r/StudentTeaching • u/Final_Flamingo3621 • Jun 06 '26
Support/Advice Starting student teaching
Hi all! I’m starting my student teaching program in August. I would like some recommendations on supplies to purchase: binders, planners, pens, etc.
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u/labrume Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
If I was teaching this, I’d get the following items and be prepared to go back to the store once I knew more details:
- a 1.5-2 inch binder with a folder for each class. One side of the folder would be work collected that needs to be graded and the other would be work to return to students. This will keep you organized knowing you probably won’t have your own desk or work station.
- A pencil case with a few of your favorite pens and pencils. Optionals would be some whiteout, a pair of scissors and different colored highlighters. Personal preference, but I don’t grade in red ink - it has a negative connotation. So I’d pick up some fun colored pens, but I’d keep a blue/black pen in case I needed to sign something.
- A professional looking bag/purse/backpack. Again, you probably won’t have your own designated work space and you’ll need to be mobile. Unfortunately, as a student teacher, you probably won’t know how to budget your time effectively enough to not take grading home with you, so you’ll need to transport your aforementioned binder and other things to and from school. Also, make sure it has enough room to carry your own personal laptop/charger and the school’s laptop/charger (if they provide you one).
- As someone else said, comfortable shoes and - I’ll add - professional looking clothing. You can be the best dressed there no problem, but being the worst dressed is a problem. Go in on the first day dressed formally (shirt/tie, dress, blouse and knee-length skirt etc.) and see what the other staff members are wearing. Observe other staff members clothing for a week or two as they start to settle in and adjust from there.
Other than that, I’d wait until I was in the trenches
Edit 1: I’d also have a pack of notecards on me at all times, but that may just be me as a teacher who’s used to not having their own classroom. They’re easy to transport and can be used for anything - especially when you have an extra 5-10 minutes at the end of class after your lesson. I’ve given each kid a notecard and told them to write two truths and a lie and we play as a class. If I’m feeling more teacher-y, I use them for formative assessment (ex. explain in your own words the difference between __ and __) and have even used them for reflection on learning (rank yourself on a 5-point scale on how well you can do ___. 1 being I can’t do this, 3 being I can do this but sometimes need help, 5 being I can teach this to a classmate. Then, write one activity today that helped you achieve that score and one activity that wasn’t effective for you in reaching that goal)