The roundup

The class favorites

Categories, not verdicts. Nothing here has been bought or used by us — each entry links to a search so you can read the current listing yourself.

Check your district's gift policy before you spend anything. Some districts cap what a teacher may accept and some treat gift cards as cash, and that policy, not this page, is the ceiling that applies to you.

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Things the classroom runs out of

Felt-tip pen sets
Things the classroom runs out of

Felt-tip pen sets

The pens teachers buy for themselves and quietly run out of every term. Cheap, consumable, and impossible to have too many of — which is the whole argument for supplies over objects.

Seen in: Gifts for Teachers That Aren't Another Mug

View on Amazon
Dry-erase markers
Things the classroom runs out of

Dry-erase markers

Used daily, dry out constantly, and are among the most commonly bought out of pocket. A multipack is unglamorous and genuinely useful, which is the trade this site recommends making.

Seen in: Gifts for Teachers That Aren't Another Mug

View on Amazon

For them, not the room

The part that gets kept