What's in my Teaching Bag?

This post was featured on the TpT blog!

If you are reading this blog post in hopes of seeing a designer bag you may want to buy yourself, prepare to be disappointed. 

My bag (on the far right of the picture above) is a book bag from Target. 

Yup. 

It's gray with neon yellow lining. 

Not pictured is the masking tape a student drew a Nike symbol onto and taped around the shoulder part of one strap. 

He was trying to help me out by making my bag fancy.  

Here's what I keep in my (very luxurious) teaching bag...

Syllabus

Poking out of my bag is a syllabus from one of my grad classes.

My teaching bag doubles as my grad school bag. I'm not only That Teacher who walks in the building wearing a book bag.

I'm also That Grad Student who walks through Midtown Manhattan with the same stylish book bag.

Ice pack

There is a really old ice pack.

I'm not sure why it's yellowed. 😬

I assume that has something to do with how old it is.

One of the perks of being a teacher is the free health care.

I took a hard fall on my knee and my it bruised and blew up to the size of a grapefruit so I went to the nurse the next day and she gave me an ice pack and took good care of my knee. For free!

Plastic bag

You never know when you need a plastic bag!

Post-its

I use post-its for everything.

Lists of things I need to do, what classwork assignments need to be uploaded to my class website, what parents need to be emailed or called, what needs to be copied, what has already been copied, which days and classes each pile of copies is for...

Everything.

Ibuprofen

The only thing worse than menstrual cramps is having to teach while those cramps are trying to destroy me.

Ibuprofen snips that problem in the bud!

Hair ties

I usually keep these around my wrist, but just in case I do leave the house without one, I have one in my bag.

More stickers than any normal high school teacher should have

You wouldn't think high school students would like stickers.

They LOVE stickers!

I teach Spanish, so they all have Spanish phrases on them.

I buy them online.

I put them on all tests and quizzes with an 85% or better. Occasionally I forget to put a sticker on a high grade and students lose their minds and demand two stickers. Even high school students love stickers!

Pens and pencils

There are mostly pencils pictured here. I save the pencils for students who don't have one in class and I will give them one. Sometimes. Not always.

The pens are only for me!

Scissors

You never know when you need to cut something.

Lipstick

I only wear lipstick when parents come around for Back to School Night, Conferences, or whatever.

I keep it in my bag because I wear it so seldomly that I don't want to forget it.

I look a lot younger than I am and I don't want parents to think their 16 year old son is being taught by a 19 year old girl, so lipstick somehow makes me feel older and womanly and teacherly and like I know what I'm doing.

It's probably all in my head but it gives me confidence with parents.

Chapstick

I would die without chapstick.

I have one in every purse I own, in my bathroom, in my desk... If I was sent to a deserted island and I could only bring one thing with me I would bring chapstick.

Keys on a lanyard

I wear a University of Maryland lanyard. Go Terps! 🐢

I keep my classroom keys on it and I wear it around my neck so that I never ever EVER lose my keys.

Ever.

Car keys

I keep these tucked into a small pocket of my bookbag.

I don't think students would ever go through my bookbag, but I honestly wouldn't put anything past them, so I keep my car keys in the same small pocket as tampons.

No teenage boy will touch anything in the same pocket as a tampon.

Sharpies

Any time I prepare an activity with manipulatives or I write something I want students to see from the back of the room, I write in sharpie. I have at least a couple in my desk, in my bookbag, and at home.

Paper clips

I don't carry a stapler around with me at all times because it's far too bulky, but paper clips do the same job as a stapler and are so small!

I have them hanging on my lanyard so they are always with me.

Cough drops

While the nurse's free health care is a perk to teaching, she isn't always available when I'm available and so I keep cough drops in my bag just in case.

I can easily send a student to her during the period to fetch me an ice pack, but she won't send cough drops with a student.

What must-have items do you keep on hand in your teaching bag?