What to Add to Your Amazon Wish List as a New Elementary Teacher

If you’re a new elementary-school teacher, did you walk into an empty classroom? Or maybe your “new” classroom was filled with the last teacher’s “stuff”, but you still feel like you’re missing everything you need to get your classroom set up.

Being a new teacher can be overwhelming, and trying to shop for all the supplies you need coming into a new classroom can be a massive undertaking. (And an expensive one!)

Many of us will go to Amazon to shop for all of our classroom essentials in one place, but it can be hard to know where to start and what to add to your wish list as a new teacher.

Here are a few items to consider adding to your new teacher wish list on Amazon:

• A set of colorful, durable folders to organize your students’ work. You might also consider getting these hanging files and a file storage container to organize student work. Tip: Give each student a number, and ask them to turn in their work to the folder with their number on it. (By assigning the number instead of writing the name, you can reuse the folders each year!)

• A planner to keep track of important dates, meetings, and lesson plans. We love disc planners because you can add or remove pages as you’d like, creating your own custom planner based on your needs! Check out The Happy Planner Store for a ton of options for planner inserts. Show upo to your first faculty meeting in style!

• A laminator to protect important documents and make reusable materials. Your school might have a laminator for you to use, but if you can add this one to your new teacher Amazon wish list, you’ll save yourself from making trips back and forth from the school laminator. Using a personal laminator also means you get to choose the thickness of the laminate, which means more durable materials that will last year after year.

• A set of dry erase markers and erasers to use on your whiteboard. Don’t make the mistake of going cheap on these! Add the brand-name low-odor set to your new teacher classroom wish list. You’ll thank us later! Tip: Add these makeup sponges to your new teacher wish list and let students use them to erase their work on personal white boards. If you don’t have personal whiteboards, add these to your wish list!

• A document sorter. This is a totally un-fancy tool that we absolutely love for paper sorting while grading. Give each student a number and sort their graded work behind their number. Staple together to send home a packet of work when grading is finished. Goodbye to piles of student work crumpled into backpacks!

• Books! Use our Amazon wish list guide to set up your new teacher wish list for books. You could also ask friends and family to each donate $10 for your classroom library. With 20 sponsors, you could have a nice set of books to use as mentor texts in your classroom.

• Board games. Board games help students develop logic and practice following directions. They keep kids busy AND keep their brains sharp. We love Shut the Box for kids practicing addition, Bananagrams for word building, and Qwirkle for strategy.

• A set of stools for collaborative work. This is a bit of a splurge for your new teacher wishlist, but we love these lightweight stools so students (and you!) can easily move around the room for collaboration. Go ahead and add it to the wish list! You never know.

In addition to these items, don’t forget to add a few personal touches to your wish list. This could include a comfortable chair for your desk, a coffee mug for your daily caffeine fix, and a set of fun teacher stickers to use on your lesson plans and assignments.

Remember, as a new teacher, it’s important to prioritize your own well-being and comfort. Amazon has a wide variety of items that can help you create a positive and productive classroom environment, so don’t be afraid to add a few fun items to your wish list.

Comment below and tell us what’s on your new teacher wish list! You can also share your list with us by using this link. We love to push your lists out to our network to try and get you the resources you need as a new teacher. We’re in this together!

And if you’re looking for some quick, 10-minute trainings to help you through your first years as a new elementary school teacher (or even as a teacher who is feeling “new” because of a change in grade level or subject area), be sure to check out PopPD’s free 10-minute classes specifically for you!