It’s that time of year again. School supplies line the seasonal aisles of grocery stores. Red apples, school buses, and pencil clip art adorn the penny saver flyers, and August announced its arrival before we even realized July had ended. That’s right—it’s back-to-school time!
Up until last year, all those signs that a new school year was approaching gave me many mixed emotions. I was excited and nervous, dreading my summer days coming to an end, but anxiously anticipating the 20+ second graders preparing to fill my classroom. As soon as those school supplies hit the shelves I would walk up and down the aisles, examining new boxes of pencils and crayons, comparing prices from store to store. I would envision my classroom with those little busy bodies and wonder what changes I could make this year for my classroom to feel as much like home as possible. What would I put on my bulletin boards to brighten up the plain-Jane white walls, linoleum floors, and broken cabinets? What rugs could I find via online trading sites that would entice little readers to lie on them and delve deep into a new book? How many inexpensive lamps could I find to light the room without having to turn on the dreadful overhead lights that buzzed and flickered like old neon signs? How would I put together a classroom so full of life that each child couldn’t wait to wake up every day and go back to school?
I battled with those questions and the price tags on all the items that seemed to be the answer. I wanted with my whole heart to build an enticing learning environment. However, I struggled with whether to buy that new beanbag chair or a classroom set of crayons, glue sticks, and markers the students would inevitably need even before we hit the second semester. I’d head home with a floor-length receipt, hefty total included, but excited to feel more prepared for the nearing start date ahead.
I gladly spent every penny, but I remember sometimes feeling strapped going into the school year. The number of items I wanted for my classroom never seemed to decrease, and I knew once the year started I’d make frequent trips to the store for materials necessary for in-class activities and experiments. As “Meet the Teacher” night neared, I thought carefully about what we would need and wrote out a handful of Post-It notes to put on the board, just in case a parent wanted to grab something on their last trip to HEB before the big day. I was always incredibly grateful for the parents asking what they could provide to help make the start of the school year a little easier.
I spent the first four years of teaching happily married with no kiddos, so I can only imagine the craziness of back-to-school shopping with children: the amount of items to cover, from supplies to clothing, not to mention the struggle of shopping in jam-packed stores with pleading children begging for the cute new backpack and matching lunchbox. I know your receipt is probably double, if not triple, the length of mine, but if you happen to have a few extra bucks and want to gift your child’s teacher something to jumpstart the year, I have some insider information to help you decide what to get.
I have always had my go-to wish list items, but for the sake of this post, I decided to poll some of my teacher friends to see if there is a general consensus on which back-to-school gifts are most useful. Here are the most requested items, in order of preference:
- Gift cards—bar none, gift cards (to HEB, Target, or Amazon) were popular across the board (among teachers ranging from Kindergarten to high school). Some teachers mentioned that gift cards allow them to make last-minute trips to the store for items they might have missed. Gift cards can also be used to buy supplies a student might have forgotten, and they also come in handy later when buying materials for activities or even something as simple as color ink.
- Clorox wipes—next to gift cards, Clorox wipes were, hands down, the most requested item. Many teachers mentioned they like to have these on hand to wipe down the classroom at the end of each day. Let’s be real: areas that house kids, of all ages, for eight or more hours should be deep cleaned daily. But since that’s not an option, Clorox wipes are a MUST.
- Hand sanitizer—goes hand-in-hand with Clorox wipes.
- Kleenex—while I always had an adequate supply as a second-grade teacher, these were particularly popular for teachers of higher education.
- Extra items from the school supply list—think scissors, pencils, glue, extra folders, composition books, etc.
If you want to get something specifically for your child’s teacher to use, a few mentioned Flair pens or Sharpies and Starbucks gift cards. (But you might want to make sure your teacher likes coffee before you get the latter. I had a few colleagues who frequently requested no Starbucks gift cards.)
Another awesome idea? One teacher friend shared that some students’ parents had food delivered to her house for the first few days of school. She said it was really nice not having to worry about what she and her family were eating for dinner so she could focus on making the first week of school a great one.
While polling, I also asked teachers what they would encourage parents to avoid while back-to-school shopping and picking out items to gift. Here were the top suggestions:
- Anything “school-themed”—overwhelmingly, many teachers receive teacher-themed gifts with apples, pencils, or their name/monogram, particularly mugs, classroom decor, and cups. It’s best to avoid these items. Just like you, teachers have their own style and preferences. Most likely, your child’s teacher has received beaucoup school-themed items and has no idea what to do with them.
- Anything scented, such as candles, lotion, etc.—again, teachers have personal preferences when it comes to what smells good.
- Anything different than the school supply list—one of the most important bits of advice (that had all the teachers agreeing) was STICK TO THE LIST. There is a reason the list specifically asks for a red, three-prong folder rather than the sparkly unicorn pocket folder for which your daughter is begging. While something as simple as folder color or composition vs. spiral notebook may seem irrelevant, they do, in fact, matter from a teacher’s perspective. In my classroom, we would color coordinate subjects and use a specific type of composition book for writing and another for science. If you don’t stick to the list, you typically cause your child’s teacher to have to go out and buy the correct items at the last minute. Another tip: if you’re sending your kiddo on the first day of school with all of his/her supplies, unwrap/unbox them so that the teacher can focus on getting to know your child rather than sorting school supplies.
As teachers, we know you do your absolute best for your children, just as we intend to do our best in the way we educate them. Sometimes all you can do is send them with the bare minimum because you are stretched between four school-aged children or working multiple jobs and just can’t give one more ounce of your time or money. THAT IS OK! Your child’s teacher will think no less of you or your child if you can’t pick up an extra pair of scissors or a tub of Clorox wipes. However, if you have the means, just grab something small. A thoughtful, useful gift means the world to teachers.
