My Teacher Bag

I am linking up with Teacher by the Beach for a great Linky on Teacher Bags.

I didn't realize until about 5 years ago (half-way through my career at this point) how important a teacher bag was.  I was just using whatever I happened to have handy.

My first teacher bag was my fancy backpack from high school.

It has durability factor that ROCKS and real backpacking straps for all those papers that I carry around.  However, it seriously lacked organization.

As a result, I switched last year to this beauty:

I paid a little extra to have my name put on it.  I love all the pockets.  You can see one holding my paper clip box.  I keep notepads and sticky notes in a side pocket as well as an extra phone charger.  I always take my teacher binder with me EVERYWHERE because you never know when you might have a minute.  The only other staple always in this bag is my pen case, which has flash drives, pens, pencils, highlighters, and bigger binder clips.

I now swear by the Organizing Utility Tote from 31. I own not only the one pictured above but I own two others.  In fact, I just this spring got a new one with the zipper top in citrus medallion.  I'm not sure if it will become the new teacher bag or not.  Right now it is my Disney pre-packing stash.