Thanks for the great ideas!
I'll be teaching K-3 intervention and K-? Title reading. (Crazy--I know.)
I've been picking up random things over the past few years, but given the range of my students, I feel pretty short on manipulatives and decorations.
I'll post any great deals that I find at major retailers here throughout the summer. If you find any, please feel free to post them here, too. Hopefully, we'll all find some good bargains.
I teach pull-outs to students in grades K-8. I have a wide range of materials and a small space to store it in. I've come to realize that the
quality of the materials is far more important than the
quantity. I've become quite picky in the teaching materials that I keep; I need them to align with my curricular goals for my students. This is not to be confused with school supplies; I keep an adequate quantity of things like crayons, scissors, pencils, glue, etc....but I pull-out in small groups so I don't need a full class set of those either.
The school may have manipulatives for you to use. Even if they don't have any set aside for you, you can probably scrounge some up from teachers who aren't using them. My experience has been that most teachers have a lot of stuff they are not using stashed in their closets, and most teachers will lend that unused stuff out. I would wait to buy a lot of stuff until you get a good idea of what you feel you need as you actually do the job. Keep a notebook of "Wish List" items throughout the year and then keep your eyes open for that kind of stuff at thrift stores, garage sales, discount stores, etc.
As for the decorations, many schools have the background paper available to use. You only need border. I tend to stick up one color background paper and a non-holiday themed border and I don't change it all year. I get too busy to be worried about the wall decor. I "decorate" with teaching charts. I made a lot of them myself (on chart or construction paper) as I was working with students.
As for folders, pencils, crayons, glue, scissors, etc.....keep your eyes open for the back to school sales at
Walmart, Staples, Target, etc....They usually start in late June or early July and continue into August, followed by clearance of whatever is left, which is often slim pickings.
Also, find out if you get a budget from your school to use for materials. Often, these budgets have very specific directions in how you can use the money... in procedure, retailer, materials, and/or when you can use it.
And good luck!
I taught HS Math, but always found some free or really cheap elementary stuff I would use. I teach online now.... no need for that type of classroom stuff. I guess I should sell it at a yardsale sometime.
