Best of the Web: School Supplies

Periodically we compile a list of the best of what the Internet has to offer to teachers—be that in the classroom or just in daily life. The current edition, “School Supplies” highlights websites that feature ways for teachers to get all sorts of supplies for their classroom. Some sites offer supplies at a discounted rate, and others offer ways to obtain them for free.

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School Supplies

A Teacher’s Aide

A Teacher’s Aide offers 8,000 products for students and teachers. The site is very well organized allowing the user to browse for items by brand name or category. It offers featured products for every category, which are offered at a discount. Users can order online or print a blank order form. Users can also create a wishlist that can be viewed by other teacher’s aide users. The minimum website order is $25.00 but for orders under $25.00, a low order fee of $5.00 will be added.

Adopt-A-Classroom

Adopt-A-Classroom matches donors with teachers to provide teachers with funds to purchase critical resources and materials for their classroom. Teachers register their classroom and able to accept donations from any individual, business or organization that has elected to support their classroom. Donors can communicate with teachers throughout the school year to experience first-hand the impact of their support. 100% of donations go to teachers who have full discretion to purchase classroom materials from a network of online vendors affiliated with Adopt-A-Classroom. The funds, however, may not be used for field trips. Adopt-A-Classroom has started a raffle in which the teacher of any adopted classroom will automatically be entered to win a Jones New York wardrobe and a $10,000 grant, courtesy of Jones New York in the Classroom.

DonorsChoose

DonorsChoose.org provides a direct way to give to students and teachers in need. Public school teachers are able to create student project proposals at DonorsChoose.org consisting of a one page essay and a list of the exact resources needed. Any individual can search such proposals by areas of interest, learn about classroom needs, and choose to fund the projects they find most compelling. Once teachers are paired with donors, DonorsChoose.org purchases the student materials and ships them directly to the school along with a disposable camera, guidelines for preparing feedback packages, and a stamped envelope in which to enclose the feedback. DonorsChoose.org develops the photos, and compiles the letter and thank-you notes to mail to the donor(s) who helped complete the project.

For Teachers Only

For Teachers Only offers many motivational and educational products. The site advertises new products custom tailored to the needs of teaching professionals. The site is very user friendly and recommends products based on previous selections. Great deals can be found under the 50% overstock. A division of Atlas Pen and Pencil Corp., the first company to begin producing decorative pencils, For Teachers Only is a great resource for new items that will help teachers make learning fun.

Geddes: The School Store Authority

Geddes is a comprehensive web site that offers wholesale school supplies for teachers. Geddes guarantees the lowest possible price on a product, and will match lower prices if the shopper finds the same product available elsewhere. Shoppers are also automatically enrolled in the Geddes Get More Club which rewards frequent shoppers with discounts on future orders. Schools and shoppers can also collect logo“G’s” from Geddes school supply packaging and redeem them for free school supplies. The site offers additional teacher resources such as lesson plans and school supply lists for grades K-12.

Homeroom Teacher

Homeroom Teacher is a very well organized site that offers school supplies and additional teacher resources. The site offers over 10,000 teaching products and school supplies for grades K-6. The site also offers a teacher forum at homeroomteacherforum.com, to discuss teaching ideas, lesson plans and other classroom strategies. Users can also sign up for a weekly newsletter that includes lesson plans, teaching information and articles as well as special offers.

iLoveSchools.com: A helping hand for teachers

iLoveSchools.com is a free donor-matching service for school supplies. Teachers build WishLists of up to 100 items of desired equipment, materials, supplies or any other classroom needs. Donors are able to locate teachers through the site’s WishList search and offer their donations of new or used items or the cost of the teacher’s WishList. iLoveSchools.com is a great way for a teacher to find classroom resources without having to spend a penny.

Teacher Storehouse

Teacher Store offers almost 450 different brands and over 30,000 products in stock and has great deals under 50% off closeouts. Teacher store has no sales tax and free shipping on orders over $75. The site also has a member program which users are automatically enrolled in after their first order. Users get 2% off all purchases made by referrals and up to 6% off all purchases once one becomes a gold member.

TeachersDisCount

By pairing the leading provider in discount programs with the NEA and AFT, 90% of teachers can now receive the same discounts long enjoyed by big business employees through TeachersDisCount. While the discounts are not specifically aimed at teaching supplies, there is such a wide assortment of discounts that there are deals on just about everything a teacher needs.

Teacher’s Outlet

Teacher’s Outlet (formerly ABC Teacher’s Outlet) offers a complete online resource of discount school supplies for children in early childhood (preschool), kindergarten, grades 1-3 and grades 4-6. Prices are advertised to be 10% below retail everyday of the year. Though this site is slightly difficult to navigate, every product is classified by appropriate grade range use and the site offers over 100,000 products. The site accepts online, fax, mail, telephone as well as school purchase orders.

Teachers’ School Supply

While targeted towards teachers of earlier grades, Teachers’ School Supply offers a wide variety for products for teachers. The site is socially conscious, donating 10% of their profits to Feed Hungry Families as well as marking every product that is sold on the site that is with a certified icon “Green”. The site also ensures that they will offer great prices on every green product to help contribute to a clean and green future. The site offers a buying guide to help aid in the purchase of certain products, such as a school blackboard. Great for first time teachers.