TOP 10 GIFT IDEAS FOR (NEW) TEACHERS..

I've been teaching for 7 years, up to date, and I've always thought about a 'new teacher hamper‘ as a starter pack for teachers. Some of the products can go missing over time, but its always nice to be prepared. I’ve also included recommended products to purchase off amazon.

Teaching is a stressful profession, especially the first year! The last thing you need is to start your first week at your new school and realise you'd be better off with some of these things..

DISINFECTANTS

Writing this post during a global pandemic - it would be wrong to not start with the most important gift you can give any teacher. That's right - disinfecting products! You can purchase a set of 'Cuticura anti-bacterial gel' for a teacher, or packs of 'Cueta Milton anti-bacterial wipes'. I'm sure any teacher would cherish these gifts to help keep themselves and their students safe, especially during a virus-killing pandemic.

BOARD MARKERS:

I always misplace my board markers! Sometimes they run out mid-sentence, which is even more annoying.. to end up with 1 at the end of the term having started with a pack of 8. Sometimes that 1 marker wasn't even mine to begin with..!

Ideally you'd purchase the refillable markers so that you don't have to keep buying a new set. If you're looking for something on a low budget, STAEDTLER Whiteboard Markets (multi-colour pack of 6) is a great quality pack. As for refillable markers you can purchase V Board Master Refillable Whiteboard marker.

STAMPS:

Marking is probably one of the most daunting parts of teaching, especially after a full day of teaching.. having to carry home a bag of 30 books and then have to stay up all night to finish marking to meet a deadline.

One thing I found to be helpful with marking is stamps! ‘Self-inking motivational stamps’

are great to let your students know that you've checked their work and congratulate their effort without having to write long comments when its not needed.

My favourite stamps are the 'Peer-assessment', and the 'Verbal feedback' stamps, these have been life-saviours for me in the classroom. As a teacher you spend so much time giving students verbal feedback and (in the UK) we're teaching in a system where you have to make sure the boxes are checked for Ofsted inspection. Sometimes its a case where the students know the time and effort you put into ensuring their learning, but the books might not portray this. A simple stamping run would be what's needed to help collect that evidence. I personally spend a lot of time giving students verbal feedback so that would be the stamp I’d recommend over all the others. It might even be a good idea for students to write down the feedback you gave them next to the stamp mark.

HIGHLIGHTERS

Staedtler Textsurfer Classic 364 Highlighter - Assorted Colours, Pack of 8

Highlighters are helpful to keep track of important information in your diaries/planners. I sometimes use it to colour code homework deadlines or important tasks that need to be carried out. Highlighters can also be used when marking - if there is a specific section you want the students to focus on - using a highlighter would be a perfect way to make this obvious to them.

If you want a few simple colours you can go for the 'Staedtlet Classic 8-pack Highlighter'. However if you're a real highlighter addict & don't mind putting in an extra few bucks I'd recommend the '12 Dual-tip Pastel Highlighter pack'.

KEEP CUP

Show me a teacher who doesn't enjoy a hot cuppa throughout a teaching day & I'd think they had superpowers. The most unsettling journey during a teaching day would be the walk from the staff room to your classroom with a nice hot cup of tea that was supposed to help you through the next few hours, but you need to make sure you get past the eager children rushing around and don’t cause an accident. This keep cup has a sealable lid, a plug for sipper hole and it meets occupational safety and health standards. You can either purchase the '8oz keep cup' or the '12oz keep cup'.

WATER BOTTLE

Those supermen/superwomen who don't need a hot cuppa would certainly benefit from keeping hydrated throughout the day. An 'Insulated water bottle' would be the perfect gift for a teacher to keep their water warm or cold throughout the day. Drinking water regularly will help them keep healthy by maintaining the balance of body fluids. It also helps cleanse toxins from your body, balance blood sugar level, helps relieve headaches and promotes healthy skin.

STORAGE DEVICE

Usually the first year of teaching is the toughest part and some schools don't make it any easier (unintentionally of course).. It may be that you're given a timetable where you have to switch between 3 classrooms in a day. During times like these it is important to have a storage device that can hold all your lessons and tracking documents. It is also useful for when you want to take a bit of work home to get ahead of your planning.

For this, an ideal device for a new teacher would be a 64GB USB stick or, even better, purchase a hard-drive to store lesson plans and important documents. In addition to your work files you also don't have to worry about your laptop dying on you with all your photos, important documents and work that you've collected over the years. Speaking from experience - always be prepared! An ideal way to stay ahead of any of these unwanted situations would be to invest in a '1TB StoreJet External Hard-drive'.

POST-IT NOTES

Post-it notes are the best to keep track of the 150+ kids you have to teach, discipline and track throughout your teaching days. I've recently started to use different coloured post-its to track my detentions, or important meetings, deadlines to be met etc and it really helps me to keep on top of things.

Best part is you can also use Super-sticky coloured post-it notes (6 pack)' to keep track of your personal life - there's only so much space in your diaries to write reminders.

PURPLE PENS

"Red is such a harsh colour to use for marking". I'm sure a lot of teachers are sick of this statement. A new teacher might not know this yet, but red pen for marking is frowned upon in most schools - just another stationary to purchase. These 'Papermate ballpoint purple pens' are perfect & they're long lasting too.

LARGE CALENDAR

This calendar is the one thing that got me through my first few years of teaching and helped me stay ahead. Being new to the profession it was quite tough staying on top of lesson planning, marking, tracking, reporting and all other deadlines. However, this large wall calendar '2020-2021 Mid Year Planner' helped me keep track of important parent-teacher meetings, report deadlines and even personal dates such as birthdays. It also came in handy to remind the students when I was going to be seeing their parents or how soon their exam dates were approaching. This particular product is laminated and also includes a dry-wipe markers and coloured stickers to help differentiate different dates.

These would be top 10 useful gifts for teachers. To be honest it doesn’t just have to be for first year teachers, even experienced ones. If you enjoyed these ideas or have any more - please share, subscribe and leave a comment.