Back to School

Amazon is a great way to shop for back-to-school or classroom supplies. The prices are amazing, they regularly have sales and coupons (look for “Today’s Deals”), and everything is shipped straight to your door. For things I use often, I even sign up for their subscribe and save program which gives even more savings. Plus, it’s easy to return items. Here are My Favorite Money Saving Amazon Finds for Teachers.

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1. Acrylic Dry Erase Marker Holder

This is perfect for storing your dry erase markers and eraser. I suggest using magnetic tape so that it can be attached to your whiteboard and be moveable. You can also have it free-standing on your desk, a nearby table, or mounted to any wall. Perfect for making your Expo markers easy to find when you need them. It comes with screws and adhesive to make it easy to mount.

2. Magnetic Dry Erase Labels

I love these magnetic labels for classroom decor and organization. They come in 8 different colors to brighten any classroom and there are 40 of them which give you lots of options. They’re also great for student cubbies or lockers, centers, filing cabinets, bulletin boards, morning attendance and lunch, behavior charts, nameplates, or the refrigerator. The surface is dry erase so you can use your Expo markers to write, erase, and rewrite as many times as you need.

3. Gel Pens

I have so many teacher friends who love using Flair pens, and I do sometimes, but these gel pens are my favorite go-to pen for grading papers and writing in general. I love all the different colors to choose from and the writing is so smooth. I also love that they dry really fast and don’t smear or glob like other pens sometimes do. Plus, they last a long time. They are one of my Favorite Money Saving Amazon Finds for Teachers.

4. Stackable Paper Storage

If you use a lot of printables, worksheets, or handouts in your classroom, this stackable paper storage is great for that. They come with 5 different bins, each a different color, making it easy to store your worksheets for each day of the week. If you teach middle school or different classes, you could also use each color for that. They hold 8 1/2″ by 11″ paper so you can really use them for any type of paper stored in your classroom. They also come in solid grey if you prefer that.

5. Answer Buzzers for Classroom Games

Your students will love using these answer buzzers for classroom games. Each color comes with its own unique buzzer sound so it’s easy to tell who is ready to answer the question. These would be so much fun so Jeopardy-like games or Family Feud. Your students will have so much fun they’ll forget they’re doing schoolwork.

6. Calculator or Cell Phone Storage

These hangable pockets are perfect for storing calculators or cell phones in your classroom. They’d also be great for art supplies like glue sticks, markers, crayons, or scissors. It comes with 30 pockets and they’re transparent making it easy to see what you’re looking for. They’re easy to clean with a wet towel and can be used year after year. There are 4 metal hooks on the top to hook to your whiteboard or classroom door.

7. Classroom Pack of Crayola Markers

These markers are such a good deal on Amazon! The price changes sometimes but they’re generally really inexpensive for 256 markers. I love that they have 16 different colors and that they come in this great box for storage. You could also use the hangable pockets above for storage or storage containers too. So helpful for classroom teachers and one of my My Favorite Money Saving Amazon Finds for Teachers.

8. Sticky Notes

I use sticky notes for everything! I especially like when they’re different colors so I can color code things. I love the bright colors and love that they come with 1200 in this pack. In addition to using them to help keep organized, there are also lots of ways you can use them with your students. For lots of ideas on how to use sticky notes in your classroom, check out this article on 25 Ways to Use Sticky Notes in the Classroom.

9. Classroom Mailbox

If you have a lot of student papers to organize, using this classroom mailbox system is a great way to do it. You can choose either 10, 15, or 30 slots depending on the size of your class. Tabs are included on each slot for you to write student names. Perfect for student papers, notebooks, workbooks, or folders. You can even use these to distribute papers and then have students stuff their own folders when you’re done. These are also great for storing colored papers, lined paper, graph paper, and copier paper.

10. Dry Erase Pockets

Dry erase pockets are great for so many different things. They’re great for tracing letters and numbers and practicing math facts. You can also use them as individual white boards by just slipping a piece of white paper inside the pocket. They’re super easy to use. Just slide the worksheet into the pocket and students can write and erase their answers as they practice certain skills. They come in 10 different colors and are sturdy so you can use them for more than one year. They come in packs of 6, 12, and 30 so you can have as many as you need for your class. I love that they come with an elastic marker holder and metal eyelet too.

11. Dry Erase Markers

Dry erase markers are so helpful in the classroom for so many reasons. Use them to write on whiteboards, have students use them with dry-erase pockets, and use them for dry-erase labels. There are usually big sales on these for back-to-school so it’s a good time to stock up.

I love that they come with different tips. I like the chisel tip for writing on the whiteboard but suggest the fine tip for students to use. Some of the new markers even have small erasers on the top which is super helpful for students to use. Some teachers also use a glue gun to attach pom poms to the bottoms of the markers for handy erasers too.

You might want to consider using makeup remover pads for student erasers too. They’re perfect for little hands and you can easily throw them in the washing machine when they get too dirty.

12. Presharpened Pencils

All teachers know there’s a mysterious black hole in every classroom where pencils disappear every day. Seriously though, students lose pencils all the time and it seems like you can never have enough of them. I love these pencils from Amazon basics because you get 15 of them for a really great price. The best part is that they’re already pre-sharpened! Such a huge time saver and one of My Favorite Money Saving Amazon Finds for Teachers.

13. Ten Drawer Rolling Cart

There are so many uses for these rolling carts in your classroom. Use them to organize math centers and math manipulatives. Store all your craft items or classroom supplies in them. Use them for class snacks and drinks. Organize all your colored and printer paper in them.

These are also great for organizing all your papers. You can use 5 of them for the days of the week. The remaining 5 drawers would be great for papers to copy, grade, and file with an extra 2 drawers for anything you want.

There are lots of options to use these at home too – especially for homeschooling families. The possibilities are endless.

I love the bright colors and you can also get them in all white or all black. The drawers are easy to remove too so you can easily stock or move your supplies when you need to. Plus the cart is on wheels so you can easily roll it to different locations in your classroom.

14. Multi-Color Ballpoint Pens

These multi-color pens are great for grading papers or for writing in teacher planners because you have 6 different ink colors in one pen.

I also love these for student gifts at the end of the year or as prizes for good behavior or winning some sort of curriculum-based game. They could also be a fun party favor for goodie bags. They’re also helpful for students taking color-coded notes or journaling.

Great for teachers and students which makes them one of My Favorite Money Saving Amazon Finds for Teachers.

15. Student Clipboards

These student clipboards are great for when students need a good writing surface away from their desks. They’re great for scavenger hunts, task card activities where they have to move around the room to find questions, and field trips too.

The flat clip makes them easy for students to use and they’re the perfect size for worksheets and printables.

You can even add dry erase self-adhesive sheets to use them as both a mini whiteboard and clipboard too.

16. Colored Pencils Class Pack

I love using colored pencils for older students in upper elementary and middle school grades but students who are aged 4 and above can use these too. This is a great class set because it has 240 pencils in 12 different colors. I love that it also includes 12 different sharpeners too.

You can either store them in this box or wrap 12 pencils in a rubber band and give them to your students to use. You should have enough pencils for 20 students if you bundle them with a rubber band.

These colored pencils are great for so many different art projects, color-by-code activities, coloring sheets, or note-taking. This class pack is much more cost-effective than purchasing individual packs too.

17. Electric Pencil Sharpener

I’ve tried many different electric pencil sharpeners over the year and this is by far the best. It’s relatively quiet compared to other models I’ve tried so it’s not super disruptive when students need to sharpen their pencils.

It also automatically stops sharpening when the pencil is sharpened preventing students from sharpening until the pencil is left to a tiny nub. It’s adjustable for 7 different pencil sizes too. It’s also great for colored pencils too. The shavings bin is really big so you won’t have to empty it that often and it’s sturdy so students can empty it too. There are suction cups on the bottom too so it doesn’t move around the table or desktop when you’re using it.

18. Stackable Letter Tray

This stackable letter tray is perfect for organizing papers on your teacher’s desk. I used these to organize my papers like school calendars, schedules, sub plans, lunch menus, parent contact information, lunch duty calendar, and anything that came from the school. Basically anything that I’d need often and wanted to be able to easily grab.

They could also be used to organize student papers as well. They’re stackable so you could also use them to organize and store colored papers too.

19. Rolling Crate

When I first started teaching, my school provided math workbooks for students to use. Once a week I collected the workbooks to check and grade the work that students had done. I had 30 students in my class and the workbooks were heavy so they wouldn’t fit in a regular teacher bag.

This rolling crate is perfect for bringing books, notebooks, folders, or workbooks back and forth to school. It’s so sturdy that you can sit on it or even use it as a step stool in your classroom. The long handle means you can also stack things on top making it easy to move baskets, bins, and boxes to and from your classroom at the beginning and end of the school year.

When you’re not using it, the lid comes off and it becomes collapsible for easy storage. You can also find it in other colors too.

20. Paper Trimmer

This paper trimmer is such a huge time saver because you can cut 10 pages of paper at a time. The blade is 12 inches long so you can cut regular or scrapbook-size paper.

It’s helpful for cutting task cards, bulletin board items, name tags, labels, or craft projects.

The blade is very sharp so I’d suggest keeping it under or behind your desk so students aren’t tempted to try it.

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I hope these are all helpful for you and your students! Feel free to contact me if you have other ideas for great Amazon products for your classroom.