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10 Back to School Essentials for Primary Teachers

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Back to School Teacher Essentials

Getting ready for Back to School is an exciting and busy time of year.  It is easy to get caught up and buy all the cute borders, dollar deals and colorful tubs that seem to appear in July!  We must have them ALL, right?!?!  Here are 10 of my Back to School Essentials for a successful first week and school year.  Check them out and let me know some of your Back to School Essentials in the comments!

Back to School Teacher Essentials1 | A Planner that Works for You

There are so many great planners out there, from Erin Condren to the multiple planners on TpT. The options are endless.  Spend the time researching  the planner that will work best for you.  Some teachers may want one planner for work, home and family (that’s me). However, others may want to keep these separate.  That is why it is SO important to take the time to figure out what you want, what you NEED and what is just pretty but unnecessary.  So, spend the time to make sure you have a planning tool that will work for YOU the entire school year!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

2 | Scented Markers

I LOVE scented markers in the classroom, and so do the kiddos!  I used my Mr. Sketch markers to grade papers, put smiles on student desks for good choices and of course for some fabulous anchor charts.  These are a MUST if you are teaching little ones!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

3 | Magnet Tape

This one makes me a little sad. I don’t know if I was oblivious or if it just wasn’t around, but I did not use magnet tape in the classroom.  Oh, how easy my life would have been if I had it. IT IS AMAZING!  I found this magnet tape and have been using it while creating our learning space in our home. It makes it SO easy to create magnetic games, posters and signs by simply tearing off a piece and hanging it up. It’s PURE AWESOMENESS!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

4 | Thermal Laminator

If you have ever looked or bought anything from my store, you know I am HUGE on creating colorful centers and resources.  I love that my activities can be reused year after year.  So, it is essential that I laminate my resources to keep them in great condition.  I bought this Scotch Thermal Laminator which works great for getting centers protected and ready for YEARS of use from my kiddos.  I also go to Mardel to laminate my BIG projects. It’s easy, inexpensive and gets the job done fast!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

5 | Paper Trimmer

I don’t like cutting, and honestly, I’m not that great at it. So, having a paper trimmer is a classroom essential for me.  After laminating there is a lot of cutting. Having this on hand makes it quick and easy.  I can print a center and have it ready for my learners in a matter of minutes. Also, I can cut those last minute mini-lesson materials during planning without rushing to the workroom!  Get one…keep it in your classroom and bring it home for the occasional “lamination party”!  You’ll be happy you did!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

6 | Books on School, Friendship and Rules

Many primary teachers have hundreds of books in their classroom library and if you are a first year teacher spend more time at Half-Priced Books and less at the Target Dollar Spot! 😉  You will need books for the first week and MORE than what you have in your lesson plans…I promise!!!  Most of the books I have pulled for the first week focus on starting school, friends and rules.  These are a must-have for the first week and beyond…Amazon Prime was my best friend my first year of teaching and I will NEVER regret spending the money and time shopping for good quality literature and picture books for my little learners!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

7 | Music, Music, Music

The first week of school can be exhausting, but you are bound to have those wiggle worms that will need a little help shaking their sillies out!  Have a ton of music on hand, whether it is on your computer, iPad or phone…just make sure it is easy for you to access during the day.  I spent the summer after my first year sorting the MANY songs on my computer into categories that made it SO much easier to find a song that reinforced a skill we were learning or was just crazy enough to get us singing together before refocusing on the task at hand.

Back to School Teacher Essentials

8 | Full-Page Labels

I label everything in the classroom and sometimes the labels I create on the computer just doesn’t print on the pages correctly and there is nothing worse than trying to get it printed straight or to stare at crooked labels all year.  These full-page labels are the PERFECT solution.  Print the labels and cut (using the nifty ^paper trimmer^) and DONE!  Straight and perfect labels without multiple ‘trial’ prints!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

9 | Spark, PLEASE!

…or whatever you use to get you boost of energy!  I LOVE my Advocare Spark and it helps me to stay focused and have the energy I need to keep up with my little ones.  Make sure you get enough sleep, eat right and enjoy a cup of Spark, coffee, Dr. Pepper, infused water or whatever you need to get you the energy you need to be there for your kiddos!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

10 | Teachers Pay Teachers

How can you not use TpT for Back to School?!?!  There are SO many great resources for the beginning of the school year from classroom decorations to literacy and math centers.  If you are stuck and having a hard time finding what you need for you classroom, hit up TpT and you are BOUND to find the right resource for you!  You can check out my Back to School resources {here}

Let me know if any of my list of 10 Back to School Essentials in on your list, too and comment with some of you essentials for back to school!

Back to School Teacher Essentials

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progress monitoring in the early elementary classroom for math, literacy and reading