The Shore Life According to M: School Supplies for Student Teaching

Tis the season for back to school. This Fall's back to school preparations are a little different for me than ever before. I'm not preparing for a semester filled with five to seven classes, exams, flashcards to use for studying, nor having anxiety attack over how pricy textbooks are. Instead, I'm preparing to meet the seventy plus students I'll be teaching for the next three and a half months. Needless to say that the supplies I need are much different. I had some trouble figuring out what tools I would need to successfully navigate my way through this semester's adventures. I guess I won't really know if I have the essentials until I'm in the midst of teaching.

Notebook

I decided to purchase a notebook that I would use to take notes about student teaching, jot down things that are working well as well as those that aren't, make to do lists, tips and tricks of the teaching profession, write funny stories about my encounters with middle schoolers, and things I learn in my weekly seminars.

Binder

I'm required to keep a binder filled with all of my lesson plans I create throughout student teaching. I'm sure this will fill up pretty quickly.

Washi Tape

I will be teaching two different types of classes, so I'm planning to use the two different colored rolls of tape to help me color coordinate the classes. I'm thinking I'll probably use the tape for the monthly calendar more than anything else.

Pens and Pencils

This one is a given. I have lots of black and blue pens to use for planning and writing to do lists. My favorite color ink is purple, so I bought a bunch of purple pens to use for grading. A fun fact about me is that I hate red ink. It makes me feel very negative, which is why I don't grade students' papers in red ink.

Stickers

What student doesn't love to see a sticker on an assignment they did really well on?

I may or may not have a little DIY post coming up about these. Stay tuned for more details!

Agendas

Yes, I meant to say agendas plural as in I have two agendas. I'm unsure how this is going to workout, but I thought I'd give it a try. I have a jumbo agenda to use for student teaching and a large agenda for blogging as well as my personal life. I purchased the jumbo agenda back in May. It's a 2015-2016 agenda, so I got it at a discounted rate. I intend to use this to help me with lesson planning and school related tasks.

Notepad

I bought a vertical notepad four years ago when I left for college. This summer I finally finished up with all of the papers it came with. I like to use these to make my lists on. The narrow paper allows for less paper to be wasted when making any type of list.

Binder Clips and Paper Clips

I have tons of these from the past four years, but I also bought an adorable set of gold and white patterned ones. These are great for keeping track of different class' assignments. I also like to use them to attach my to do lists to my agenda.

Post-it Notes

I am kind of obsessed with these. I have them in all different shapes and sizes. I use them for to do lists, to label things, to help me plan lessons, as bookmarks, and to write reminders to myself. I think most teachers, student teachers, and students would agree that using post-it notes is an essential for back to school supplies.

Clip Board

Every teach has their own organization methods. I like to use my clipboard to organize myself each day. I keep seating charts, grade charts, and an overview of the day's lessons on it. I also like to use a clipboard to help me take notes as I walk around the room observing the students during their independent practice time.

I got most of my supplies from Target, Marshall's, Dollar General and Walmart. I thought I'd share with you some great places for some of the back to school essentials

Folders

Color Blocked Folder

Tabbed Folders

Gold and White File Folders

Notebooks

Polka Dot Notebook

Gold Striped Notebook

Be Fabulous Notebook

Agendas

Lilly Pulitzer

Kate Spade

Graceful Garden Planner