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Some of these are elementary, but can work in a high school classroom...especially the whiteboard and art hacks.

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Whether it's a genius repurposing of an everyday item, another dollar-store find, or a perfectly affordable way to organize your classroom, there's nothing like proven teacher hacks to save you time and money. Thanks to social media, it is now easier than ever to find inspiration for your classroom. Some hacks help you organize, some help you clean, and some encourage student sharing and learning. Here is a roundup of some of our favorite Instagram-worthy teacher hacks straight from the source: teachers like you.

1. Store paint in old soap dispensers

Make art time a little less messy.

2. Try out a mystery reward

Want to switch up your classroom reward? Here's a fun way to incentivize students.

3. Save those book jackets

How awesome is this rainbow book display? Save book jackets (or even print out book covers) to make this come to life!

4. Socks for markers and erasers

Socks make the perfect pocket to store students' dry-erase markers! Plus, they are such an inexpensive solution for erasers.

5. We all need a secret stash

How genius is this? Your students will never find your Twix now!

6. For those early finishers

We're loving this display! If you're tired of hearing "I'm done, now what can I do?" put some options on the wall!

7. Color-coding works every time

It's so simple but oh-so genius at the same time.

8. A "Do Not Disturb" light switch

For when you are working with small groups or helping an individual student, this is a great idea! Let students know you need a few minutes before getting to their questions.

9. Use a star student instead of classroom jobs

Doling out a variety of classroom jobs can be so time-consuming. Try using a star student instead. Just pick one student each day who will be the helper for all your little classroom jobs.

10. Write on pencils for encouragement

Is there a big unit test coming up? Or state testing? This piece of encouragement is easy to make and sure to make your students smile!

11. Make a pool noodle rainbow

How adorable is this? Grab some dollar-store pool noodles and get to creating. And check out our big list of other pool noodle hacks!

12. The nothing-note strategy

Have you tried this strategy? Send a student on a walk to help them refresh and return to the classroom ready to learn. Read more on the nothing-note tactic here.

13. Flashlight Fridays are so fun

Spark some reading love with this idea! Students get so excited to read a book with the lights dimmed during Flashlight Friday.

14. Turn scrap paper into confetti

Save colored scrap paper and turn it into confetti with a hole punch. Use it for celebrations or art projects.

15. Display student work with clothespins and tacks

You can stop leaving holes in students' work with this hack!

16. Use pouches to separate papers

Keep things organized with mesh pouches such as these. Use them for transporting papers to and from home or for staying organized in the classroom.

17. DIY play dough

Just use cornstarch, lotion, and food coloring for a DIY you can do with your students.

18. Communicate with your teacher team

No need to rely on your phones!

19. Color-code your printables

One for each day of the week!

20. Make master notes with yellow highlighter

Did you know that yellow highlighter won't come through when you make copies? This is a game changer for making notes to yourself! Check out this Instagram reel showing the hack in action.

21. Implement a calming caddy

Give students a place to take a break if needed. You might end up using these items too!

22. Create a voice-o-meter

All you need are tap lights and signs. Now all your students will know the appropriate noise level.

23. Create desk holders

All you need are zip ties and plastic cups!

24. Turn your collaboration desk into a dry-erase board

The best Instagram-worthy teacher hacks are creative and affordable. This teacher says, "It's amazing what $5 can do," and we definitely agree!

25. Use colorful lead pencils

These are so genius. Now you can have erasable colors in pencil, not just pen.

26. It's an A+ for organized learning

This teacher uses photo boxes you can buy from Michaels to store and organize her task cards.

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27. Use a fun screen saver to keep track of your devices

Avoid numbering your devices with stickers that can leave an icky residue. Photos of yourself or your students make a fun alternative.

28. Make turning in homework a game

Homeworkopoly might be one of the most genius things we've seen this year. It's from Le Teacher Chronicles and demonstrated here by A Love for Teaching.

29. It's coffee that lasts all day

This will get you through those long days-iced coffee to the rescue.

30. Run a sticker store

Reward good behavior with a trip to the sticker store!

31. Use microfiber cloths to clean your whiteboards

With minimal sewing skills, you can make mitts that are extra kid-friendly.

32. Give your mini easel a new life

This teacher said her mini easel was always getting in the way-until she figured out this genius use for it.

33. Create a cozy vibe

Instagram-worthy teacher hacks that make the classroom more inviting are some of our favorites. Create a realistic fireplace in your room courtesy of a diffuser that looks like a flame and some paper and cardboard.

34. Try a drying rack for student art

A laundry drying rack is a cheap and space-saving way to dry glued or painted projects.

35. Make a review game from dry-erase dice

For one buck, these dry-erase dice are the perfect learning activity for any subject.

36. Color-code your hall passes

And hang them in a handy place that only you can access.

37. Get their attention with a doorbell

This teacher swears by her wireless doorbell. She says it's just the thing she needs to get students' attention.

38. Rolling carts are game changers

We've heard it again and again: A teacher can never have too many rolling carts.

39. It's a new kind of classroom pet

This idea proves that Instagram-worthy teacher hacks can keep things tidy and teach about STEM.

40. Use a shoe rack to distribute work

Save time on passing out assignments by giving your students a teacher- and student-friendly cubby where they can find their work.

41. Bring life to a number line

Best of all, it doesn't take up much space at all.

42. Bring new meaning to the dab

How do you use bingo dabbers in your classroom?

43. Learn a little something from your students

Instagram-worthy teacher hacks that encourage students to share are the best!

44. Use pom-poms for your markers

This one circulates around from time to time, but it's worth showing again because it's so easy!

45. Use clothespins for pencil grippers

This teacher hack is a cheap and simple way to help kids grasp their fine motor skills.

46. Put a mark on borrowed pencils

Now you can easily keep track of them.

47. Bring life to clothespins

How great are these for holding papers?! We love them.

48. Store paintbrushes in toothbrush holders

You can get them at the dollar store for a great organization hack.

49. Bottle caps offer good learning opportunities

You can use this idea for letters, math, and so much more.

50. Use Popsicle sticks to call on students

A colorful way to ensure every student gets a turn.

51. Practice makes perfect

All you need is plastic plates and you have a math manipulative that you can write on with a dry-erase marker.

52. Make glue sponges

Instead of going through a ton of glue sticks, dump a bottle of Elmer's Glue onto a sponge. Every few weeks, flip them and give them a spritz of water, and they'll be good to go all school year.

53. Make your own classroom lighting

Create a calming atmosphere in your classroom by putting an inexpensive string of fairy lights in a glass jar.

54. Color-code your art supplies

For a truly Instagram-worthy teacher hack, grab free paint chips from a hardware store and get creative. We've also seen several teachers use paint samples for curriculum review.

55. Create a pencil-sharpening station

Now you won't have students always asking to go to the pencil sharpener. They can just grab a new pencil and keep working. Then the sharpening can be done at a later time!

56. Make a simple dry-erase board

With a plastic sleeve protector, your students have the freedom to try multiple times.

57. Glue decor to your desk. Yes, really.

You can scrape it off at the end of the year, and all of your breakables will (finally) still be intact.

58. Put bag hooks on the backs of student chairs

Finally clear up the clutter on the floor.

59. Make yourself an "invisibility cloak"

For this teacher, it's her kitty ears. Putting them on reminds students to try to problem-solve on their own.

60. Use a pool noodle for a doorstop

No more slamming doors!

61. Organize papers with magazine racks

These are so helpful to stay organized!

62. Put matched stickers on glue sticks and caps

Never lose caps again!

63. Use shower curtains as decor

Decorative shower curtains can be a cute and inexpensive way to spruce up any classroom wall.

64. Don't let markers go dry

Tape together markers in sets for students to use so you never find miscellaneous caps!

65. Doodle on the tabletops

Get some holiday-themed tablecloths for your littles to color while they learn.

66. Easily store anchor charts

Use hangers with clips and a clothing hack (or wall hooks) to keep anchor charts neat.

67. Save time by using the dishwasher

Clean and disinfect classroom supplies such as these in the dishwasher for a fast solution to dirty items.

68. Teach the alphabet and spelling with clothespins

Glue or even write letters on clothespins for kids to find alphabet letters or spell out words.

69. Start a writing station suitcase

Have everything you need in one place to get students writing with this suitcase station and ideas.

70. Share your screen

We love a good screen share! Did you know you can connect your computer to a TV?

71. Try out chalk markers

Use chalk markers for brighter, more vibrant colors without the chalky mess.

72. Have a sub-survival kit ready

You never know when you will have to call in a sub last-minute. A setup like this makes it so easy to be ready to go at the drop of a hat.

73. Use all of the classroom

Ran out of desk space? Use the floor!

74. Ask parents for toys

Students bored during indoor recess? Have parents send in a few small toys to keep them happy and occupied.

75. Use an apron

Hand sanitizer? Check. Scissors? Check. Pens? Check!

76. Store Play-Doh in a creative way

Put a K-cup organizer to good use while keeping Play-Doh clutter to a minimum!

77. Clean up quickly with tidy tubs

Hand out these tidy tubs so kids can help with cleaning up paper scraps and more.

78. Organize with plastic crates

Help your students take initiative by creating bins for extra copies of lost work, papers from when they were absent, and bonus work for early finishers.

79. Learn shapes with painter's tape

Some Instagram-worthy teacher hacks are too simple not to try! Pick up some painter's tape in different colors and then create and label difficult-to-learn shapes on the floor.

80. Get creative with a magnetic curtain rod

A magnetic curtain rod, some curtain rings, and a hole punch will really jazz up your morning board.

What are your favorite Instagram-worthy teacher hacks? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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80 Instagram-Worthy Teacher Hacks To Try in Your Classroom

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These Instagram-worthy teacher hacks will keep your classroom organized, your sanity intact, and your social media channels popping.

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Little steps like setting up a file of stock email responses you use often can save you a few minutes throughout each day.

Dobrila Vignjevic / iStock

Is it possible to save time without cutting corners? I love a good time-saving tip, and with technology, there are many ways to work smarter, not harder. You might already have a favorite shortcut of your own or a tip a friend shared with you that has changed your everyday routine.

I've pulled together some of my favorite tips for educators, and if you're looking to save a few minutes throughout the day, then the following list is for you.

6 Ways to Save a Little Time

1. Turn websites into icons. Bookmark favorite websites on a phone or tablet to make them easy to return to with a quick tap. This saves you time by not having to open up a web browser or type in the same website address over and over. I've done this on my own phone to make it easy to find Wordle every morning.

2. Manage podcast episodes. I love listening to podcasts and even host my own. But I also know that they can take up a lot of storage space on my phone, and if I miss a few episodes of a podcast, I'd rather listen to the newest episode than something posted several weeks ago. If you feel like deleting old episodes is a tedious task, set up your podcast app to show you only the latest episodes of your favorite podcast. Here's how to go straight to new episodes if you listen to podcasts on Spotify. And here's how to customize Apple podcasts to delete old episodes.

3. Set reminders to clean up folders. By the end of the week, my download folder is full of so many items that I will never need to look at again and a few I want to hold onto. To make sure the important things don't get lost in the shuffle, you can set up a reminder for a weekly or bimonthly task to clean out your downloads folder, desktop, or another place that gets a bit messy.

You can set up a recurring appointment in a calendar or a recurring event in a task manager to help make this a regular habit. By taking a few minutes each week or every other week for this task, you'll save a lot of time searching for that "must find" item when you're in a pinch.

4. Use email snippets. Canned responses are one of my favorite time-saving tips to recommend to teachers, and I love saving time with these types of email replies. A canned response is a response to an email that you save in a file so you can customize, copy, and paste right into an email when responding to a frequently asked question. The ready-made reply could include a few sentences with a favorite resource you frequently recommend to colleagues or instructions for troubleshooting that you send out to students a couple of times a week.

To keep track of these types of responses, I use a Google Doc and headings that include a quick synopsis of the email. In Google Docs, you can create a hyperlinked table of contents with headings that make it easy to find each prewritten response.

5. Make an emoji cheat sheet. Do you use the same emojis over and over again? Whether you use emojis as part of a feedback routine in your classroom or to label documents or folders, there might be a dozen emojis in heavy rotation. Instead of hoping they pop up in the "most recent" section of your phone keyboard or making a lot of trips to an emoji website, create a virtual sticky note on your desktop with your top emojis, so it's easy to copy and paste one wherever you need it.

6. Pin to the top. Twitter isn't the only place you can pin something to the top of your profile. To make it easy to find a piece of content, you can pin it to the top of your screen in many tools. I'm a big fan of Google Keep, and it's just one example of a tool that lets you pin content to the top of your screen to make it easy to find.

If you already use Google Keep or another tool with this feature, you can create a note with information you reference regularly. For example, you might have a note with phone numbers or website links that you need regular, easy access to throughout the day or week.

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Little steps like setting up a file of stock email responses you use often can save you a few minutes throughout each day. Dobrila Vignjevic / iStock Is it possible to save time without cutting corners? I love a good time-saving tip, and with technology, there are many ways to work smarter, not harder.

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I post the agenda for the week as an announcement on Schoology with hyperlinks to the assignments. It makes it easy for the students to find the assignments.

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I make the kids do all this work that I never check. It goes in my special file. The special file is then emptied in the dumpster when the file runneth over.

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As long as you're at least one day ahead of the students they'll never know you didn't have it all planned out!

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Designing assessments on the Schoology platform.

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ALSO.... graphic organizers like NAVA NOTES, ACE RESPONSE, etc., that can be used on Kami or print
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Start the school year well using these cool back to school teacher hacks.

These back to school teacher hacks save time, reduce frustration, and keep teachers on top of their teaching game.

Furthermore, they ease a few of the challenges that await new teachers.

By implementing these back to school teacher hacks, teachers set a solid foundation for the school year.

Back to School Teacher Hacks
Follow these simple back to school teacher hacks, and you're sure to start the year off well.
1. Simplify Bulletin Boards.

When it comes to class décor, Keep It Super S imple.

Place butcher paper on bulletin boards, and then add a simple border. Even better, wait until students arrive and have them help.

Here's how...

Take 3" x 5" index cards, distribute a couple to each student, and have each draw or write something related to the theme of the bulletin board.

Now use those index cards to create a border.

Throughout the year, post students' work on the bulletin boards.

Doing so saves so much time and mental energy because you won't have to regularly plan detailed bulletin board ideas.

2. Teach Rules But Do Start Teaching.

It' often said to teach rules and procedures repeatedly during the first week of school.

This is great advice.

But it is OK to actually begin teaching the first week, too.

Yes, stress rules and procedures plus review them constantly. But that doesn't mean doing so all day during the first few weeks of school.

Take 30 minutes to an hour each day during the first week of school to focus on procedures and rules.

Or sprinkle classroom management mini-lessons throughout the day over a period of several days.

It's also important to authentically mix teaching and classroom management procedures as much as possible.

For example...

Practice lining up on the way to and from Specials'/electives classes.

Review expectations for an assembly right before one.

Model appropriate lunch behavior during that time period.

Rehearse a variety of attention getters while transitioning from one activity to the next.

There are no hard and fast rules about how many days should be focused on explicitly introducing and/or reinforcing classroom rules with students.

Use as much time as needed unless administration states otherwise.

Of all the back to school teacher hacks, this one can't be stressed enough.

3. Prepare Low-Maintenance, First-Day-of-School Morning Work.

Make a simple, grade-appropriate back-to-school morning work packet. Before students arrive on the first day, place the packet (along with a pencil) on students' desks.

Make the morning packet easy enough so that learners can work independently with minimal teacher assistance.

This allows you time to freely greet arriving new students and parents without too many distractions.

Another advantage is that students don't waste time digging into their backpacks searching for paper and a pencil. You've provided them with everything they need for that first day.

Write a simple message on the board instructing them to put their backpacks away and begin working on the packet.

4. Schedule the Organization of School Supplies.

Schedule the collection and organization of school supplies as a whole class activity for the first day of school.

Create a checklist to keep track of who brought what, in addition to which items each student still needs to bring. Ask students to label items with their names if not already done.

If you have a significant number of students who didn't bring in materials, brainstorm solutions for using school supplies as community property.

5. Write Emergency Lesson Plans.

At some point, an emergency may happen. So prepare for that time now.

Preferably by the end of the first week of back to school time, write two to a week's worth of emergency lesson plans...the more the better.

Consider keeping emergency sub plans even if the school doesn't require them. The payoff is well worth it.

6. Record School Events in Your School Planner for the Entire Year.

This is one of the back to school teacher hacks that makes long-term planning efficient.

First, go online to the school's current annual calendar of events. Then pencil into a lesson plan book every significant school event for the year.

Doing so ensures that during weekly planning sessions, classroom activities don't conflict with school-wide or district-wide events.

Download a simple teacher planner (via Google Documents) that serves this purpose well.

7. Maintain a Professional Development Record Sheet.

If the school requires a certain number of professional development (PD) hours within a defined period of time, record those hours as they are acquired.

Prevent scrambling at the last minute, trying to remember every PD session you attended.

Right after attending a professional development workshop, record the name of the workshop and the number of hours granted.

Wrapping Up: Back to School Teacher Hacks

As the beginnig of the school year starts, teachers have so many things to think about.

Why not make some of the process easier?

These great back to school teacher hacks do just that...simplify some of the stresses that come with the start of the school year.

So implement these back to school teacher hacks at the start of the school year and watch the teaching life become a bit more pleasant.

If you liked these back to school hacks for teachers, you might be interested in... back to school scavenger hunt.

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8 Super Cool Back to School Teacher Hacks You'll Love

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Start the school year well using these cool back to school teacher hacks. These back to school teacher hacks save time, reduce frustration, and keep teachers on top of their teaching game. Furthermore, they ease a few of the challenges that await new teachers.

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No excuse for not knowing what was done in class.

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I walk around with a clipboard as though I am giving points for them setting up their notebooks. I never do and they never check.

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You can embed a file into an assignment if you click on the 2nd circle all the way to the right of the description in the assignment and drop the embedded code

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Mark Empty Cells 'Missing'

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I put up digital pdfs for the textbook on Schoology in each unit folder so they can access it on their laptops and should their laptops fail because they don't charge it, they can still open it on their Schoology app. Also eliminates people forgetting textbooks, plus they're heavy.

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I upload all worksheets to schoology including the answers

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This is more like a life hack more than anything, forgetting about work on the weekends and making time for me.

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I use red and green cards for students to indicate whether they need help or not. I also started using the cards for students to indicate agree/PRO or disagree/CON.

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Made it a lot easier for our students to write an ACE.

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I use pumps for paint so students don't use a whole gallon on their palettes

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I use my calendar to add all events. Also, I add tasks (go to the grocery store, enter minutes, etc.) as an event to help me stay on task.

Like Ms. Casillas has said, if it's not in my calendar, it doesn't exist.

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I pretend to give kids participation points on Class Dojo to push some kids to participate. They don't count for anything.

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May be a no-brainer, but: always always ALWAYS keep digital copies of EVERYTHING you do (and make backups of the backups), in order to make future years' lessons/assignments/assessments/etc. significantly easier.

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May be a no-brainer, but: always always ALWAYS keep digital copies of EVERYTHING you do (and make backups of the backups), in order to make future years' lessons/assignments/assessments/etc. significantly easier.

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I forget peoples names on a regular basis.

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I forget peoples names on a regular basis.

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Makes them feel like I am old and incompetent so they feel better about being young and inexperienced. It's a win-win.

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Multi Day Assignments that are Graded by behavior as well as completion.

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Multi Day Assignments that are Graded by behavior as well as completion.

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I tell students they will lose points if they are talking too much, out of their seat, asked to take out airpods, or distracting others constantly. Half the grade is based on completion the other is behavior and work habits. So they always end up walking away with at least half of the points. Great if you have a TA with a laptop.

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If you want students to complete assignments in order and they cannot see the next assignment without completing the first one.
You have to pu the assignment in a folder first then click on Options then Student Completion to adjust your setting according to how you want them to complete their assignmenments