7 Must Have Teacher Organization Supplies

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that [an organized teacher] in possession of a [nonexistent] fortune, must be in want of [office supplies].”
Probably not Jane Austen

While it might not have made it to the final draft, we suspect Austen certainly thought it.

Being an organized teacher is probably one of the greatest contributors to success in the classroom. We have only anecdotal evidence to back this up, but as teachers with reputations for being exceptionally organized, we can tell you, it takes you far! We are the type of teachers who find a leisurely stroll through Staples exceptionally therapeutic after a stressful day, so we feel confident we have found all the must-have teacher organization supplies you need.

Our Favorite Teacher Organization Supplies:

Adios Paper Clips

Replace your paper clips with binder clips. Paper clips mean well, but if you’ve ever taken home a stack of papers that need to be graded only to find them all spread out across your backseat or paper clips littered across the bottom of your tote bag, you know they can’t hold up against an English teacher’s “to be graded” pile. It’s probably the most basic of all our teacher organization supplies, but it does make a noticeable difference in how easy it is to keep your papers organized!

Pro-Tip: If you want to take your organization up a level, consider using colored binder clips and assign a different color to each class period.

Create a Teacher Binder

We all know that students who have (and use) organized binders have a much easier go of it than those students whose organization is limited to shoving all their papers in the front pocket of the binder or (eek) those who use their backpacks as their file cabinets. We believe the same is true for teachers. Create a binder for your attendance records, handwritten grading record sheets, make-up quizzes, and IEP paperwork. Pocket dividers allow you to easily organize by class, and when you slip your seating charts into sheet protectors, you have an easy way to mark attendance or participation with a dry-erase marker. We share all the nitty-gritty details about how to make the best use of your teacher binder at the beginning of this episode of our podcast.

Make Use of Mini Binders

Our school’s discipline system involved 8.5” x 5.5” cards we had to keep track of for every student. Our best strategy for managing these was to make a binder for each class, in which each student’s paperwork went into its own sheet protector labeled with a sticky tab. If you have regular paperwork to manage for each student, especially if it’s not a traditional size, this will work for you, too!

Note: We realize this is a bit of an investment in terms of time and money, but the sheet protectors will last you at least five years and small post-it notes could easily substitute for tabs. In terms of the time to set up, we like to do it at the very beginning of the school year as we binge-watch episodes of our newest Netflix obsessions. If you have a student aide with nice penmanship, though, this is a great task for them.

The Jack of All Trades: File Folders

The file folder market is probably one of the teacher organization supplies most heavily subsidized by Type A teachers. File folders, and their cousins, hanging file folders have so many uses! Whether you’ve got something you want a student to walk over to your teacher bestie, originals you don’t want to get crumpled on your long walk to the copy machine, or a way to keep permission slips you’ve collected or papers you need to turn in to the office organized, file folders are the way to go.

We like to use hanging file folders to store extra copies of handouts on your teacher table (perhaps the grand-daddy of teacher organization supplies) where you (or your students) can easily access them. Kate likes to separate by prep, so she has two to three smaller desktop file crates (depending on the year), while Stephanie prefers to have one larger crate and subdivide.

Pen-and-Paper Planner

There are tons of great apps for organizing your day and your to-do list. If, though, you’re like Steph and just can’t break up with your pen-and-paper planner, you’ll appreciate this planner that includes room for both scheduling and to-dos.

Free Download

This monthly calendar and weekly lesson planner is exactly what you need to become an organized teacher extraordinaire!

Maybe you’ve got your planning (either digital or pen-and-paper) on lock, but you’d just like a helpful pen-and-paper to-do list you can keep on your desk at school. We like that this one is divided into both work and personal sections, and includes space for top priorities for both.

When You’re Collecting A Lot of Paper

While we like to collect papers and immediately clip them together with a binder clip, sometimes we need something a little more . . . robust. Whether it’s because we’re planning to take home a whole week’s worth of clipped papers or students are submitting process-written essays and handing in everything from their brainstorms to final drafts, there are times when your papers just need wrangling. We like these storage baskets. They make it easy to transport papers and keep those germ-ridden student papers out of your freshly cleaned tote bag.

The Ultimate in Teacher Organization Supplies: Post-It Notes

We would be remiss, and absolutely failing in our organized teacher due diligence if we did not remind you of the importance of post-it notes (or sticky notes if you’re not brand loyal). We think the whole range of Post-It supplies is so important, we’re not linking to a single product, we’re linking to their entire Amazon storefront.

We will draw your attention to three of our must-haves: the truly organized teacher needs the traditional size notes for short messages and reminders; mini notes for labeling dates and class periods when you collect student work; and a dispenser so it’s less likely that your notes go walking, and they’re always in arms reach. Note: the dispenser does require accordion-style notes.

Must-Have Teacher Organization Supplies