We Want All the Things: 3 Back-to-School Teacher Shopping Lists

As a teacher, you know that having the right supplies can make all the difference in creating a successful classroom environment and a comfortable place for you to spend your days. Whether you’re a new teacher or you’ve been doing back-to-school for decades, we’ve put together three lists of must-have supplies to help you start the school year off right. From basic essentials to fun extras, we’ve got your teacher shopping list covered.

When back-to-school sales start, the alluring smell of freshly sharpened pencils beckons (Oh, how we love you You’ve Got Mail). The appeal of a fresh start with brand-new supplies never goes away, no matter how many post-it-notes we already have squirreled away in our cabinets, and if you’re like us, back-to-school shopping is an annual highlight.

Now, before we get started, these lists are looong! Just remember, there’s two of us and we have a combined 30+ years of experience. You don’t need all of this to have a good year. You wouldn’t use three-quarters of it on the first day. It’s just a curated list you can come back to whenever you feel like you or your classroom is missing something.

Teacher Shopping List: Essential Supplies

We hope (we’ve got our fingers crossed) you have a school or school district that is more generous than ours, and that you will be provided with a lot of these items meaning your out-of-pocket expenses on this are minimal. This teacher shopping list includes all the “necessities” you need to run a logistically efficient classroom.

• Gel pens for signing forms and colored ones for grading

• Highlighters (for filling out grading rubrics)

• Mechanical pencils (for you)

• Sharpened pencils (for your students – or consider black pencils –rare, so easy to identify pencil thieves!)

• Tape flags (for labeling supplies so your students are less likely to steal them)

• Three-hole punch and paper cutter (for you, not your students: share the purchases as a PLC, but offer to keep them in your room)

• Paper clips and rubber bands

• Colored pencils, crayons, and markers (you probably don’t have to buy them every year – throw them in a tub you bring out as needed)

• Glue sticks

• Classroom set of safety scissors

• Dry erase markers

• Whiteboard cleaner

• Lined paper

• Index cards

• Hand sharpeners (if you just cannot tolerate the sound of the electric pencil sharpener while you’re talking)

• Staplers (a couple for your desk and a couple to put out for students)

• Calculator for adding up scores

• Rubber stamps and ink pads for checking homework or daily warm ups

• Band-Aids (because let’s get real: the three in your first-aid kit aren’t going to make it through the first week of school blisters, much less a full year of student hangnails)

• Envelopes (you never know when you’ll need them) and manila envelopes (for having a student deliver something you would prefer to keep confidential)

• Blue tape (to tape things on the walls without destroying the paint)

Teacher Shopping List: Essentials to Make Your Classroom Comfortable and a Pleasant Place to Be

We’re going to venture a guess that no school or district will be providing the items on this teacher shopping list for you. If you have a very generous PTA or parent who scans your Amazon wishlist, you might get some of these items, but in general, we consider these items investments in our own comfort and peace of mind.

• Laptop stand

• Wireless mouse

• Comfortable chair (as Kate told Steph one year: “A bottom that spends as much time here as yours deserves to be comfortable.”)

• Rug or floor mat

• Posters and decor that makes the room feel like yours (we love this Etsy shop and this online store)

• Fabric for your bulletin board (it looks nicer and lasts way longer than paper!)

• Remote clicker

• Supplies that spark joy, make you laugh, or remind you that you’ve got this (and be sure to include something that reflects the real you, not the teacher you!)

• Desk organizers for on top of and inside of your desk

• Pencil pouch so you can grade on the go

• Trash bags

• Lysol (wipes and spray)

• Krud Kutter (for the really tough stuff)

• Paper towels

• Goo Gone and a putty knife for getting gum off of furniture

• Odor-neutralizing gel (to deal with a roomful of teenagers fresh from PE without aggravating anyone’s allergies)

Teacher Shopping List: Essentials to Remind You You’re an Adult, Human, Professional

One of the challenging parts of being a teacher is not feeling like a student yourself. Having access to things adults have access to (without going to the nurse or cafeteria), or that are commonplace in offices and workspaces the world over can help give you a feeling of control and professionalism that too much time with teenagers can make you feel like you’ve lost.

• Advil

• Coffee / Keurig

• Tampons (and a discreet pouch for trips to the bathroom)

• Hand sanitizer (definitely for your desk, but your students will appreciate it, too!)

• Kleenex (because the free tissues from the school are scratchy)

• Phone charger (so you don’t have to bring one back and forth or give up texting your coworkers just to make sure that battery lasts through the day)

• Snacks, especially chocolate

• Plastic utensils and paper plates

• Microwave (it’s a game-changer to be able to reheat your coffee, but if you’re heating food, be sure to order some Febreze)

• Travel coffee mugs (to keep your morning coffee hot and spill-free)

• Water cups (because you’ll drink more with a straw)

• Stain remover (because spills will inevitably happen just as the bell rings for first period)

• Thank you cards (because letting colleagues know you appreciate them goes a long way toward building campus morale)

Be sure to add our organizational must-haves to your list, and if you’d like to hear us talk more about why we’re willing to spend our own money on supplies or what we include in our back-to-school wardrobe, check out our related podcast and YouTube video.