The Amount of Supplies a Teacher Needs

Over the many years that I was a teacher I began to build a set of supplies that I would need each year.. I found it very interesting that sometimes too much of something could be a greater problem than having too little. Some of my discoveries based on a classroom with 35-36 students may help others plan their supply needs.

Glue Sticks: One glue stick for every 3-5 students is in most cases sufficient. Having more than that out and available promotes waste and misuse. You will want to have an equal number unused and not available to students. These would be used only when others run out. Total needed for actual use then would be a maximum of 10 with 10 in reserve.

Scotch Tape: Scotch tape needs are similar to glue sticks, but teachers may have the bigger version sitting on their desk that has tape which is placed into a plastic roller. In this case you only replace the tape as needed. If you are going to use this type of tape dispenser you probably should not have more than two or three and you would need replacement rolls of tape. Sometimes the plastic roller can get lost and this makes the dispenser useless.

Double Sided Scotch Tape: Sometimes very helpful, but you probably only need one or two rolls of this around.

Scissors: You will want safety scissors in most cases and the number you need will vary according to the project you are doing. The number of scissors needed then could be as high as 36, but usually would not be more than 15. You should only have out the number actually needed and if 15 or 10 would work with sharing then use the lowest number that works effectively. Since scissors pose a risk every one not used then reduces potential risk and forces more sharing.

Specialty Scissors: There are special scissors that will cut in a design. These can be really helpful in creating borders and designs on a variety of projects. I had about 3 different kinds of these, but only one of each type and would keep them in the desk.

Most Paper Cutters Are Too Dangerous: I would never have a typical paper cutter in my classroom. The danger is so high that this was only ever in a teacher planning area. My suggestion is to never have this in the classroom.

Glue: Elementary teachers have in the past used white paste glue by scooping some out and placing that on paper for student use. This is not as common now with the use of glue sticks, but if used very little should be placed on the paper because it will dry out and if not used may end up being wasted.

Colored Markers: I have used about 1 set of markers for every 3 students. This then would mean you might need up to 10 packages of markers. Once used from the package, I have transferred them to empty coffee cans and labeled the cans as Group 1, Group 2 etc. The pens once taken from the typical plastic package don't go back into the package so well. You might want to consider having students test each marker in the can before starting their projects. They do dry out or run out of ink. If you have a set of plastic containers, they may stay good a bit longer if they were placed into "sealed" containers. You will want to have at least 5 sets in reserve.

Pencils: It is helpful to have a few dozen pencils always available, but only keep a few out for student use at any one time. Be careful because some cheap pencils don't sharpen well or break continuously when you try to sharpen them and you may need to check to be certain that they are the correct number for testing. Pencil lead must have the correct hardness/softness to properly darken items on an exam.

Ink Pens: The teacher may need red and green ink pens from time to time, so purchasing extra pens might be great. I would try to keep at least 3 red ink pens and at least a dozen of black ink pens on hand. I would only keep a couple of black ink pens out on the desk at any one time.

Pencil Sharpeners: Just today I saw a package of 8 small pencil sharpeners at a dollar only store. This could be very useful for a teacher. You might consider one or two such packages.

Folders: At the beginning of the school year some stores sell paper folders for as little as 1 cent to 10 cents each, this is a great time to get folders to use later in the school year.

It is very exciting to start a year off with all your supplies ready.