One of my favorite items on my whiteboard is my timer. It’s not an eye sore when not in use and when it is counting down, students can easily see the display. It is silent until it reaches zero. The alarm is not overpowering but it is loud enough to be heard in my classroom. It is easy to set…all you do is twist the outer edge of the timer.
Borders
We spend so much time making our bulletin boards pretty, why not do the same for our whiteboards. These magnetic borders are wonderful. They can be cut to size or you can overlap them if you’d prefer to keep them their original length.
I also have mini magnetic strips that I use as lines to seperate the top corner of my whiteboard where I write my students assignments for the day. These mini strips are also extremely useful when breaking up arrays when teaching the distributive property. I’ve also used them as number lines so I have a nice solid lines when teaching fractions using number lines.
Magnets
I like to keep counters on the side of my whiteboard so I have easy access should I need them. The counters I use are from a 10 frame set that I had purchased a number of years ago. Wish I had the new set as I love the updated colors (the green would fit perfectly in my classroom :))
The black magnets in the top upper right hand corner of my whiteboard are on hand to secure paper to the board as needed. These magnets are super strong yet easy to remove from the board. They are the same magnets that I number and use on my check-in board where the students indicate their lunch for the day. I have these magnets in white too 🙂 I have numbered the white ones and have them on my classroom door so students can move their magnetic when they leave the room for any reason.
On the left side of the board, I have two magnetic spice racks. I use these to display books or to hold other small objects that I may need for lessons on any particular day. These magnets are SUPER strong so you could place just about anything on these shelves.
I have a magnetic curtain rod at the bottom of my whiteboard holding up my chart paper but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that. It works fine when you only have a few sheets left but when you take out a new package, the magnets aren’t quite strong enough to hold it in place indefinitely. The magnets eventually start to slide down the whiteboard.
I also have a magnetic pocket in the lower right hand corner of my whiteboard. I use this to store my calendar pieces each month. The pockets come in a three pack of green, blue, and red pockets.
Hopefully you were able to find some goodies that peaked your interest. If you have any other ideas that you love, please share them below in the comments. I’m always on the lookout for the next great find for my classroom 🙂 Happy Teaching!