Back to School Shopping for Teachers

Teachers should make sure they have the following items before the first day of school:

1. Red pens. Teachers need red pens for marking papers. It makes the grades easily identifiable from the rest of the paper. Any comments or notes to students on their homework should also be done in red ink.
2. Grade books. Grade books fill up quickly. Make sure you have a spare on hand. This will prevent you from having to keep grades in a notebook.
3. Chalk and erasers. Sometimes schools will provide these to the teachers. Find out ahead of time and make sure you get extra chalk. You probably won't need more than 2 erasers all year.
4. Thumb tacks, sticky tack, and tape. You need these items to stick decorations and the students art work on the walls.
5. Extra student items. You don't need many of these just an extra two or three in case a student runs out or forgets theirs at home. Have index cards, paper, glue, scissors, and pencils set aside is a box for emergencies.
6. A first aid kit. Chances are you have a school nurse. Still having a first aid kit available in the classroom is a good idea. Sometimes it only takes a band aid to make a child happy again.
7. Reward certificates. Award these as children show progress, kindness, perfect attendance, and academic excellence. You may even have some awards for art projects.
8. Stickers or stamps for homework assignments and tests. Anytime a child gets a grade in the range of an A you should acknowledge it with a sticker or stamp.
9. Classroom decorations. Review your text books to get themes for your room. Use those themes to purchase decorations for your classroom.
10. School clothes. Even teachers need to buy new school clothes for the year. Dress professionally, but comfortably.

Preparing ahead of time will help your first few weeks of school run smoothly.