Kindergarten Cop (if you haven’t seen it, I urge you to see it. It’s great!).

Looking at this picture frame will get you back on track and hopefully lift your spirits. Once you get a heartfelt note from one of your students or one of your parents, frame that too. It’ll be a constant reminder of why you are in this wonderful, but often undervalued profession.

So yes, to RECAP, sanity and your personal health are priorities when back to school shopping. Remember to buy:

• Clorox wipes (clean desks and unforeseen spills)
• Hand sanitizer (keep those germs off your supplies)
• Copy paper (for those last minute quizzes or printing of lesson plans)
• Blue pens (to sign important documents)
• Picture frame (to stay motivated to return to work the next day!)

 

What’s the school supply you MUST have in your shopping cart for back to school season? Share it below! (Click here for a FREE copy of my First Day of School Countdown Checklist for middle and high school teachers)