A Little Bit of a Teacher’s Must-Have School Supplies
The start of a new school year is exciting both for students and their teachers. It isn’t only kids who are thrilled about purchasing all the nitty-gritty of fun and fancy supplies, you know – most teachers also have a passion for stationery. If you’re a teacher reading this, I’m sure you find yourself nodding because it was just recently that you found yourself planning and browsing through the stores.
While the essentials vary from person to person, most teachers have the tendency to exaggerate with the quantity of the said essentials. Unless you find the resourceful store providing affordable school supplies of quality, or come across great deals and sales, you’d have to make a concise list of the most crucial bits and pieces for your classroom and classes, minding your budget first and foremost.
This way, you’d get exactly what you need; no more, and no less. There is such a thing as too many supplies, I’m sure you’d agree! So, what’s essential, you ask? Let’s check the items one by one together.
Contents
School Stationery
While not every class or lecture is the same, two of the activities you can expect to mostly do are writing and drawing. Even though teachers ask parents to buy specific supplies for their kids, it doesn’t hurt to have your own stash always at the disposal of students who may or may not lose their own.
Writing, Drawing and Painting Materials
When it comes to related school supplies, you can’t get enough of sets in the likes of those consisting of pencils, coloured pencils, pens, crayons, and watercolours. Other supplies of the sort include arts and crafts sets, markers and dry erase markers, and of course the pencil sharpeners.
Though you mightn’t consider them crucial at first, they would turn out to be quite useful along the way. Related knick-knacks encompass staplers, command hooks, binders, and magnets.
Paper Materials
Now, it’s only natural to be in need of paper when you think pencils and the like are rated #1 teacher’s musts. What this may be varies from teacher to teacher, but the basics are notebooks, composition notebooks, construction paper, white and coloured printer papers, lined papers, cards, and notebook paper for magnetic whiteboards for all the story-telling, and model-handwriting. Stamps and stickers are extras ideal for grading, praising accomplishments, and games.
Board Materials
Speaking of boards, they’re simply must-haves, and you’d be happy to know the world of educational supplies can provide you with bulletin boards, traditional wooden balance and wobble boards, pinboards and whiteboards which are also crucial online teaching tools. All this plus the suitable board displays. However, if you’re concerned about the lack of space, and require something more compact and practical, there are ingenious supplies such as individual write and wipe pocket boards, and good old clipboards you can attach anywhere.
Reminders
Helpful for both teachers and students, post-it notes are equally handy, especially when you take into account they can be added anywhere on any notebook, paper, board – you name it. Whether it’s for reminders, introducing new words, grammar, maths, or just playing games, they’re most useful.
Though in respect of making observations about students, and noting down important examination information, students’ progress, lesson plans, as well as meetings, nothing substitutes the practical and user-oriented school supplies in the form of teachers’ diaries. Even teachers who think they’re better off without them sooner or later discover they’re truly indispensable.
Extra Activities
A great teacher is always prepared for students who always finish up their tasks before everyone else. Instead of letting them get bored out of their wits, or even slow down progressing as a result, filling up the classroom with supplies that can offer a bit of fun is advisable.
Piling up on books suitable for their age is a great idea, and it’s recommended to create a colourful reading nook where they can sit up and relax. Creating such a lovely ambience doubles up as motivational for other students to be more productive and reap the “reading nook time” reward too. Age-related educational toys and games can be just as ideal for early finishers so don’t leave them out of your shopping cart.
Organising the Essentials
Once you read all this, I imagine you envision quite the stationery mess acquiring each and every bit I just mentioned. Hence the importance of organisational materials from well-stocked school supply stores. Learning and mess never go hand in hand, and to be able to make for a pleasant clutter-free learning environment, you’d have to have the needed storage.
Depending on the materials you’d gather up, necessities in the example of tote trays, packs of small and large book tubs, magazine tubs, toy trays, containers, drawer organisers, envelopes, and ziplock bags ought to find their place on your must-have shopping list. To simplify things for you and the students, it’s best to buy them in different colours – each colour representing a specific set of supplies. And, lastly, don’t forget the labels!
