Teachers literally never have enough time to do everything that we want to do while also maintaining a work life balance (wait, what's that?!). So I am all about finding ways to save me time on the little things so that I have more time to actually spend with my students, get grading done DURING contract hours, and not have to bring work home with me.
Here are my top 8 high school classroom purchases that I have made that have saved me time. Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
#8 Dell Inspiron 2 in 1
First up is my Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2 in 1. This is a laptop and a tablet and I use this pen to write on the screen. I use a PDF writer to write directly on guided notes, write on PowerPoint slides or use the white board feature. I love this because I don’t have to use whiteboard markers which can be expensive over time, get my hands messy, and make the board dirty which requires time to clean it. I have a few teacher friends that use the Microsoft surface pro for similar reasons but I have not personally used this one myself.
#7 A Second Monitor
Dual monitors aren't just for remote workers! Sure, you could just split the screen on your laptop but this makes the font smaller and may require some scrolling back and forth. I particularly like having dual monitors when I’m grading google classroom submissions. I can have the student work open on my main screen and then on my second monitor I have my grading system and my rubric open as a split screen (but since it is on the larger monitor the font stays a readable size). It saves me time not having to click back and forth across tabs. There are many different options for monitors out there so here are 3 that I like: low cost, it is smaller but still a great screen, has built in speakers, and excellent reviews. mid range has a bigger screen, crisp colors, and from a well known brand (I am a fan of Dell, have used a lot of their products over the years), upper end with strong graphics, quality speakers, and fast screen response.
#6 Physics Optics Bench Kit
This one is more specific to physics, an optics bench and kit. I have the Vernier brand but it is similar to this one on Amazon (which is also cheaper). Why always lecture and talk at students when they can explore something on their own? I love how every year when doing a lab on lenses my students think it's broken when the number comes out upside down, like in the image. It takes them awhile to realize, nope it's just the type of lens! So the optics bench plays a significant role during lenses and optics but I also use it during my astrophysics unit when learning how to calculate the distance to stars. Although it can actually take longer for students to do a lab then just sit through a lecture, they retain the information so much better from doing it themselves which saves time preparing for assessments and during the actual assessment.
#5 Amazon Echo Speaker
Next up is the Amazon Echo Speaker. This speaker has saved so much time in the little moments that can really add up. I can ask it to start a timer, play soft music, choose a random number, or even tell a joke! I also use it as a speaker when projecting videos because the projector speakers sometimes don’t work and when they do work, the sound always seems to be slightly off.
#4 Multi Tier Rolling Cart
Every teacher probably already has a multi tier rolling cart but I can't recommend it enough. I have to move in between classrooms because I teach two different subjects. A cart makes it easy to roll my materials between rooms without forgetting anything! I keep my binders for my classes, my clipboard, markers, paperclips, pencils, and an extra sweater along with a few other things on the cart for easy access.
#3 Laminator
Towards the top of my list is my Scotch Laminator. Although it can take some time up front to cut everything out, it means that I don’t have to waste paper printing task cards, card sorts, game boards, etc. for every single class, every single year. This is a long term time saving solution. Even better is when you can get a student to help you with these laminating tasks! My students need service hours and by helping me after school with laminating projects, they earn service time and I don’t have to do it myself! Some schools have their own laminators teachers can use, but I like having my own because it gives me more flexibility.
#2 Class Whiteboards
This one doesn’t particularly save time but it does save money in the long run and the environment! It is a set of class whiteboards and markers. Whiteboards are great for students to work out problems without worrying about mistakes (because they can just erase!). Any time you might ask students to pull out a scratch piece of paper, have them use a whiteboard instead. You can walk around using active observation to make sure students are working and ask them to hold up their boards, instead of having them turn in a piece of paper. Hey! This does save time after all! You save time grading scratch work from a quick check. I bought this set of 60 markers 4 years ago and still have about 15 left, so they have held up pretty well. Most whiteboard packs come in 12 or 25 but I teach high school so my class sizes are closer to 30. I like this pack of whiteboards because it comes with 32. There is also this one that comes with markers and erasers. I have not used it myself but it seems like a good deal and has good reviews!
#1 All Things Algebra Curriculum
Coming in strong at #1 is my precalculus curriculum that I purchased from All Things Algebra. Her content is standards aligned and extremely thorough. This curriculum saved me in my first year of teaching when I had no textbook, had never taught the class before, and really had no idea what I was doing. Her curriculum is still the basis of my precalculus course and my students LOVE the guided notes. See my post on the pros and cons of guided notes to see why I use them in general!
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