Top 5 Teacher Must-Haves Linky Party!!

 I just came across Rachelle over at Life is Sweet..in Kindergarten and just had to join her Top 5 Teacher Must Haves Linky Party!  I love sharing my favorite teacher tools, gadgets, and goodies!!  Here are mine. :)  Feel free to join in. I love hearing about other things I need to deplete the joint checking account for add to my teacher wish list.  Blessings!!

Teacher Must Have Item #1:  Mr. Sketch markers for making colorful charts

Teacher Must Have Item #2:  Rotating Utensil Holder A.K.A. Pampered Chef Tool Turn About

(It's supposed to be for kitchen tools, but it works great to hold markers, pencils, glue, scissors, etc!! It's got 3 tiers so it holds a TON of stuff!  I am a Pampered Chef Consultant, so if you want one, feel free to order one from my website.  It's really easy and Pampered Chef will ship one right to you!) www.pamperedchef.biz/bethbanco
 Just click "Shop Online" 

Teacher Must Have Item #3:  Plastic Book Bins from Target

(I use these for organizing my student library, as you can see.  But I also use these to organize my teacher read-aloud library. I love them because they are the PERFECT size for books....not very wide, but deep.  I organize my books by which comprehension strategy I use them to teach, so when I'm doing my unit on "Inference" I can just go to the Inference basket and all my books are there!)

Teacher Must Have Item #4:  Student Mailboxes for Filing Papers

(PS...if you're in the market for one of these, DON'T get the kind with cardboard inserts.  I know the wooden ones are more expensive, but trust me...you'll get your money's worth out of them. The cardboard ones are cheap and flimsy and fall apart with the least bit of paper weight.)

 

Teacher Must Have Item #5:  REALLY USEFUL BOXES from Office Depot 

(I use the smaller size of these to store the kids crayons in.  For my first two years of teaching I about pulled my hair out with the whole crayon thing.  Those flimsy paper boxes aren't worth a flip, they fall apart, crayons fall out the bottom, the tops come off, and first graders just can't handle keeping them tidy.  And because I'm an OCD freak, I decided to spend the $2 apiece to buy them these boxes and it is the BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE!!  As soon as they bring in their crayons at the beginning of the year, I dump each kid's box into the Really Useful Box.  The handles just flip over on both sides and I have yet to have a kid spill crayons on the floor!  Crayons last 10X longer now! Yay!!

 Best investment ever.... They also make skinnier longer ones you could use for markers too since Crayola makes those in flimsy paper boxes too.... :(