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This school year is going by so fast. And before you know it, you’ll be having that chance to order some new supplies for your classroom for the new year. Or, maybe you’ll be starting your first every year in special education! Which is why today I decided to share my top special education teacher must-haves.
These are things that I have found to be the most helpful and beneficial to my staff, classroom and students. And they’re things that I know will be super helpful for you too.
Amazon affiliate links included.
1. Laminator
You are going to want to laminate all the things. It means things are reusable. They’ll last longer. And they are harder to break.. trust me on that one. I’ve had many years of ripped work! You can either get an A4 or A3 laminator. I like to have both – the A4 is more portable, the A3 one is handy to laminate larger resources.
2. Laminating Pouches
You’re going to need these. These are my favourite A4 and A3 options.
3. Velcro
I like to have velcro dots in different sizes, and reels of velcro as well. The dots are quick and easy to pop onto smaller resources. But the reels are great when I need to cut larger slices – like for sentence strips.
As a side-note.. I always go by the rule of hard stays and soft moves.
4. Plastic Dry-Erase Pockets
If you are trying to reduce the paper and plastic use in your classroom – we love these dry-erase pockets.
5. Binding Machine
If you’ve read my resource prep tips blog post, you’ll know how much I love having my own binding machine. I love using this for booklets, home/school communication books, adapted books – anything I can bind! I love this binding machine.
6. Comb Binders
You’re going to need these to use in your binding machine. I like to have a few sizes stocked up, which makes this pack perfect for me.
7. Rainbow Cart
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll probably see how much I love my rainbow storage carts. I have them for general classroom storage, as well as for storing craft activities and any activities that are prepped ready to go. I even have a drawer for each student for anything important for them. This is also great for storage if you need to keep anything safe for a student.
8. Rainbow Photo Holders
These are my life. I know, that sounds crazy. But, these totally transformed how I store my task box activities. If you’re anything like me, you LOVE task boxes. They are great for working on a variety of skills, they’re hands-on and you can work on your students independence with them too. Here are all of my task boxes that I use.
9. Paper
Stock up on as much paper as you can. You’re going to use a ton of it. This is the paper I love – it’s great quality, prints well – and I like to stock up at the start of the year to last as long as possible!
10. Storage Bins
Storage binds are a life saver. I use them for anything and everything. I love to get them in a range of colours as well – they really help to brighten up an area!
11. Everything Colour Coded
All of the students have their own colour. And I am a huge believer in colour-coded classrooms. And that means I get everything colour coded for the students. This includes;
12. Glue Sticks
Buy the glue sticks that you need. Then go back and buy that amount again. Seriously. And another big tip – when your glue sticks run out, keep the lids. Because you are going to run out of SO many glue sticks! These are the ones I like the most and they are super affordable!
13. Calendar
I can not tell you how important it is to have a classroom calendar. Put everything on here. Meetings, training dates, appointments, when staff are out etc. It’s going to make it so much easier when you can see the month at a glance and work out what you need. We have this one.
We chose it because – who doesn’t love the Gruffalo? And because we find the family calendars work best for us. It means we can put all the staff into their own column and it makes it so much easier to stay organised.
14. Command Hooks
I use command hooks for almost everything;
- Hanging up towels in the bathroom
- Holding communication book bags
- Hanging up students backpacks, coat etc.
These are the ones I love – they never let me down! Just follow the instructions.
15. Ring Binders
You’re probably going to need double the amount of ring binders you think you’ll need. I like to get them in a variety of sides, because there’s nothing better than being organised. The last thing you want is to be shuffling through all the papers on your desk to try and find the paperwork that you need. It’s much more professional to head into your cupboard and grab the ring binder that you know has the paperwork you need.
16. Storage Shelves
When you have storage cupboards and shelves – life is going to be much easier for you. The last thing you want is everything spread around the room. Staying organised will also ensure your classroom is run more efficiently, and everyone can easily find what they need.
17. Sensory Table Set-Up
I love my sensory table set-up from IKEA. You can read all about it here.
18. Flexible Seating Options
Flexible seating is the new rage right now – and we LOVE it! You can read more about flexible seating here. Don’t forget – you don’t need to spend a fortune for flexible seating!
19. Door Safety Stoppers
Doors make me nervous – especially around little fingers. It’s always the top of my list to make sure there are safety stoppers on all the doors to avoid any trapped fingers.
20. Cupboard Door Locks
I think we have all had a student or two that wants to be in every cupboard. Especially if there’s food around! Or something that motivates them. So there are always on top of my shopping list for the classroom. You can get a few different ones, but at the moment, these work well for us.
21. Diary
You will not remember everything that everyone says to you. I promise. Get yourself a diary and get into the habit of writing everything in here – yes, on top of the classroom calendar. You’re going to want something portable.
22. Notebooks
And I don’t mean for the students. I mean for staff too. Whether it’s for taking into meetings, recording notes, leaving letters for staff members, recording data etc. Notebooks are always handy to have in the classroom.
23. Stapler
Sure, you probably have a school one you can share. But, it’s so much easier when you have your own stapler in class.
24. Staple Gun
This is a life saver for putting up displays around the classroom. We use this one. And, it’s extra handy to have a staple remover like the one that’s included with that staple gun too.
25. Scissors
You’re going to want a variety of scissors;
26. Post-It Notes
Ever need to make a quick note of something? Or a reminder? Post-It notes will be your best friend.
27. Paper Clips
We all know how handy these are. I just get this big box at the start of each year.
28. Wet Wipes
You can thank me later for this. Bulk buy wet wipes. Trust me.
29. Anti Bac
You’re going to want anti bacterial spray and hand gel. Trust me.
30. Disposable Gloves
For all things cleaning and to protect your hands. We use these ones.
31. Pocket Chart
We love using pocket charts in our morning meeting sessions and speech sessions. This is a firm favourite of mine.
32. Storage Caddy
I have a storage caddy for each table for our rotation stations. It’s so handy to have everything set up ready in the caddy to just pull out and put on the table for work to start straight away. We use these ones.
33. Teacher Bag
This is up to you. But it’s definitely handy to have a set teacher bag for you to take things back/fore school are you need. Whether you go for a rolling one, a backpack or an over the shoulder. This will be a life saver for you.
34. Teacher Planner
Again, this is going to be personal preference what teacher planner you go for. Maybe you love the Happy Planner. Or a digital planner. This superhero editable planner is a great one.
35. Basic Manipulatives
36. Sensory Resources
37. Visual Resources
38. Parent Communication
39. Hole Punch
This will make it much easier for you to store your paperwork in ring binders.
40. Paper Cutter
This saves me SO much time when I’m prepping resources! I love this one.
41. Printer
I use HP Instant Ink for my printer. It has saved me so much money with my printing, I never run out of ink – and I get to give you this code to give you a month of free ink!
42. Craft Supplies
I like to have a range of craft supplies available on hand to use throughout the year. Often I’ll just purchase a bulk craft pack like this one to get me the basics that I need.
- Pompoms
- Card
- Feathers
- Googly eyes
- Pipe cleaners
- Paint
- Crayons
- Pencils
- Felts
- Stamps
43. Tissues
44. Chair Storage Pockets
I use these for morning work activities.
45. Stickers
I have students who love to use stickers – either as incentives for rewards. Or just because they like to play with them and use them in their work activities.
46. Sand Timers
There’s lots of different sand timers available out there for you to try. I personally like to use these ones. Sand timers are a great visual to show your students how long they have left of something – or how long until they get something.
47. Dry Erase Boards
I love using these in different sessions, but mostly in speech sessions. You can use them in a range of ways – just be sure to only use dry-erase pens on them, and encourage your students to clean them once they’ve finished with them.
48. Classroom Library
It’s important to stock up your classroom library, but also to keep it organised. I have some blog posts below for different types of books that I love to have in mine that you can read;
Also, be sure to listen to my podcast here about how I turn our story time into sensory story sessions. You can also get this free ‘How to Catch an Elf’ sensory story companion. And each month, my VIP members get scripts to use with a range of stories to make the sessions sensory.
49. PVC Table Mats
I am a huge fan of using PVC table mats as part of my transition. You can read all about why and how I use them here.
50. Storage
Make sure that you have ample storage to put everything away. A clean and tidy classroom is one of the biggest secrets for a successful year.
Are you starting your first ever year as a teacher? Do you have any questions? Or maybe you have a must-have that you want to share that I haven’t mentioned.. If so, let me know in the comments down below.
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