Back to School: 20 Must-Have Teacher Supplies

The summer season is just underway, but for some teachers and students, a new school year is right around corner. With many schools starting at the end of July and early August, for teachers, it means that you do not have long before you meet the new smiling faces who will enter your classroom for a new school year.

Here is a list of must-have supplies that will make your job and your life easier as you prepare for another awesome school year.

There will always, I repeat, always be a need for a stapler. Whether you are stapling papers, putting together a bulletin board or decorating a door, a stapler is one of the most essential items for your classroom.

Clipboards are perfect for a lot of things. For starters, it can help you keep your papers organized, especially graded papers or assignments.  You can also hang them around the room to keep track of attendance, important meeting documentation and classroom seating charts, to name a few.

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Instead of listening to your students use the loud, disturbing pencil sharpener in the middle of a classroom lecture, provide them with some small, handheld pencil sharpeners to decrease the sound and stay effective in keeping the attention of your students.

Vibrant colors have a way of energizing people. Instead of using that dull black marker when writing on the dry erase board, give yourself and your students a dose of energy by using bright colors. It will make a difference. It is also good when teaching different subjects that require multiple concepts, such as math. Using color codes can make the world of difference in educating your students effectively.

If you love labeling things or implementing structure to your daily teaching tasks, sticky notes are your best friend. You might need one to separate chapters in a book, early morning reminders or keeping up with daily tasks. They also come in different shapes, colors and sizes to make things a little easier when trying to stay organized.

Card stock is another item that can be used for a lot of things. You might want to implement task cards, classroom management cards, letters, posters or decorations.

There will be at least one day that you run out of staples for your stapler. For days like this, keep a pack of binder clips together for all those loose papers that you carry out the door on a daily basis when your bag is already jammed pack with notes and graded papers.

Magnets make the idea of making a mess with tape a non factor. Instead of worrying about how to recycle things that are bound by tape, magnet-based objects can be easily rearranged, taken down or reused.

Staying on the idea of not using tape, command hooks make hang things around your classroom a lot easier. You might want to hang your personal items, decorations, hang task cards or any other ringed item. Command hooks makes this process smooth and easy.

Everyone has a smart phone with a calculator. However, it is nothing like using your EZ Grader to get the calculation of your students’ scores on their math, English or history exam.

A timer is good to have for you and your students to keep the flow of class going smoothly. Instead of reaching in your pocket for your phone, make it easy for yourself by keeping the timer at your desk.

Ziploc bags can be helpful in so many ways. You might be teaching information that requires you to separate things into groups or combinations. You might need to put your lunch or keep a set of cards or items in a bag. You will be surprised at how many times you use them and how glad you are to have them on hand.

Plastic caddies are really good for holding classroom supplies and personal items. They can be a little pricier, but they are a good investment. They stack neatly and are very sturdy.

Each day brings about interaction with others, meaning there is a constant spread of germs in rotation. To prevent you or your students from getting sick, a couple bottles of hand sanitizer in your classroom can make a world of difference in keeping you and your students from spreading nasty germs between each other.

Like hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes are definitely essential for your classroom. Health is important. Keep the germs away and your room clean.

There is nothing like giving your students a sticker for doing a good deed or earning a good grade on an assignment. You might not think that stickers matter, but everyone likes them, including older students. Thus, keep a pack of stickers at your desk to make those special moments feel even greater.

Glue dots are good for labeling things. They are not as messy as regular glue and are sturdier than tape. If you do not have glue dots, your second-best option would be a glue gun.

Keeping a file folder chart at your desk will help you store away those huge stacks of stapled papers. The folders are always bright and cheery. File folder packs at Target are pretty cheap to pick up.

Dice can be used in multiple ways in a classroom. If you are teaching statistics and probability in math, it serves as a good way to be hands-on with the students in allowing them to answer questions while holding the dice in their hands. Hands-on interaction is great way to teach and educate students.

A quiet classroom can be boring. Adding a little music in the background can be just the right call to add a better vibe to the classroom. It also allows you to control your music without having to run over to the computer to turn it up or down.

Channel 2 Action News is your home for Back 2 School coverage.

We’ll have teams of reporters and photographers, as well as NewsChopper 2 and Triple Team Traffic guiding you through the first days of the school year, every weekday on

Channel 2 Action News This Morning from 4:30 to 7 a.m. 

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