School Supplies for Teachers

Being a teacher can be one of the most rewarding careers to have. At all levels of education, teachers are called on to juggle many different hats. Professional teachers are called on to educate the next generation, while also chaperoning, offering emotional support, and creating an engaging and entertaining learning environment where all students get the opportunity to thrive. To help students succeed and to keep classes running smoothly, teachers have to have the right classroom supplies and tools. The 10 essential supplies discussed here are of use to teachers who work in day cares, elementary schools middle schools, or high schools, helping these teachers to keep order in the classroom and help students thrive.

Folders

Folders are a basic office supply, but they also fulfill a number of roles in the classroom. With this teacher supply, teachers can create individual folders for each student, using these folders to keep track of projects that students have turned in and to store general notes and information on student grades and progress in the classroom. Other teachers use folders to store the classroom agenda for the week and to keep copies of homework to be assigned, vocabulary list, and other worksheets before they are given out to students. Some teachers, especially those dealing with elementary aged children, often give each student an assignment folder to store in their book bags and use these folders to help children learn to become better-organized, encouraging students to place their homework in these folders and any notes that require parental signatures.

Extra Packaging, CORP.: These take home communication folders are ideal for getting students organized and ensuring that all homework assignments are completed.

OfficeMax: Buy your classroom supplies in bulk with this full range of file folders including manila, tabbed, hanging, and colored.

StoreSMART: Tough plastic based folders can hold a lot of paper without tearing or wilting.

Teacher Storehouse: These substitute teacher folders can be used to help substitutes quickly get up-to-date on the daily classroom schedule and to share other important information.

US Folders: A range of folders in various colors and sizes can be found here.

Classroom Decorations

Classroom decorations can help add personality to a classroom. They help to create a bright and nurturing environment where children feel free to participate in classroom discussions. These items are not just for adornment, however. Some school supplies for teachers can also help facilitate in learning. World map posters, for instance, can teach geography while alphabet bulletin boards can help young children learn the alphabet.

AllPosters.com: Maps of the United States, Europe, and other countries around the world can help teach students world geography.

Oriental Trading: Purchase posters, maps, and murals to brighten up the classroom.

SchoolTeachers.org: Browse through a variety of classroom decorations at discount prices here including number lines, seasonal decorations, calendars, and borders.

Teacher's Corner: Browse holiday and seasonal themed classroom teacher supplies.

Writing Supplies for Students

Pencils are the standard writing instrument for students at all grade levels. Although students can normally be expected to provide their own pencils, these writing tools often break during class or students may end up running out. Having extras on hand can help prevent disturbances in class by students constantly sharpening their pencils or asking to borrow pencils from other students. Of course, depending on the type of projects done in the classroom and the grade level being taught, students may also need crayons, markers, and colored pencils to help them get projects done.

CrayolaStore.com: Visit here to purchase pens, crayons, markers, and other writing supplies.

Discount School Supply: Finger paint and washable paint are among the many kinds of paint available here and useful for classroom drawing and arts and crafts projects.

ForTeachersOnly: Dozens of categories of pencils are provided here including mechanical, personalized, and sports themed.

Graphite Pen & Pencil Company: Motivational pencil designs can be personalized to reflect each student’s name and given as gifts or reward incentives.

Michaels: Load up on metallic paint and glitter paint for classroom projects and crafts.

Office Depot: Washable markets and fabric markers are examples of marker types useful for crafts and paper projects in the classroom.

Teacher Writing Instruments

Chalk is constantly being used in the classroom to write out notes and give instructions. Another essential supply is that of colored pens, teachers when grading homework and test papers, often use these tools. Dry erase markets are also convenient for writing on charts and calendars in the schoolroom. Highlighters are also a great tool for teachers use; those multi-colored writing instruments can be used to highlight important notes and reminders to share with students and can be used to mark off names while taking morning attendance.

CSN Stores: Of course, if you use chalk as a teacher supply, erasers will also be needed to remove whatever was written.

K-12 School Supplies: Pens can be used to take notes in class and may be useful for completing some types of classroom activities.

Pinnacle Promotions: Compare different highlighter styles and decide which will suit you best in the classroom.

TeachersParadise.com: Chalk is available in multiple colors to make interesting classroom notes on the chalkboard.

Grading Assistance

After students complete projects, homework, and other tasks the teachers’ job is just beginning. Even in a small class, the sheer number of papers they have to grade, especially if daily assignments are graded can swamp teachers. A range of grading software and paper-based systems are available that help teachers save time and effort when scoring multiple student projects. Most paper versions simply calculate score by giving a percentage based on the total number of questions included on a test and the number of problems that the student got correct. Software based programs; however, can store grades and even feature the ability to grade students by percentage, letter, or more custom options.

Class Action Gradebook: A unique grading software, this program offers unique options for elementary, secondary, college, and homeschool teachers.

Classroom Grading Aid: Simple to use and free, this grading aid is useful for quickly calculating percentage right on a test.

eGrader: With this grade calculation application, software teachers simply enter in the total number of problems on a test to get a list of wrong answers and corresponding grades.

E-Z Grader Corp.: The original grading assessment used to calculate grade percentages is still an important resource among teacher supplies.

ThinkWave Educator: This software based program can be used to store grades and collect student homework assignments online

General Daily Supplies

In a classroom environment some supplies are not just used daily, they tend to get used hourly. Staples and a stapler, for instance, are tools no teacher can do without, these tools are used to bind together homework sheets, hang posters, to create booklets, and for binding important documents students need to take home. For an attractive alternative to staples, paper clips can also be used in a range of colors and styles. Tape is another go-to office supply, useful for hanging classroom decorations or when making crafts. Other general classroom supplies worth having include scissors, glue, rubber bands, and tack pins.

Shop Scissors: For quick cutting and crafting, every classroom needs scissors.

Tape Solutions Inc.: Among the many necessary school supplies for teachers; tape and glue will get plenty of use.

Teacher's Stop, Inc.: A high quality stapler is a worthwhile investment for any schoolteacher to have on hand.

Viking: In a busy classroom, paper clips can get plenty of use.

Awards & Certificates

Keeping students motivated and interested in learning often comes down to giving praise when praise is due. Awards and ribbons can be given out to students to reward outstanding behavior or for doing a great job on a test. Certificates can also be given to celebrate a student’s birthday or to simply give a student who is trying hard a little extra encouragement. Some rewards can also be given out to the entire classroom, star and happy face stickers, for instance, can be given to elementary students. These stickers are a simple but thoughtful way of rewarding students for meeting reading goals or honoring good behavior by the entire class.

Really Good Stuff: Bright, colorful stickers are an incentive based teacher supply that can have almost unlimited uses in the classroom.

Schoodoodle: Use these badges, bookmarks, ribbons, and awards for positive reinforcement.

S&S Worldwide: Award and novelty prize packages are a great way of motivating students to put forth their best efforts.

Imagestuff.com: Design custom certificates for student of the month, science fair winners, perfect attendance, or other custom certificates.

Paper Supplies

Blank notebooks are one of the most frequently used teacher supplies. Depending on the grade level being taught and the subject, some teachers may assign each student a notebook that can be used to complete all classroom assignments. Teachers also tend to use notebooks throughout the day to write down reminders and important notes. Sticky notes are also an essential paper supply; these handy little pieces of paper can be used for labeling or making a note of an important page in a textbook. Multi colored sticky notes can be used for organizing information for specific classes or subjects taught. Copy paper, construction paper, crafting paper, and index cards also tend to be used often.

Current Catalog: Use sticky notes to make reminders about upcoming meetings or additional classroom supplies needed.

Quills.com: Colored paper is useful for crafting projects, such as cards and can also be used for making copies of important documents to pass out to students such as progress reports.

Staples: Although schools usually supply teachers with copy paper to use, many find that having a little extra on hand is beneficial.

Schoolcraft: Notepads shaped like animals, flowers, and other kid-friendly shapes can be used to get kids taking notes and writing down homework assignments.

Dollar Tree: Browse and purchase notebooks, drawing pads, construction paper, and other basic paper based supplies here.

Charts & Calendars

There are many types of charts that teachers can use as wall displays, organizational tools, and for sharing information with students. Consider job charts for an example. These charts are useful for teaching students responsibilities and delegating tasks to individual students. When it comes to teacher supplies, calendars, are one of the most requested and useful aids. Teachers can use calendars to create weekly routine, list student activities, and track progress towards goals for the semester and school year.

Calendars Depot: Wall, desk, and magnetic calendars can help teachers keep structured in the classroom.

Homeroom Teacher: Classroom calendars can be used to help students learn the days of the weeks, the months, and track holidays and special events.

Learning Resources: Pocket charts are available in countless subjects such as Spanish, math, or language arts and are useful for helping kids practice subject knowledge.

Scholastic: Calendar bulletin boards, wooden apple calendars, and holiday themed calendars are among the options available here.

Zazzle: Lively calendars in various designs will help teachers keep students focused on learning.

Games

When children play games they are having so much fun they rarely realize that they are learning and there are almost endless gaming options available for classroom use. Jigsaw puzzles, for instance, can be used to develop spatial concepts, problem solving, strategy, and planning. Math games, on the other hand, can be used to teach the multiplication facts and reinforce other math skills. For young children, game based school supplies for teachers can be used to teach the alphabet, shapes, colors, counting, and other general information.

Beyond The Blackboard: Word games provided here are useful for helping students improve vocabulary and spelling.

Lakeshore Learning Materials: Puzzles, floor puzzles, and games available by grade and age can be purchased here.

Teacher Heaven These critical thinking games can be a useful teacher supply for improving logic, comparison, sequencing, and deductive reasoning.

The School Box: Pretend play, imagination, and other basic knowledge are explored in these games and puzzles.