<p>I’m not really sure what I’m going to buy this year. I still have my Moleskine binder from last year, but it got pretty beat up so I put some stickers on it and may use it for my homework binder–it is just somewhat inconvenient to whole punch everything, and the binder pockets I’ve used aren’t too strong.</p>
<p>I know that the AP Lit teacher requires a separate binder for that class and grades it at the end of every year, but I could just empty my AP Lang binder and re-use it.</p>
<p>I still have two KuruToga pencils from last year. I love them so much. They have this little motor inside that rotates the lead so you never have a flat part. The starter pack isn’t very expensive and comes with some very strong leads. </p>
<p>I am very partial to Pilot Precise V5 pens. I wrote all of my AP Exam essays this past year (save AP Psych, but that day was a mess) with the same blue Precise V5. I just love the way that they are scratchy but also flowy.</p>
<p>Notebooks. This shall be interesting. I have no idea which teachers will require notebooks and a lot of them give out little composition books that I loathe. I kind of was, if I still have the money when school starts or I can convince a relative, thinking about buying a red ruled Moleskine notebook for AP US Gov and a green, unruled notebook for AP Physics, but I don’t know if we’ll need notebooks for Calc, and three Moleskines is getting kind of pricey.</p>
<p>I also really want to use a planner this year. Especially because I’m going to be really, really busy–between deadlines for colleges, homework, projects, etc., I’m also editor of the Key Club and will need to keep track of dates for that. Again, I really like Moleskine but they are SO EXPENSIVE!</p>
<p>@SusieAnne Thanks!</p>
<p>Since the start of highschool I’ve always bought a medium-sized Moleskine weekly planner to use as an organizer … this year and last year I decided on a red hardcover one. Looks amazing and super high-quality - absurdly expensive for use as a school organizer though. At least it motivates me to actually keep track of my homework…</p>
<p>I always buy a lot of mechanical pencils (and to some degree, pens). I don’t know why, I just really like mechanical pencils. Metal grips are the best.</p>
<p>There is something beyond satisfying about buying school supplies but I’m not really sure how to explain it.</p>
<p>I’m incredibly disorganized, but I’m totally anal about my school supply brands. I refuse to buy any binder except the Mead hard plastic binders. Target didn’t have these last summer, and let me tell you, my struggle was real. Cardboard ones always fall apart after a month and the ones with the vinyl covers always rip.</p>
<p>I have to get notebooks with plastic and/or hard covers. Those cheap “70 count 1 subject” don’t work because I tend to break them even more quickly than cardboard binders.</p>
<p>My dad teaches at a university and he always brings me the nice BIC mechanical pencils from his supply closet. Those are by far my favorite, but I’ll buy the cheap BIC mechanical pencils too. He also gets these sweet ink pens. I don’t know the brand or anything but they’re the kind that’s not ballpoint. That comes in handy because when I get bored I can drip ink all over my notes.</p>
<p>My planner, however, is one of the most important things in my life. I forget almost everything and have to refer to it dozens of times a day during the school year, so I like a very specific type. I’ve been using the same kind for awhile and I’ve only ever found them at Target–they’re the ones with the fabric covers. I had to go to three stores last summer before I found a place that still had them in stock.</p>
<p>I totally forgot about my planner! Every year I get the same one- the Five Star planner with the fabric covered spiral. I think mine is maybe 4in x 6in. It’s not super cute or anything, but it’s relatively cheap, comes in lots of colors, and stays together.</p>
<p>I love love love school supply shopping. But it really sucks that in high school there is no giant list with everything you need for all your classes (or at least at my school there isn’t) like there was in middle and elementary school! </p>
<p>For math, I only use a binder with looseleaf paper if I have to turn in my homework or if my teacher gives us a lot of worksheets or lets us keep quizzes/tests. Other than that I would use a spiral notebook, but the only problem is that sometimes important notes get lost in all of the homework that I also do in that notebook… I am considering using washi tape to mark important notes for reference.</p>
<p>To all of you people buying agendas and planners…don’t your schools give you one for free? Mine does…</p>
<p>@AnImpAffliction In middle school we were required to pay $5 for really crappy ones from the school, but my high school doesn’t do that. I don’t mind because it means I can pick one that I actually like.</p>
<p>mine does but I prefer to just get my own.</p>
<p>@CheerOutLoud, that sucks having to pay for a crappy agenda. Our agendas are pretty good but mine usually gets destroyed by the end of the year because I just stuff it into my backpack and it gets crushed by my other stuff. A lot of kids I know get their own agenda but I like having the school’s agenda because it has important dates marked on it like the end of the grading periods and holidays and stuff.</p>
<p>Does anyone take notes on a tablet or laptop? Because I just got one and I’m planning to use it for school.</p>
<p>My school sells crappy planners as well. They’re really big and kinda ugly so I always just prefer to get my own.</p>
<p>We get tablets at my school as well. My school has some sort of an affiliation with Apple and we started an iPad program a couple years ago. Personally, I hate typing on mine. Pretty much everyone just uses them to play candy crush and imessage during class.</p>
<p>My school gives each of us a planner … which I promptly hide under my bed or throw away. Cheap, ugly planners are the worst.</p>
<p>edit: actually I think that was middle school … now I just say “no thank you.”</p>
<p>@DancingK- YOU WHAT? You guys get tablets??? My school district has a set of iPads in the administrative building and if a school wants to borrow them, I guess they have to get permission. But that’s so awesome! Oh, I see why you find it annoying. Don’t they give you iPad keyboards? There are keyboards out there that you plug into your iPad to type. My tablet has that (although it’s not an iPad). </p>
<p>@Saelanares, hahaha. Most of my classmates just keep the ones we get from the school. Only the people who think they’re the cool kids get their own, haha. And it’s like, the branded ones. Like…Juicy Couture-level stuff we’re talkin’ here.</p>
<p>I always have a strange combination of school supplies. I don’t like taking notes in binders because all the loose leaf falls out, so I buy a notebook for every class. But then my teachers always give out a lot of handouts so I have to buy a binder to keep them together. So for every class I have a binder, a notebook, and a two pocket folder for graded papers.</p>
<p>@AnImpAffliction Haha, yeah, it can be helpful to have constant internet access but at least for me, it’s become more of a distraction than anything else. We’re allowed to buy our own keyboards for the iPad, but most people choose not to. The school provides insurance only if we keep it in the tech department-provided case-- if you take the case off to attach a keyboard and the screen cracks or something, you’re completely responsible for the damage.</p>
<p>@DancingK, you’re not allowed to take them home, right? I’m surprised no one tries to steal them. My school district has announced that by 2015, every student will have a personal tablet (not sure if it’s going to be an iPad). 2015…the year I graduate. -_-</p>
<p>Staples “better binders” really are the best binders around! They always last me the whole year & are still in near-perfect condition. I could probably reuse them for 2 or 3 years but I, of course, need shiny new supplies each year. ;)</p>
<p>@NCGirl9706, agreed. Those things are the best. Except the plastic cover on the front of the binder always tears up by the end of the year. But maybe that’s because I stuff my binders into my locker and backpack. :P</p>
<p>I really like the clear folders with the colored sides at Staples…they’re pricey, but really good quality!</p>
<p>I’m not buying any school supplies this year!</p>