First off, congratulations on your first teaching job! I remember feeling so excited about the upcoming year that a spent some time over the summer getting things together for my classroom. I would recommend creating an Amazon wish list to share with your family and friends. This is a great way to get some items for your classroom without having to spend a lot of your own money. Make sure to keep track of receipts and you may be able to deduct teacher expenses from your taxes!
Classroom Organization
Baskets & Bins - I would recommend shopping Target and Michael's
for baskets and bins to help organize your room. You can find these photo keepers at Michael's or
Amazon and they are great for storing task cards, manipulatives and so much more! I got mine at Michael's with my teacher discount for less than $12!
Rolling Cart- I have two rolling carts in my classroom. I have a 4-tier cart near my small group table and it holds everything I need to have close by while I am working with my students. I use my
3-tier utility cart by my desk to keep miscellaneous items in. I also have two
multi drawer rolling carts. I printed off and laminated labels to make it easy for everyone to know what is in each room. I had one set up behind my desk and the drawers were labeled for each day of the week. I loved this and will be doing the same thing next year. The other drawer set had supplies in it (crayons, colored pencils, glue sticks, scissors, etc.). The drawers were not easy for the kids to open and the items rarely made it back (despite the labels). I will be changing up when I use this for during the next school year.
Teacher Planner - For years I have used an Erin Condren life planner so last year I was given an
Erin Condren teacher planner to review. Check out my post
here for more details! I like the layout of the planner and I was able to make it work as a middle school teacher, even with our rotating schedule. In the end I actually moved to a digital lesson planner because it was easier to keep track of links to videos, games, etc. I purchase this
editable teacher binder from Joey Udovich. It had a lot of options and I was able to customize it in google slides to work for me. For the new year I am going back to a paper planner but may include some aspects of the digital planner as well.
Classroom Decor
Depending on what grade you teach, decor can be a big part of your room. I teach 5th grade math at a middle school so decor is not a big deal but I wanted to have a color scheme and some inspirational posters around the room. I was able to paint my classroom before the school year started so I had a blank canvas and any colors would fit. In the fall I will have a new classroom with blue/gray walls so I plan to change up my colors just a little bit. I recommend getting as much as you can in solid black or white and then adding pops of colors (inexpensive items you can change out).
I used pieces from this set by Confetti and Creativity last year. It was easy to edit different parts of the bundle to make it work for my classroom. I liked that the base colors were black and white and then a few pops of colors.
Home away from home
Comfy Chair - I am using a chair I found in the school a few years ago. It is pretty comfortable but I had a sub one day who almost fell out of it! I have a new
chair on my Amazon wishlist.
Microwave - Not all schools allow these so make sure yours does before making the investment. Most teacher lounges have
microwaves but sometimes they are not that clean or you want to enjoy your lunch and not wait for everyone else to heat up theirs. I don't let students use my
microwave (personal preference) but I would decide and then stick to it. This is something I could do without if I didn't have one or didn't have the space for one.
Mini Fridge - Again, not all schools allow these so make sure yours does before purchasing one. I was able to pick up a mini-fridge from our local buy nothing Facebook group. This is something I wish I had gotten sooner. For the most part I stored sodas but every once in awhile I would put lunch items in it. The
refrigerator I have is medium size with a very small freezer (I don't use it). There are some teachers who have a larger one that has a decent size
freezer. Think about what you might bring to school and put in the refrigerator and that will help you decide which style to purchase. Make sure you clean out and unplug your microwave and fridge when you leave over breaks!
Spare Clothes - I have a full set of clothes in my filing cabinet. Thankfully I have not had to use them but you never know! Two years ago I had a shoe mishap at school that hot glue and duck tape could not solve so I also keep an extra pair of shoes. While I typically wear a cardigan or jacket to school each day I also have a zip up sweatshirt. These are all inexpensive items, nothing fancy!
Hygiene Supplies - I keep a medium Thirty-one zip bag in my filing cabinet as well. Inside you would find a toothbrush, small toothpaste, a few floss picks, deodorant, body splash, tums and some extra pads.
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