It’s that time of year where I load up my shopping cart with classroom supplies. This morning held a lot of promise – mostly because:
A. It is going to rain and I won’t miss a beautiful day.
B. I was spiffy and was at the store by 7:15am.
So, here it is – my big pile of fun for Room 204:
I’m not sure if you can clearly see everything in the pile, so I thought I’d share….
There are certain items I buy every year, because I believe it helps keep my students organized:
~ 20 Poly pocket 3-prong folders for School~>Home~>School~>Home, etc…
~ 20 Pencil cases to go in the folder
~ 100 Sheet protectors to go in the folders
~ 100 Shipping labels to stick on the sheet protectors.
~ 1 Package of black card stock to create labels for our cubbies
There are certain items I buy every year, because we end up running low on school-provided and donated supplies sometime around April. I buy them in August because they cost so much more in April:
~ 24 Boxes of Crayola crayons (24 count)
~ 2 Packs of pencils – Ticonderoga and another cedar type to try out (cheap pencils don’t sharpen well at ALL!)
~ 10 Boxes Crayola skinny markers. Kids seem to like the skinny ones, and I like the quality of the Crayola ones.
~ 16 Boxes CraZart colored pencils
~ 8 Big erasers
~ 4 Packs pencil-top erasers
~ 2 Stacks of neon index cards
~ 3 Packs of super sticky sticky 3M notes
~ 16 Elmer’s Glue Sticks
~ 40 Bic pens – 20 black and 20 blue
There are certain items I bought for the first time this year, because I think it will help with organizing the classroom:
~ 2 Rolling bins (3 drawers each) which will be used to hold math manipulatives. I am bound and determined to use manipulatives more this year after attending my math trainings. If math materials are organized in 6 identical drawers, then each table of students can grab a ready-to-go drawer full of them!
~ 1 Plastic crate. My dad built beautiful rolling book cases for the classroom last spring. This summer, I have him creating a podium/lectern I have designed for student presentations. There will be storage shelves inside of it, one of which will hold the plastic crate.
~ Binder, planner, notebook and dividers to create a new Teacher Planner for myself. I’d like to have all of my pertinent information in one (cute & colorful) place this year.
~ There were also some Disney Silly Bands on sale – I was able to get 48 of them for $2.00. I’m still not sure how I’ll use them, but I’ll figure that out!
.The cashier had LOTS of questions for me as I was checking out this morning. She wanted to know if I was a teacher, and if I was using my own money to purchase these supplies. She wanted to know if the school provides materials for the classroom, and if the students bring in supplies as well. The answers to all of her questions were “YES”. It takes many materials to make it from September to June in a classroom full of hard-working kids. I feel it is important for everyone to pitch in to make it all happen. I appreciate the support I receive from my school and my families, and feel that the supplies I purchase are always put to good use. Chatting with her was the best part of my morning!
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.So….. using your best math estimation skills, what do you think the grand total was for my shopping cart full of school supplies??
Suzy,
I still love following your blog for your useful insights and discoveries. I know you are an iPad user, but wondered if you have found an app for a teacher planner that would be useful to someone like me that has 22 classes, which means over 530 kids. I see that you still put together an old school binder and wondered if you thought this was better than electronic? Lastly, I have been thinking of modifying my teacher desk and moving towards a podium style for iPad/laptop use, and want to reduce the time that I spend in a chair. (Health initiative) Please share a picture of your customized podium. You are so lucky to have your dad, and I imagine your dad feels the same about you too!
Sincerely,
Leslie Barnaby
Hi Leslie!
Great questions – thanks for stopping by!!
The Teacher Notebook — you bring up SUCH a good point! I am still searching, after 9 years of teaching, for a way to organize my “stuff”. The binder with planner and calendar, etc… will be new for me this year. I was looking at some ready-made teacher planners, which didn’t fit my needs and I’ve tried and tried and tried to get all my stuff online, but it hasn’t worked, either. So, I’m not sure if this will be the answer, but I’m willing to try. Perhaps a better strategy for me is to just stick with something and improve it each year, instead of trying something new each year, ha ha.
As for an iPad app to fit your needs – I’m guessing that the folks on Twitter will have a huge amount of info to help. I will post your question on my Facebook page and Twitter and we’ll see what happens…
As for a podium, this is very similar to the one I’m designing…. http://www.guidecraft.com/product/415245/G6435/_/Little_Lectern It will have a self-storing stool, a few shelves and hopefully a place to mount a microphone. I am very lucky to have my dad, he loves being able to help, and he does GREAT work!!
Take care, and stay tuned!!
Suzy
Dear Mrs. Brooks-
What a shopping spree!! You have some lucky students this year (as always)! I am also making a teacher binder to organize myself this year. Mrs. Realini is going to give me some ideas. She uses one that is beautiful and very, very organized. Also, I have at least 1,000 page protectors in my classroom if you find that you need more. I am always happy to share!
Sincerely,
Ms. Sawyer 🙂
Ooooo! Ms. Sawyer – I bet Mrs. Realini has some fabulous suggestions – she’s a great teacher to ask! Make sure you pass along her secrets!! What are you going to put it all in? What will you put in it? I have been Googling all day and have been wandering the halls of Pinterest. I have seen a TON of cute stuff, but I want it to be more than cute – I want to use it. You know, all. year. 🙂
I remember your saying you were rolling in sheet protectors, now that you write that, lol! I’ll come knocking if I need any.
Your friend,
Mrs. Brooks
Hi Mrs. Brooks, here is the list of airlines that goes out of the USA and in the USA.
1. Southwest
2. Delta
3 American
4. US Airways will merge with American
5 United
6 Air Tran will merge with Southwest
7 british airways
8 KLM
9 Air France
10 Air Jamaica
11 Pen air (new airline 2013)
12 cape air ( small plane)
13 island air (small plane)
14 Air Canada
15 United Express
16 US Airways Express will merge with American Eagle
17 Air Canada Express
18 Ethiopian airlines
19 Asiana airlines
Jonathan
Jonathan
Jonathan, that’s a great list!
Is it okay if I add to it?? 🙂
Love,
Mrs. Brooks
Hi mrs. Brooks, yes you can. There are a lot of airlines that goes out of USA and the flight that are in USA.
Jonathan 🙂
Hi Mrs. Brooks, 11 more days until mark twain middle school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have Sunday through Friday until September 1st, 2013. I have to think about today and the rest of the week. Will that make the time go by faster? As long I don’t think about september 5th, 2013 that’s when my school starts. I will keep track of how man days until September 5th, 2013. So I got some good tips about counting down the days. For example: say i have 14 days left until school starts, so at night I will cross out 14 and the next day will be 13 days left. That will help me not to think about it all day. Let’s hope. Are you exited about the first day of school? In Mark Twain, I will be using the locker. I have to turn the dial to open it. The rules about lockers…..
1. Do not tell anyone the combination with anyone (If anyone told you the combination, do not steal their stuff.)
2. Do not share lockers with anyone. (If anyone ask you to share a locker, say no.)
3 If you cannot get the locker to open, ask anyone who always know how to open it.
4 do not kick the locker if you cannot open it.
I have to follow the rules about lockers.
Jonathan 🙂