Classroom Supply Hacks
Ideas to keep your new school supplies from disappearing!
I looooove back to school shopping and getting new, shiny school supplies. Fresh flair pens and a multicolor pack of post-it notes gets me more excited than most. But that excitement quickly fades as the realities of managing a classroom set in and things get lost or damaged. Here are my best classroom supply hacks that I’ve figured out in my time in the classroom.
Dry Erase Supplies
I know they are expensive, but I’ve found it really needs to be Expo Low Odor Dry Erase markers. Preferably chisel tip and black. Other brands just don’t work as well, erase as well, or last. I love using cheap, black socks that I use as erasers. Black socks work best because if you use white, students draw on the socks and it dries out your markers faster!
Some teachers like to keep markers at each seat, table, or vertical white board. I found it easier to manage if I had one big bucket of markers and one of erasers and distribute/collect each day. I also like have individual dry erase boards and then also big Wipebooks on the wall, using each for different purposes.
Finally, learn the trick for popping off the end of a marker and pushing out a pushed in marker tip. Game changer for saving a marker that you think you have to throw away!
Calculators
If you have a class set of calculators, give them human names. That’s the hack.
I’ve tried numbering them, I’ve had those hanging pouch organizers, and nothing worked as well as when I named the calculators. Students got attached to their favorite and if Albert or Helen went missing, it just took me asking, “who has Albert?” before he quickly showed up. It sounds weird, but just trust me on this one and try it!
Pencils
I’ve heard of some teachers trying the name hack with pencils. I think it could work if pencils are the thing that you really want to keep track of. For me, this was not something I wanted to spend my energy on but we all have our things!
For me, it worked best to just always be on the lookout for “floor pencils,” you know the pencils you find in the hallways at the end of the school day? If you are friendly with the custodian, you might even get them to collect and give them to you! I kept a small jar with my found pencils as my loaner pencils so I didn’t feel too badly when a few “walked off” at the end of class. And I saved my Ticonderoga pencils for myself! :)
Activities with cards
When you take the time to make a class set of cards for an activity, you want it to last! It might be a card sort, math game, or activity (I personally love Get It Together Activities). First, ziploc bags are life! I don’t even worry about laminating, I just shove those cards in baggies for easy distributing and put away. Also, using colored paper makes it easier to identify different rounds of a game. Or, you can print card sorts on different colors so that if you find a rogue card on the ground after cleanup, you only have a few baggies to look through.
Getting supplies back at the end of class
Biggest hack for getting everything back is TIME. I know it’s hard, I only had 42 minute periods and hate to give up a minute of it. But if I set aside the last few minutes it really prevents students from throwing materials at you as they run out the door. Even more, it gives you a chance to actually take inventory before they leave. You can count the calculators or make sure you get all the pencils back.
If you are even more organized, you can train your students to take inventory or assign it as a job. You can ask students to check the floor or carefully stack papers before passing them forward. Taking the time not only gives you time to make sure you get everything back but it also communicates to students that taking care of materials is a priority to you and I think that goes a long way in getting them to be more careful with materials if they know you are carefully checking.
Teacher on a cart
I was a teacher on a cart in the 2024-25 school year. If I was in need of a mobile classroom again, I would definitely repurchase this cart (it looks like the exact one isn’t available, but there are others very similar). It held up all year, was easy to maneuver and held a lot of stuff.
Microfiber cloths
This seems like a weird one but I can’t tell you how many times I used these! I originally bought them as erasers for the dry erase board, and it did work well for that. But I also was glad to have them to use with this dry erase board cleaner. Sometimes custodians were cleaning dry erase boards but they got dry and didn’t erase well. Reconditioning with that cleaner and a microfiber cloth brought them back to life.
Also, water spill happened often enough that I used these clothes to quickly wipe up water from a tipped over straw cup. It works much better than having to use paper towels (or those brown paper towels that don’t absorb anything!)
Wipebook storage
Some teachers hang up Wipebooks and they stay there all year. If you find yourself needing to transport them (that was me, see “teacher on a cart!), this art portfolio works great. I’ve also heard of teachers using cardboard tubes but I’ve found that creates a slight bend in the Wipebooks.
GOOSe paper
If you have old worksheets that you didn’t use or you make a mistake and print something wrong, you have GOOSe paper! That’s “Good On One Side” paper! I save all of those mistakes from the recycling bin and keep it as scratch paper. Sometimes I cut it into fourths and use it for scratch paper for students when doing work. Or I cut it into strips and use it for fraction strips (my favorite fraction manipulative). So many uses and it’s environmentally friendly and useful!
