If you’ve ever found yourself buried under a mountain of student supplies or struggling to keep track of who borrowed what, you’re not alone. Managing student supplies can feel like a never-ending battle, but fear not! In this blog, we’re diving into the art of supply storage and management, sharing top-notch strategies to keep your classroom organized, efficient, and stress-free. From clever storage solutions to foolproof tracking methods, we’ve got you covered. So, grab your favorite mug of coffee and let’s embark on a journey to streamline your classroom and reclaim your sanity!
Individual vs. Community Supplies
When it comes to student supplies, there’s one big debate. Do we do individual supplies or community supplies? Obviously there are pros and cons to both and they’ll each work well in various settings. You could also do a combination because what really matters is what works best for you, your students, and your classroom.
Thinking through the organization of this area is crucial. Some questions to ask might be ‘Where will students store their materials, books, folders and things of that nature? How will students access materials? Personally, because we use flexible seating, I implement a combination of individual and classroom supplies. Students used pencil boxes to store their personal materials, sterilite bins housed community materials, such as scissors, glue, and crayons, and we used student numbered bins to house the remaining materials such as their books, folders, and notebooks. We also use crate seats to give us another amazing way to store and manage student supplies. They are a comfy flexible seating option AND provide awesome storage. You can check out how to make these easy seats HERE!
Ultimately, students are going to have to have SOMETHING to house their individual supplies and it might just be s small pencil storage box. Using portable name tags, like the ones below, are a great storage option for individual school supplies AND students get great resources they can refer to all day long as needed.
This set up worked for my classroom and my students, but it’s whatever you feel comfortable with. Also, it’s ok if things don’t work out how you plan….. that’s usually how it goes anyway right? If you have to change things around multiple times that’s normal because you’re doing what you need to figure out what works best.
When it comes to managing it all, I like to regularly schedule clean up sessions where students tidy up their supplies and return items to their designated spots. This makes a HUGE difference in keeping things in their place. It also gives them awesome routine practice in keeping their things up.
Organizational Tools
Caddies, bins, baskets, oh my. The organizational section is one of my favorite aisles of a store because seeing all the different things designed to keep your things neat and tidy makes me happy. There are so many different ways to organize supplies, but my biggest tip here is to keep your students in mind. You want them have access to materials so this part of the process needs to be really well thought out for students.
When planning I like to think about it not only from the student lens, but also by what makes sense in the flow and traffic of the classroom. For example: I’m not going to put a lunch tub all the way across from where students hang their backpacks. That would waste time and allow for unneeded disruptions. Here are some guiding questions to ask yourself as you begin to organize:
- Where will student materials such as pencils, crayons, scissors, etc., be housed?
- Where will they turn in papers?
- What will be the procedure for how they get new pencils if needed? What about the broken pencils?
- Where will broken pencils go?
- Will students have a desk where their personal materials are stored or will you have flexible seating? If it’s flexible, where will their personal items go?
- Where will students store lunch boxes, backpacks, and coats?
Take a look at some example student spaces below. Notice how students have access to ALL the things so that they can meet their own needs.
Bins are a great tool to have on hand in the classroom. Bins for student materials, bins for excess school supplies, bins for books! Chances are if you have something needing to be organized, a bin works great! Caddies are awesome for individual or table supplies and they’re a great portable option for when your lessons may take students around the room or even outside the classroom.
I can also not stress enough the importance of using CLEAR storage solutions. Using transparent, or mesh type storage containers, allows you to easily see contents. This prevents items from getting lost or forgotten and it’s way easier to find what you’re looking for when you can see inside.
Key Reminders
Remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to storing or managing student supplies in your classroom. Maybe you’ll start with communal supplies and transition to individual ones later, or vice versa. The real important part is to initially emphasize sharing and caring for classroom resources very heavily at the beginning of the school year. As students receive their individual supplies, the focus shifts to fostering responsibility. Storing and managing student supplies does not need to be complex, simply selecting and sticking to an organizational system is the key. In addition, explicitly teaching students to maintain and organize their supplies is crucial. To get more into those procedure, check out THIS post!
You might think it’s okay to just hand over the supplies and say ‘use them wisely’ and expect that to be enough, but unfortunately most times it’s not. Plan activities for students to learn about each of the expectations and build in time to practice with each.
How to Use School Supplies Kit
Grab this sort for FREE to help students understand how we use our crayons in the classroom!
The Power of Labeling
There is a secret key that helps not only your students access their own materials, but also helps your classroom *almost* run itself. The KEY:
allowing students to have the power and autonomy to do it all.
Giving ownership to your students is one of the most powerful things you can do in your classroom. It may seem scary at first, but ask yourself- What can THEY do? Give them access to ALL the things they may need so that they can meet their own needs. Create a well organized space for you and your students. Help them build that confidence in their independence. Check out how to set up your classroom for THEM and watch magic happen. Organizing spaces FOR students is one of the most crucial things you can do to start having your classroom *almost* run itself.
One SUPER simple way to empower students to have more ownership of the classroom, is by labeling every single thing. Not only is this a great way to develop more natural ‘sight words’ for their classroom, it creates the autonomy for students to be able to navigate and learn independently. Students CAN and should have access to ALL supplies and labeling creates independence for them and more time for YOU. You’ll be amazed to simply watch the shift!! Spruce up your labels with visuals AND words! Organizing spaces FOR students is one of the most crucial things you can do to start having your classroom *almost* run itself. With THESE editable labels, you can design and organize your space so that your students own the room.
Pictured below, you can see classroom supplies, where students can get anything they need without assistance. You simply teach the procedures for accessing the materials and give them the autonomy! You can learn more in-depth details about setting up these expectations and procedures with THIS post.
Meaningful Management
One of the most frustrating things when it comes to storing and managing student supplies, is feeling like you’re going through supplies WAY too fast. Some ways to combat this is to assign student jobs that gives them responsibility to distribute supplies during class activities or project. You could also implement a buddy system where students are parried up to share responsibility for specific supplies, promoting teamwork and accountability.
Another great tip for managing supplies is to take inventory at the beginning of the school year. This helps you track what supplies you have, if you have any shortages, or know exactly when you need to replenish any items. Use your resources when you are running low. I like to establish a classroom supply wishlist where parents or other people in your community can contribute additional supplies as needed.
Key Reminders
Remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to storing or managing student supplies in your classroom. Maybe you’ll start with communal supplies and transition to individual ones later, or vice versa. The real important part is to initially emphasize sharing and caring for classroom resources very heavily at the beginning of the school year. As students receive their individual supplies, the focus shifts to fostering responsibility. Storing and managing student supplies does not need to be complex, simply selecting and sticking to an organizational system is the key. In addition, explicitly teaching students to maintain and organize their supplies is crucial. To get more into those procedure, check out THIS post!
You might think it’s okay to just hand over the supplies and say ‘use them wisely’ and expect that to be enough, but unfortunately most times it’s not. Plan activities for students to learn about each of the expectations and build in time to practice with each.
How to Use School Supplies Kit
Need more help getting ready for the school year with all the organization? Check out this ultimate classroom organization bundle! Grab it now and get everything added later for FREE!! You can also read more about organizing all the things in THIS post.
I really hope you enjoyed learning about some amazing ways to store and manage student supplies! Make sure to save this post so you have it when you’re ready to setup your classroom or you need a quick reminder. Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the _______ FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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