A 3-Step Plan for Collecting Supplies on the First Day of School

First day of school.

There’s nothing cuter than little kids walking into a classroom carrying larger-than-life school supply bags. One after the other, they march in desperate to hand in the heavy, cumbersome items that are their tickets to starting a new school year.

But on the receiving end is … you!

You!  Overwhelmingly trying to greet everyone, answering questions, giving directions, smiling at the new student that wasn’t registered, AND collecting endless reams of paper, glue sticks, pencils, markers, and “hanitizers”.

If you don’t have a plan, you will end up with supplies piled up all over and a ton of extra work to do!

Here’s a 3-Step Plan that can save you time and keep you sane when collecting supplies on the first day of school.

1. Lay Out Containers!

Use similar supplies to show students what goes in each bin!

Lay out containers on the floor. 

If you can, try to use the bins in which you will be keeping the supplies for the rest of the year. If not, big boxes will do the trick.

Place a sample of the supply you want to go in each container right in front of it.

2. Let Students Disperse Their Supplies

As students come in, direct them to where the bins are. Ask them to sort their supplies into each bin. All they have to do is match what they have with what’s in front of the bins!

Paper reams and tissue boxes can be piled on the floor if need be.

At the end of the day your supplies will be sorted and ready to be put away.

3. Students Open Packages

Let your students open packages for you! Kids love being teacher helpers, right? Students who finished theirBack to Schoolwork, students who are doing a good job listening, students who need a little break, students who need a reward for making better choices, everyone can benefit from this!

Have your students open all of these packets for you! They’ll have a blast!

Personal items like scissors, pencil boxes, and notebooks can go directly into the students’ desks, or into the place you have for them to keep their items. 

I liked having labels with students’ names, or simply a sharpie that I used to write their names on everything they owned. Try to have that done within the first few days of school.

That’s It!

At the end of the day, you will have significantly less to deal with, and your room won’t look like a department store after Black Friday.

For more classroom management tips check out these posts:

• Control Pencil Chaos Once and For All!
• 20 Questions to Ask Yourself When Preparing for the 1st Day of School
• Back to School Tips Vol.1

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