You could literally spend thousands of dollars on teacher must haves on Amazon, but since I am Your Thrifty Co-Teacher, I am sharing with you today a few items that will literally save you time, help you work more efficiently, and support your teaching in the classroom without breaking the bank.
All of the must-have linked items that I will be sharing with you today are items that I own or have a similar version of and that have helped me run a more efficient classroom throughout the years.
Although Flair pens and personalized items are nice to have and enjoy, they aren’t necessarily items that help your classroom run more smoothly, so they won’t be listed here. 😉
This blog post contains Amazon Affiliate Links which means Amazon will give me a (very small) percentage for each of your purchases without any additional cost to you.
Item #1: Guillotine Paper Cutter
This style of paper cutter cuts through multiple papers efficiently, and the blade lasts way longer than the ones that have a sliding blade.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Owning one of these paper cutters and having it on hand allows you to cut interactive notebook resources, such as mini anchor charts and foldable booklets, quickly saving both you and your students precious class time.
Also, when cutting binder spine labels or task cards, the lines are much straighter when using a paper cutter as opposed to when they’ve been cut using scissors.
Item # 2: Personal Laminator and Laminating Sheets
These personal laminators work well for at-home projects, and the sheets are also thicker and more durable than most school laminating machines.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Many times, we print out resources and don’t have too much turn around time before using them with our students. Having the ability to laminate at any time can relieve anxiety. No need to get to school early to use the school laminator. Or worse, having to go to an office supply store to get it laminated.
Item #3: Black Permanent Markers
These markers work better than other styles of black markers. They will not smudge and work on more types of surfaces than traditional markers.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Each year as we set up our subject notebooks and folders, I ask students to write their names on everything. In the past, they have attempted to write their names on consumable workbooks and plastic folders with regular black markers. It would smudge badly. Now, I have them write their names using a Sharpie, and we do not need to worry any longer about it smudging.
Students also use them on projects to outline their drawing such as when they created idiom t-shirts during our design studio classroom transformation.
Item #4: Address Labels
This size label is much more versatile than other sizes and brings about 30 to a page making them more economical.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
These labels have quite a variety of uses in my classroom. One way I use them is to label the books in our classroom library. It helps keep them organized in alphabetical order by author. I use Molly’s labels and organization method which you can read more about by clicking here.
We also use them to label all of their folders and notebooks. It helps keep them organized and easy to identify during the school year.
Item #5: 3″ x 3,” Standard-Size Post-It Notes
Just as like the labels, this specific size of sticky notes is the most versatile.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
These Post-It Notes work well for annotating in a textbook that is not consumable. It is big enough to write on, but small enough to limit students’ writing. This helps them think narrow their thoughts.
Also, they are the perfect size for exit tickets.
Lastly, we constantly use these in class for our interactive reading logs.
Item #6: Binders
Filing cabinets that can take up a lot of space and fill up with tons of unnecessary papers and supplies. Binders are a great alternative .to
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Binders force you to think in themes and topics and can accessed easily. This helps keep you organized.
They work well to keep all of your parent communication in one place.
They help you keep all of your curriculum resources such as print and fold grammar booklets, assessments, and exit tickets, all in one place. You can quickly grab them to make copies as needed. They also work well for grammar work mats.
Item #7: 3 Hole-Punch
When looking for a 3 hole-punch, think what you will be using it for. If you plan to mainly to only use it for papers going into 3 ring binders, it might be best to get a hole punch that doesn’t allow you to move the individual punches.
I own two hole punches. I have to say, one of them has the punches that move and it always comes loose. It becomes very frustrating to hole punch the document only to find out it does not fit.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Having a personal 3 hole punch in your classroom allows you to quickly place papers in binders such as your classroom library log or in students duo tang folders such as their interactive reading logs. It allows you to keep the flow going within your classroom without having to place things “on hold” until you are able to make it to the office to borrow the one there.
Item #8: Page Protectors
I recommend the 8.5″ x 11″ page protectors and use the “multipage” ones for my parent communication binder, so I can insert as many documents as needed.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Item # 9: Stapler
When looking for a stapler, you’ll want to make sure it opens flat. This will allow you to use the stapler on bulletin boards.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
I’m sure I don’t need to go into specifics about this one, but if your school does not give you one, make sure to grab one yourself. There is nothing more annoying than having a packet come apart and having to try to hold it together with a paper clip before you can get to a stapler.
Item #10: Clipboard
Clipboards come made with different materials (ex. wood, plastic) and a variety of colors or patterns. This is totally personal preference, but make sure it is sturdy and large enough to hold a full size sheet of paper. Also, you’ll want to make sure the clip opens widely and closes tightly, so you can hold multiple papers without them slipping out.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Clipboards make it easy to walk around and take anecdotal records on students. It’s also convenient during reading groups since you can write on a hard surface without distracting students or having them see what you are writing. I also like to use them during our classroom transformations because it allows me to walk around with the answer keys.
Item #11: Ticonderoga Pencils & a Pencil Sharpener
The pencil sharpener that I use is actually not an Amazon must-have for teachers, although I will link a great one for you here which is made by a trusted manufacturer and has great reviews. The pencil sharpener I use from Classroom Friendly Supplies. It is a manual pencil sharpener that will sharpen ANY pencil including those with that annoying plastic on it. It sharpens pencils like none I’ve ever seen.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Ticonderoga pencils are all the hype and deservingly so. They sharpen quickly, and the lead is extremely strong. I have never had one of these pencil leads break right after I sharpen them as less expensive models have. I keep a sharpened set a my teacher center to hand out to students that way I am confident that there will be no need for pencil sharpening while they are with me.
As for pencil sharpeners, you may want students to bring in their own personal pencil sharpeners with a lid, so you will not have someone constantly up during class trying to sharpen a pencil. That being said, having your own personal pencil sharpener that works efficiently is an important time saver.
Item #12: Colored Highlighters
Be sure to have a variety of different colored highlighters available to you.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
Having a variety of colored highlighters allows you to color code documents. First of all, as an upper elementary school teacher, chance are that you will be teaching text-based writing to your students. Show examples of your own writing and color coding different parts of the text will help visual learners see what a well developed essay should like. Secondly, when reflecting on data sheets, color coding them will make it easier to identify the different levels.
Item #13: Staple Remover
Trust me. You are going to want to be able to quickly remove staples from your bulletin boards without damaging the paper or board.
Why I Recommend This Amazon Must-Have for Teachers:
I was a little skeptical because I have only ever used the claw paper removers. I was WOWED! The staple came out quickly and smoothly. The staple stays hooked on to the latch, so it doesn’t make a huge mess. If it does fall to the ground, you can quickly pick it up. Just use the opposite side of the tool. It’s magnetic and picks them up efficiently.
If you’d like a “Teacher Must Haves Checklist,” click on the image below to download it.
What other Teacher Must Haves would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
