25 Teacher Hacks You Wish You Would Have Thought Of
25 Teacher Hacks You Wish You Would Have Thought of
I wanted to share with you what I've found to be the top teacher hacks. These are all brilliant ideas that are super easy to implement and will make your life so much easier. I've found ideas for supply organization, storage, handouts, dry board erasers, storing passwords and even tips to help you keep track of all of those remotes. I hope you find some ideas that'll make life in the classroom so much easier!
This post has been recently updated with even more hacks!
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Color Coded Supply Caddies for Desks
PICTURE SOURCE | APRIMARYKINDOFLIFE
This is a brilliant way to organize school supplies. Look closely and see that the supply caddies are color coded to match the scissors and the glue sticks.
That way all the supplies have a home, and you can put the kids in charge of making sure they are all organized at the end of each school day.
Here are some rainbow desk caddies from Amazon if you want to steal this idea.
Crayon Bins That Match the Color of the Crayons
PICTURE SOURCE | SPARKLINGINSECONDGRADE
This will make for easy sorting and allow the students to easily find exactly what color they need.
These colorful bins would work great for this.
Organizing Passwords
PICTURE SOURCE | CLUTTERFREECLASSROOM
How do you keep track of all the passwords that the kids need for everything? This teacher came up with a great idea. Each child has their own key chain with passwords on it.
They are all hung on hooks so it’s easy for them to grab it and go. No more “teacher I forgot my password”… Bonus points for making a pretty display with the rainbow colored key chains.
Magnetic Hooks to Hold Stickers
PICTURE SOURCE | PURELY.PRIMARY
So you have a ton of little sheets of stickers, right? Well then you'll love this idea. Simply punch a small hole at the top of the sheets and hang them on a magnetic hook on your dry erase board.
You'll no longer have single sheets of stickers scattered everywhere.
You can find some magnetic hooks here.
Multiple Uses For Paint Sample Cards
PICTURE SOURCE | LEARNLOVEGROW
Yes, these are those paint sample cards from the home improvement store. This teacher used these to create a beautiful display of number cards for her kiddos.
These would also work for alphabet cards, math problems or sight words, the possibilities are endless.
Makeup Remover Pads as Dry Erase Board Erasers
PICTURE SOURCE | TEACHINGJOYS
This teacher swears that these are the best dry erase board erasers. They are makeup remover pads made for your face. Bonus points because they are colorful and cheap!
I love these makeup remover pads from Amazon because they are reusable and washable and come with a laundry bag to wash them!
Stop Passing Out Papers
PICTURE SOURCE | HOW_I_TEACH_HIGH_SCHOOL
Just as the picture says this is a brilliant way to stop passing out all of those papers every day. Load the daily handouts in these mail holders and then have the kids grab their own handouts in the morning or right before a new activity.
Grab a Pencil
PICTURE SOURCE | THECLASSROOMSPARROW
If you're always loaning out pencils and never getting them back this is the perfect hack for you. The students have to sign for their pencil and can erase their name when they return it.
Not only does it hold the kids accountable, but it also saves you the time and distraction from stopping an activity to get a student a loaner pencil.
Clips like these metal magnetic ones would work perfectly.
Remote Binder
PICTURE SOURCE | TEACHERAPPROVED
There are so many remotes to lose in a class full of kids, especially those little projector remotes.
Here's an idea to keep them organized and always in the right spot when you need them. You can use double sided Velcro to attach the remotes to the binder.
Over The Door Crayon Organizer
PICTURE SOURCE | TEACHERAPPROVED
I love so many things about this one. First you can fit this in any space even on a wall or over a door. I also love how the teacher organized the colors in rainbow order to create a spot for each color crayon.
This lets the students have independence in getting and putting away their own supplies. You can find a door hanging shoe organizer here to create your own crayon organizer.
Keeping Track of Pencils
PICTURE SOURCE | BUSYMISSBEEBE
I've seen a lot of pencil hacks out there. Here's a great idea to keep track of your classroom pencils.
The magnetic clips can be found here. If you did this on a magnetic dry erase board, you can have your students sign out for the pencil too.
Monster Pick Sticks
PICTURE SOURCE | _TEACHERPOLLY
This teacher created these cute little monster pick sticks. Each student is assigned one and then they're used when she needs to randomly select students.
As a bonus for the first week of school to reward good behavior she allows students to pick which monster will be theirs!
Dice Containers
PICTURE SOURCE | TEACHINGMADDENESS
These little dice containers keep the dice together when the students shake them. No more lost dice or dice shooting across the room. As a bonus tip she lined them with felt to keep them quiet too, genius!
You could use magnetic spice containers if you want to try this idea in your class.
Turn in Papers Procedure
PICTURE SOURCE | FOURTH GRADE FLAIR
This fourth-grade teacher implemented this reflect and highlight turn in procedure. You can read all about it from the link above. She has her students reflect on their level of understanding with the assignment.
Each student highlights their name with the color that represents their level of understanding. This also helps remind them to write their name on their paper without her having to tell them 50,000 times. Brilliant idea!
Color Coded Supply Caddies
PICTURE SOURCE | MISS.B.CLASSROOM
I am a huge fan of color coordinated organization. That's why I love these table caddies to hold all the supplies the students need in colors that coordinate with the table color.
Here are some plastic caddies that would work perfectly for colorful table caddies!
Brain Break Sticks
PICTURE SOURCE | MISS.B.CLASSROOM
These brain break sticks are the fun way for your students to choose a little break. This teacher added washi tape on the popsicle sticks for an extra fun touch.
The Perfect Student Desk Setup
PICTURE SOURCE | LITTLE.MISS.SABRINA
This teacher has her students desk set up down to a science. First, for the name plates she laminated these and stuck them down with a Velcro dot.
That way when students change seating, they can just erase the name and write their name on their new spot. Bonus when she has new students, she doesn’t have to re-print name tags.
Second, she has this straw taped to the desk. Student keep a pencil in the straw at all times. That way they always know where it is and she can quickly see who's missing a pencil.
Wireless Doorbell to Get the Class’s Attention
PICTURE SOURCE | FIRSTIE_THINGS_FIRST
This teacher saves her voice by using this wireless doorbell that she found on Amazon. You can find a similar wireless doorbell here.
She uses it when she needs the class to freeze, when she needs to give an announcement, or when she wants them to show her that they're ready in line. Her pro tip is to keep it on your lanyard so you have it at all times.
Glitter Salt and Pepper Shakers
PICTURE SOURCE | TINYMINSDAYCARE
This is one of those ideas that you're just like why didn't I think of that. I know a lot of teachers that just don’t do glitter at all.
But this little hack would at least make it manageable. Put the glitter in salt and pepper shakers to cut down on a ton of the mess.
Here's a set of six salt and pepper shakers that would do the trick!
Magical Quiet Spray
IMAGE SOURCE |_OUR_DAY_IN_PREK_
Ms. Denise, a pre-kindergarten teacher from Florida, created magical quiet spray, which is water and some sequins in a spray bottle with a homemade label.
When the class starts to get a little noisy she simply sprays this a few times around the room and the kids get quiet, works like a charm!
Border Hack
IMAGE SOURCE | THATTEACHERTAYLOR
Taylor, a kinder teacher from North Carolina, realized that that a huge magnetic border was too expensive, so she created her own.
She took magnetic dots with adhesive backing and stuck them to the back of her border and had her own moveable and reusable magnetic border! If you love this idea here are the magnetic dots to use.
Sub Tickets
IMAGE SOURCE | MYCLASSBLOOM
Kelsey created these sub tickets for teachers to put in their sub tub. It’s a helpful classroom management tool to provide to a substitute when you’re gone. The sub can hand these out to students that have exceptional behavior.
When you get back to school you can ask which students received the sub ticket and then give them a small prize or a positive phone call home! You can click the link above to get these as a freebie from Kelsey’s TPT store!
Color Code Your Glue Sticks
IMAGE SOURCE | TEACHINGWITHMISSPENEY
Miss Peney, a teacher from Australia found a way to take care of the problem of disappearing glue stick lids. She uses these colored dots and puts one on the glue stick and the other on the lid.
Now if one of her students find a glue stick with out a lid the kids all hunt down that matching colored lid.
Here's a great sticker pack with ten different colors of stickers that you can use to make this idea come to life in your class.
I’m Done! Now What? Hack
IMAGE SOURCE | THEPRIMARYPARTNER
Libby, a first-grade teacher, was always answering the same question from early finishers of what they can work on when they’re done. So, she put up activities that students can work on when they’re finished with their assignment.
Then she got these push lights. She tells the students if the light is on they can work on that activity when they are done! What a smart idea!
You can find a colorful set of push lights here. They come with a wireless remote so you can change the colors too!
Ok, so now you've seen the top 25 teacher hacks to keep it all together in the classroom. I love these smart, easy ideas that make life a little bit easier and more organized, don’t you? Feel free to click on the P on your favorite hack to save it to your Pinterest Boards!
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