Classroom Toolkit

I spent countless hours this year reading blogs, research briefs, journals, and magazines to try to find the best practices, technology, and tools to make my year a successful one for the kids. I thought I would share with you some of the tools I use to make my job easier and more organized. *I didn't get sponsored by any of these products, but I probably should have :)

Westcott Titanium Bonded Scissors

I LOVE THESE. We do crafts in my classroom all the time, and I do lots of activities that require pre-planning and cutting things out for my students. The scissors left behind by the teacher before me were around when God was a boy, and they barely cut. I invested in these and they have saved my poor hands. They're soft, usable for both hands, and they are SHARP. I even bought a second pair of these to use for fabric because they're so sharp and comfortable.

Purchasable on Amazon here

Swingline Laminator

One of the perks of being a teacher is that we get to laminate ALL THE THINGS. I got my own laminator for my classroom because I tend to laminate a huge amount of pages at a time for gallery walks and history labs, and I feel guilty for hogging the shared one. This one was SO CHEAP! It does a great job for my daily lamination needs. Now, you won't be laminating posters with this, but construction paper and regular printer paper work like a charm.

Get it here

Monkey Fidgets

I hear this is a sore subject because of those fidget spinners. I got these for my class. My students have trouble focusing on school just like anywhere else, and sometimes things are going on at home or in the community that keeps their attention not on me. Let's be real, I always want the attention to be on me! I got these from Amazon, and they're a hit. After teaching the expectations for these, students just grab them from a cute little bucket on my desk when they need them. They don't distract other students, and they were not very expensive.

Buy these here

MY FAVORITE INVENTION OF THE MODERN AGE:

*I stole this picture from Office Depot's website.

I literally do not know how I would have survived this school year without this thing. Whoever invented it is basically a friggin' genius and needs a statue made in their honor. Each class gets a color coded folder, and the folders are made out of a very sturdy plastic so they won't rip. You can even rip the labels off and put new ones on easily. After teaching my students the expectation for using them, I rarely ever had to worry about students turning papers in on my desk. They knew to turn it in to the specific color folder for each block. The best thing about this is that it folds like an accordion to be pretty much flat, and even has an elastic band so that everything stays together. When the folder started to seem a little full, I just took it off the wall, folded it, and graded. It's very portable, and for me at least, it holds the perfect amount of student work to not overwhelm with grading. Having this little file kept me on top of my grading for the second semester.

Smead Cascading Wall Organizer

*This beautiful lifesaver can be purchased *here*

Ipevo Ziggi - HD Document Camera

Good teaching requires scaffolding and modeling. One of the easiest ways I have found to do this is with a document camera. I can project the same thing my kids are working on, or my notes, onto my smartboard while I'm writing. I chose this model for a couple of reasons, and so far, it hasn't disappointed me. It is wireless, so I can carry it around the room. My students are very shy and quiet, it's part of the culture here. So instead of them talking, they can (very carefully) come display what they wrote on my doc cam. It's an incentive to touch the shiny piece of technology that also gets my students involved. It's very light. It also has its own wifi network, which makes it completely portable when I have to switch classrooms. It is HD, and comes with presenter software for pretty much any kind of tech, including my iPad and phone. The biggest pro is that this doc cam is very affordable. It has the same features as similar models that cost up to about $700.

Sashay on over here to buy this gem

Flair Pens

What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't have a deep and abiding love for flair pens? I use them for creating sketchnotes on new units, grading papers, and color coding my planner and lesson plans. These are some of my favorites. Click their titles or pictures to get their Amazon links.

Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens Paper Mate Felt Tip in Tropical Colors