Special Education Teacher Must-Haves

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.

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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 get different sizes.. For me I like to get the larger ones just because I can use them for more things.

2. Laminating Pouches

You’re going to need these.. And endless amounts. You can never have enough! These can be pretty good prices so I often like to add them to my Amazon Wishlist and people will often purchase these through the year – it definitely helps!

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 to use dry-erase pockets. They have so many uses and they clean up really well to keep using them year after year.

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!

6. Comb Binders

You’re going to need these to use in your binding machine. I like to have a few sizes stocked up so that I can use them for different sizes of adapted books and filings.

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. I do try and get some of the more premium packs for when I want to make resources and I like to stock up at the start of the year to last as long as possible! But I also purchase some of the cheap packs of paper for things like crafts and scrap paper for students to draw on throughout the year too.

10. Storage Bins

Storage bins 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;

Books
Ring Binders
Cutlery, Plates, Bowls
Storage Wallets
Notebooks
Etc.

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!

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 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.

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 organized. 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 organized 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.

You can also find some of my favorite sensory table set up bits 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 and it’s just seeing which ones work best for you, your classroom and your students.

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. I personally LOVE using the Happy Planner.

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. 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;

USA Amazon Links

UK Amazon Links

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 a 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, wipes and hand gel. Trust me.

30. Disposable Gloves

For all things cleaning and to protect your hands.

31. Pocket Chart

We love using pocket charts in our morning meeting sessions and speech sessions.

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.

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

Play dough
Mini erasers
Magnetic letters and numbers
Counting cubes
Base tens
Counters
Dice
Handy tools
People counters
Lacing alphabet
Sorting bowls
Teddy counters
2D shapes
3D shapes
Lacing buttons
Magnetic Tiles

36. Sensory Resources

Liquid timers
Curtains
Body sock
Sequin message board
Stretchy string toy
Glitter wands
Touch and match board
Resistance bands
Monkey stretchy balls
Projector
Black-out blinds
Stress balls
Bubble lamp
Juggling scarves
Rainbow teether

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!

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 to get me the basics that I need. But some ideas are….

Pompoms
Card
Feathers
Googly eyes
Pipe cleaners
Paint
Crayons
Pencils
Felts
Stamps

43. Tissues

You can never have enough tissue sand you’ll be surprised how much you reach for them through the year!

44. Chair Storage Pockets

I use these for morning work activities and easy storage on student’s chairs.

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. 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.

Amazon Wish-List

I’ve also put together an Amazon list full of ideas that you can add to your Amazon wish-list for your classroom to post on social media and get donations for your classroom. You can find the lists at;

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.

If you found this blog post helpful, please consider sharing this with your friends and colleagues on social media.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of my VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

Nikki