1. Pick up a clear plastic container to use as a cell phone "jail" if anyone pulls their phone out during class.
2. Or if you feel fancy, hang a shoe organizer on the wall with a bunch of power strips (safely connected, of course) to make a cell-phone daycare.
3. Cover bulletin boards in plastic tablecloths for quick and bright backgrounds.
4. Then easily store bulletin board borders in dollar store soup containers.
5. Use oversize dice and a set of wide popsicle sticks for daily journal prompts and reading questions.
6. Cut tri-fold board displays in half and reinforce with patterned duct tape to make privacy folders.
7. Cut sponges in half to make cheap board erasers (and use clear sheet protectors to make cheap dry-erase boards).
8. And cut up car-wash sponges so you have somewhere comfortable to rest your wrists at your computer.
9. Use $10 worth of cookie sheets to make a stackable, easy-to-access art drying rack.
10. When you’re not using them to dry art projects, use baking sheets to help kids learn multi-digit addition.
11. Then trim another cookie sheet in duct tape, and use glass gems and small magnets to make a class tracker.
12. Repurpose a photo album to be a reusable, traceable handwriting and alphabet practice book.
13. Make a mini greenhouse to sprout beans using a plastic cupcake container.
14. Make bathroom passes out of name tag pouches, key rings, and stretchy coiled bracelets.
15. Sort crayons by color using a popsicle mold.
16. Frame a piece of computer paper to make small whiteboards.
17. Sort individual math counters in plastic bags or small plastic containers so they're easy to hand out.
18. Help students visualize addition and subtraction with these simple number counters.
19. Make an absent work bin to make it simple for students who have been out to catch up on what they missed.
20. Sort papers for your own sanity using binder clips as changeable labels for bins and stacks of papers.
21. Stack a couple of cheap crates at each group of desks to use as shelves.
22. Or pick up a few rolls of fun, colorful duct tape and use that to cover repurposed storage boxes.
23. Designate a bin for students to drop their library books in when they're done with them.
24. Write pieces of geometry proofs on craft foam, then let students work on putting the proof in order.
25. Pick up a magnetic locker organizer to use as a dry-erase marker caddy.
