One of the best ways to solve this issue is by having community supplies. Have all parents bring in supplies, and collect them from students and give them out throughout the year. This is a way to insure that everyone has enough of what they need, and is also a great way to extend the life of your supplies.

If you are teaching middle school or high school students I would determine why the students are not prepared for class. Is there a financial hardship at home and the student cannot afford the materials? Is the student lazy and not coming prepared? If the student cannot afford the supplies then let them know where you keep some materials and ask them to get them at the beginning of class so they are ready. In the case of the lazy students, implement a new classroom rule that if you are not prepared for class then you will start loosing point, the opposite of extra credit. Post the new rules, send a letter home to parents for their signature, and implement new rule in class. Explain that the possibility of dropping a letter grade due to not being prepared in class, a "A" can become a "B," a "B" can become a "C," and so on simply for not being prepared.

As the teacher especially in middle and high make bring materials to class each day a grade. It keeps the students responsible for bringing their materials and helps with their grade. When it comes to elementary school I think it is a great idea like others have stated to have community supplies given by parents or other businesses.

Reward students who do bring materials to class with something fun...allow them to chew gum in class, free homework pass, etc. Eventually other students may catch on.

One suggestion I would give would be to sharpen 30 pencils every two weeks or every month for the kids to "borrow" and then make it be their responsibility to return them or bring their own to class. I tell my students at the beginning of the year that I do not deal with pencil issues. If they do not have one and I am out, they are then responsible for asking a classmate if they can borrow one. I think the main thing is making them responsible for their own materials. I hope this helps!

I agree with some of the other posts that community supplies are the best way to handle this problem. Most teachers now have supply lists at the beginning of the year for all students to contribute to the classroom supplies. In this way, those that may not be able to afford supplies will have what they need. It is easy to judge children for not having supplies, but if the parents don't have access to them, or don't ensure that their child has what they need, then the student should not suffer for it.

A great solution to this problem is by adding extra items to the school supply list at the beginning of the year. Students do not need to place their names of the items because they will belong to the entire class. This will allow you to have extra on hand without it coming out of your pocket throughout the year.

Depends on the age of the students, but I teach high school so my solution is for high school students only. One thing you can do is make them give you their cell phone to lend out a pen or whatever. They have to return it to you to get the phone back. I know this will sound harsh to some people, but they are in high school, your college professor isn't going to lend you a pen when you forget one. We have an issue with students not bringing their books to class. Let them sit there for one day and not be able to complete the work. Sure, you'll feel bad, but the next day they will have their book. It's sounds bad, but it works. If a student has a situation that may prevent them from having supplies, you need to find out. If one student has that situation, give them a pencil. After that, you know they have one and they should bring it every day.

This is a big ongoing issue I see a lot in public schools now. As a teacher, use your resources you have and then ask for help. Ask for help form your parents, local stores, etc. Maybe someone will even sponsor your class for the year!

I'm going to suggest you use an app called Remind. It let's communication flow easily between teachers and parents. The messages are delivered by text and email. It can be down loaded to your personal device for spare of the moment needs, behavior reports,mass messages, or individual chats. This will be a productive way to let parents know what is needed and going on in the classroom.

You can send a flyer home asking the parents to donate school supplies. You could also just tell them you don't have any because you give it away to them everyday so they're going to have to ask one of their peers for materials. Once their peers start getting annoyed i think they'll start bringing stuff to class.

You can have a basket for each table or you can provide a supply box for each of your students' that way they have their own items. If they forget something or don't have access to supplies, they know at school, they have a box to go to. But they must return the pencils, etc. back into their box and not take it home so it avoids not having any materials.

Positive reinforcement and/or using a reward system for the students who are coming to class prepared may be enough to get most students to change their tendencies, but it is important that students still have access to "community supplies" (as another post mentioned). Some of these students may not have a home or enough food to eat, bringing a pencil to school is the least of their worries.

Have a teacher wish list throughout the year for supplies, and keep a stocked caddy at each table. If students use desks, the teacher can set up a supply area.

If you have a behavior management system in your class, I would penalize students who are not prepared for class. For example, I use money in my class and not having the proper materials costs them $5 and 5 minutes of their recess. This punishment quickly corrects behavior as students hate missing part of recess.