I don’t know about you, but Michael’s is one of my most loved teacher shops. So, today I decided to blog about my recommendations for Michael’s Teacher Must-Haves. These are all products that I’ve purchased from Michael’s and have used in both my classroom and tutoring room.
Before we start though, I want to share some of my best tips for shopping at Michael’s;
- Sign up to their email list – they always send out discount codes
- Take your teacher card with you – they always give teacher discount! Usually on sale items as well!
- Check your receipt – usually at the bottom is another discount code to use!
- Follow them on social media too. So you don’t miss out on any great sales they have.
Without further ado, I can’t wait to share with you my top teacher must-haves from Michael’s.
1. Photo Storage Boxes
I LOVE using these photo storage boxes for so many different ways to stray organized. But my favorite way to use them, is for my monthly work task boxes. I have a storage box for each month of the year. There are 16 small cases inside each photo storage box. Which is perfect for using each month for work task boxes.
I even keep a photo storage box for IEP work if there’s specific activities that I want to work on each month. By having all of these activities made ready and stored in these photo storage boxes, it will save you time. Plus, it makes life a lot easier, especially if you have a sub for the day. You can pull out the storage box and all the activities are there ready to be used.
Find them here.
Check out my work task boxes on my website and TpT.
2. Scrapbook Case
These scrapbook cases are another one of my favorite finds from Michael’s. They are perfect for laying out 1-1 work for my students, especially during our morning work sessions. I prep the boxes at the end of each day ready for the next morning for morning 1-1 work.
For this I include;
- Morning Work Book (Find on my TpT or Website)
- File Folder Activities (Find on my TpT or Website)
- Work Task Box(es) (Find on my TpT or Website)
- Adapted Work Book (Find on my TpT or Website)
- Letter of the Day Worksheets (Or whatever topic we are working on) (Find on my TpT or Website)
- First and Then Boards (Find on my TpT or Website)
- Individual Visual Timeline (Find on my TpT or Website)
You can also use these scrapbook boxes for organizing different skills in subject areas etc.
Find it here.
3. Happy Planner
I am obsessed with being organized. And I like to be organized in more than 1 place. I love being able to use AirTable (aff link) to organize my week. This is an online digital tool, that’s free to use. And it really helps to control my life. I mean, I can access it anywhere. Even on an App on by phone.
But, I’m still old-school. I love to write things down. I like to have a physical planner where I can write stuff down and get it off my chest. This year, I found the Happy Planner for the first time, and I LOVE it! You can customize it. And there are SO many stickers, pages and accessories that you can add to your planner to make it truly personal. It’s my new favorite thing.
View the whole range of Happy Planners and accessories here.
4. Rainbow Storage
I don’t have this exact rainbow tower, but I have the older style. And 3 years later it’s still going strong. It’s been moved around continuously. It’s been used every day. And it’s still like new! It’s easy to clean, it’s bright and it really adds something to the room.
I’ve made visual labels to add to each of the drawers. There’s 8 drawers on it, and I use it to organize my year in months. Although there’s only 8 months, so I do share some of the months depending on how long we are in school for etc.
In here, I put the activities, especially crafts and recipes, that need to be completed that month. Organizing like this, allows the team in the classroom to know exactly what needs to be done. Things can always pop up in our lives. And if we have to take some time off, its much easier for the class and our team if everything is laid out ready.
Also, do you ever find yourself finding fantastic resources for things like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day etc – but you find them at different months of the year? And then when the holiday comes around, you forget about them, so never end up doing those activities!
Don’t worry anymore. When you find an activity that you want to do – prep it, get it ready, and put it in the months drawer ready. That way, when it comes to that month, you have those activities ready prepped to go.
Find it here.
5. Rolling Cart
Have you seen the way that all those cool teachers on Instagram have been decorating their rolling carts? No? Just head on over to Instagram and check out some of the amazing ideas that people have for them.
We love to use this for organizing our art and craft materials. It makes it easier when I can cart them out of the room when we don’t use them. Then, when we’re doing art, I can just roll it back in!
Find it here.
6. Desktop Rainbow Storage
This desktop rainbow storage is the perfect size to fit on top of your desk. I love having it to organize small bits, and small pieces of paper. It does not fit regular sizes piece of paper – so be warned.
But if you have a bit of a crazy desk. And you need to organize small pieces. This is perfect.
Find it here.
7. Compartment Caddy
I use these compartment caddy’s to organize work stations. I put everything into the caddy that my students will need to complete the activity. Then, I can just pop them onto different tables.
It also makes it MUCH quicker to tidy up afterwards.
Find them here.
8. Back Seat Sack.
Do you sit down at your work station with a student and then realize that you haven’t got a pen, or a pencil, or a notebook? These back seat sacks are the perfect way to keep storage of things that you may need at the work station within easy reach and access.
If you have a full classroom with each student assigned a seat, then these are perfect for keeping all of the students equipment and stationary within close reach.
Find it here.
9. Plastic Book Bins
I think we all know how important these plastic book bins are. And this design is my current favorite! I have rainbow colors ones currently, but these are adorable!
You can attach labels to them and organize your books/library. By organizing the books, you’ll make your library more accessible.
Find them here.
10. Laminator
I think we can all agree that us special educators can not survive without a laminator. And Scotch laminators are among the best laminators around.
Find it here.
What are your favorite Michael’s teacher must-haves for your classroom or homeschool environment?
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