Trainee teacher must haves

[Gottoimprove]

My dd is starting her teacher training this year. What does she need to do/know/buy beforehand that will make life easier for her when she first starts? Are there any books or websites etc?

Anti depressants and gin.

Registering on TES website - to get free access to lesson plans and resources, to use for inspiration when planning lessons (or to just use the whole things if it suits 😂)

That helped me so much.

Also, clothes that she feels really confident in (and bearing in mind that clothing rides up a bit when you are reaching up to write on the board!)

Hold fire on the pen drive/Hard drive. Lots of schools now don't allow their use : bonkers over reaction to GDPR.

Otherwise : several mugs. These days 'young things' have God Awful Sippy Cups with nice patterns.

Also, millions of cheap pens to lend out to the wee buggers than never bring them.

A bag on wheels! Absolute god send when transferring your life from one class to another, will save her back and majority of teachers use them. Good luck!

My mum swore by a collapsible trolley for carting everything home, especially useful for 30 exercise books!

I don’t disagree with the bag on wheels idea for a student teacher (they are often out of class) but unless you are on supply or don’t have your own classroom it’s not necessary for an employed teacher - I’ve never seen one who used one, who wasn’t a student.

Another one for A4 paper slicer, laminator, decent laptop and colour printer. Heavy duty long arm and short arm staplers and hole puncher have improved my quality of life. Avery labels.

Don't take ANY of these into school. They are her little secret but mean that she will be able to go home, make displays and laminate in front of the telly instead of hanging around at school.

It's all wrong to have to buy this stuff and do it at home, but being pragmatic, she'll spend enough time at school.

Loads of tops that will repel marker pen and won't show skin when you put your hand up to write on the board or get attention.

So much depends on the course/ school. I'm a primary NQT.

Things I found useful/ lovely gifts:

Comfy teacher shoes
Decent coat for playground duty
Lidded mug
Decent bag or trolly- especially if she isn't driving. I LOVE my Mia Tui Jennie bag. I use that and a hessian personalised Mrs Pants bag to carry books home.
Voucher for a massage/ facial/ pamper. My DH bought me these at difficult points when I wasn't sleeping and the anxiety was making me ill.
Laptop/ Printer if she hasn't already got one. USB stick- but not everywhere will let you use them.
Subscription to Twinkl- useful as a starting point or when you just need something quick. Not to be relied upon to teach.
Pirongs personalised teacher planner.
Nice A4 notebooks.

Good luck to your DD- it was the hardest year of my life but I love my job!