Life School Hacks

As a teacher, I 🫶 love having a set of good life school hacks.

When I can make a teacher tip for both school and home, I get pretty pumped up.

So, let’s look at a handful of tips that will help in your teacher life and save you time, frustration, energy, and even 💰 money at school and home.

School life hack number one: cleaning out old candle jars

Do you know how lucky teachers get wonderful 🎁 gifts from their students at Christmas time?

So, I’m obviously talking to elementary teachers because secondary teachers see a drop off in gift giving.

However, it’s pretty common for elementary teachers to end up with a nice, diverse set of 🕯 candles.

Now most of us love a nice burning candle and it’s hard to think that one could ever have too many.

And some of these candles come in the cutest possible glass containers these days.

They’re adorable little cups that can turned into storage containers for desks.

Some of them even have a lid making them even more valuable. 

But, have you ever tried to clean out a glass candle jar?

Yeah, so it’s not that much fun. 👎

I’ve tried all the life school hacks that are out there like putting it in the freezer and scraping with a sharp knife while trying not to send myself to the emergency room.

Then, one night I was cooking and had just pulled something out of the oven when I had an epiphany.

Do you know what happens when you get wax hot? It melts.  

I know.  I’m a genius. Heat melts wax.  

So, then I thought, “What would happen if I put this glass jar with these leftover wax rings into the hot oven?” 🔥

I will tell you what happened: All the leftover wax in the jar melted down.

Next, I took the jar out of the oven with hot pads and poured the hot wax into a disposable metal container.

Then, carefully wiped the inside down with a cloth rag.

After the jar cooled, it was perfectly clean and ready to be repurposed for a different job then it’s original candle life intended. 👌

School Life Hack number two: Getting Rid of Goo

This school life hack is another repurposing tip.

Teachers are constantly collecting containers that can hold manipulatives, school supplies, and everything else.

Some of the containers that we end up with are actually pretty cute except for one major flaw.

They have labels or stickers from their original product life on them. 🤮

Nothing ruins a cute container faster than an ugly old worn out sticker sitting on top of it.

So, to fix this problem I use one simple item that you probably have hanging around your house. 

You probably even have this item hanging out at your school.

I bet there’s a bottle of it in your janitor’s closet. 🚪

Of course, your janitor will let you use it because you guys are great friends.

You know the worth of the janitor at the school and you treat them the way they deserve to be treated.

If you don’t have this item then click here to grab it from my Amazon affiliate store.

So, what item are we talking about?

My life school hack for good is WD-40.

First, I like to get my sticker wet and scrape off as much of the paper I can by using a metal spatula from my kitchen tools.

Then, once the sticky is exposed, I spray on the WD-40 and let it work its magic. ✨

Next, I use a warm wet soapy rag and wipe off the remaining goo and the WD-40.

The only bad part about this tip is that WD-40 has an intense smell to it.

Because almost all of the items that I use this are glass or plastic not for cooking, I don’t have a major problem with it.

If I fill a sink up with warm soapy water, I can usually get the smell to dissipate pretty quickly.

School life hack number three: Hand Sanitizer to the rescue

Another life school hack is using hand sanitizer to get rid of problems.

Most of us are still stockpiled with hand sanitizer that was passed out like crazy during the pandemic.

But all this hand sanitizer can come in handy, pun intended, if you use it to get rid of dry erase marks. ✋

So, when I was working as a severe moderate teacher for students with autism I would give them activities in their workstations that were laminated activity sheets.

They would use a dry erase marker to complete the page. 🟢

The reason this was great was that they could not erase their answers when they were finished.

Some of my students would see my assistants clean off sheets and they would try to do the same thing with their work if we gave them a wet erase or washable marker.

But, when we gave them a dry erase marker all the answers would remain there and we could document their progress with their academic stations.

So, how do I get that dry erase marker off and continue using those beautiful laminated pages?

It’s super easy. 🧻

Just spray on or squirt on some hand sanitizer, use paper towels or a rag and marker comes right off.

If you have isopropyl alcohol, it does the same thing.

The IPA in the hand sanitizer is what makes this trick work.

But, the beautiful thing is if you get dry erase marker on your clothes at school you are almost guarantee to get the stain out using IPA or hand sanitizer.

Can I get an amen for saving my favorite pants from being thrown out with a random dry race marker attack?

School life hack number four: Laundry baskets rule the world

If you run a special education room or an elementary class, you’re probably responsible for making sure that the kids get their lunchbox to and from the cafeteria each day.

This sounds like an extremely simple task until you actually try to do it.

I totally recommend using a laundry basket to hold your classes lunchboxes. 🥪

Get your students into the habit of taking their lunchbox out of their backpack when they first come into the room and place it into the laundry basket.

Many schools even require the teachers to bring the entire laundry basket to the cafeteria with the students depositing those lunchboxes back into the laundry basket when they are finished.

This method can really help with loss lunchboxes and a smoother transition from classroom to cafeteria to recess to back to the classroom. 🧺

Laundry baskets can work the same way in your life at home.

Taking a bunch of presents to someone’s house for celebration?

Load up what you can in your laundry basket.

Have a potluck that you’re bringing a handful of treats for?

Make it easy on yourself and pack all of your supplies into your laundry basket.

They are so easy to clean and if you have any spills the thick plastic bottom catches the droppings and, hopefully, keeps it out of your car.

Tall laundry hampers can also be used in the classrooms that have big books. 🗑

I highly recommend storing big books in a tall plastic bathroom hamper.

School life hack number five:  Get yourself a wheely cart

When I first started teaching I was lucky enough to work with two master teachers.

One of the best tips I ever got from them was always have a wheelie cart by your side. 𐃏

They were so kind that not only did they tell me this tip but they bought me my very first wheelie cart for my birthday as a first year teacher.

Talk about making a girl feel special! 😘

These rolling carts fold flat into an easy to store item.

But when they are fully functional, they are a cube with an open top that allows you to put supplies in and then wheel to wherever you need to go.

I have used my wheelie cart for at school and at home.

• Moving
• Transporting lunchboxes
• Filling with field trip supplies
• Moving classrooms
• Transporting school supplies to and from school
• Moving furniture
• Bringing assignments for grading to and from school
• Transporting manipulatives for class to and from school organizing supplies

Click here to purchase your own rolling cart on Amazon. *This is an affiliate link which means I will get a small commission when you purchase at no cost to you.

One time when we were on a field trip I brought my wheelie cart as always.

Student supplies for some of my special ed students including lunch boxes and a couple other personal items filled the cube. 🏥

The facility that we were at wanted to donate a large box of supplies to the school.

One of our administrators was with us because it was a huge field trip.

He was happy to accepted the massive box full of all these wonderful supplies but we were out in the middle of the facility a quarter mile away from the school buses. 🛣

Don’t get me wrong. He was in shape and he could’ve carry the box but it was really heavy.

I offered to let him put it on the top of my wheelie cart and pull it back to the bus.  

He happily accepted my offer and bragged to everyone else about Caroline’s ability to plan ahead and be ready for any situation.

That’s what a wheelie cart does in your life when you embrace this life school hack. Not joking.

And remember that wonderful lunchbox holder that we talked about using a laundry basket?

Does the laundry basket fit perfectly on top of your wheelie cart you ask?

Well, yes it does.

I love to stuff whatever I can into the main compartment. ❤️

Then, I can toss my laundry basket full of lunchboxes or anything else on top of my wheelie cart and I’m ready to roll.

School life hack number six:  Pack your car

When I was a first year teacher and for the next decade, I was bringing things home from work constantly. 🎒

I was on my couch or at my kitchen table cutting, coloring, typing, and you name it.

There was just so much work to do and I was using my personal time at home to get it all done.

Which was totally okay for me at that point in my life.

But, there was one trouble.

I would spend all this time working on something that I needed to have for the next day.

Then a handful times I accidentally went to work without my newly created supplies! 😩

So, how did I fix this issue and never again leave my materials at home?

I simply packed my car the night before. 🚘

So, I was in my fourth year teaching with my school hired three brand new first year teachers.

We all got along great and had a blast hanging out. 🗣

Then, one day we were talking about the stresses of being a teacher and I pulled out one of my golden life school hacks nuggets.

I shared my wonderful wisdom of packing your car the night before and one of the first year teachers burst out laughing.

Confused I kind of looked at her and she said, “Are you serious? You are so unorganized that you need to pack your car the night before?” 🤭

Yikes. That hurt.

I was just trying to share what worked for me and I felt completely humiliated.

So, I quietly said, “Yeah, that’s what I needed to do. I was just too overwhelmed and had to figure out a way to adapt so that’s what I did.”

She smiled and said, “Okay, I understand.”

I sighed internally and kind of shrug my shoulders. And then went about my typical kindergarten teacher day. 🤷‍♀️

A few weeks later she came up and found me in the hallway.

She said, “Oh, my gosh, Caroline, I have started loading my car at night with all the supplies that I need for school and it has made such a difference in my stress level.”

Talk about feeling validated!

I smiled at her and told her I was so glad that my tip had helped her out. 😇

So, I also to do this for vacations where I pack as much as I can the night before.

Also, this strategy helps me if I’m running something over to family who lives about an hour away.

This extra level of organization make sure my mind stays clear, my house reduces clutter, and I get done what I need to get done.

School life hack number seven:  Dictate everything

I’ve spent several years teaching students with special needs how to use the accessibility tools available through the internet.

One thing that I’ve learned is that accessibility tools are one of the life school hacks that can help everyone.

Because of this, I dictate absolutely everything possible into my iPhone. 📱

I use either my text messages or emails to send messages that I can copy and paste documents.

Also, I find that the iPhone talk to text is more accurate than Google Docs but I definitely use Google when I need to.

If you struggle with emails getting lost in your inbox, then take dictation back to an old school tool.

The first principal I worked for taught me this life school hacks beauty: call your school number and leave yourself a voicemail reminder. ☎️

Your reminder could be an action item, a first up get it done important task, or anything else under the sun.

School life hack number eight: Make lists and check them twice.

I make lists of everything. 📝

Then, I recycle those lists for the next project or the next school year.

I love a good Beginning of the Year checklist and, even better, an End of the Year checklist.

Also, I have a list of important items to have in IEP documents. Get yours here for FREE!

Of course, I have a running list of what I need to do for the day and the week.

Regardless, find a system and make it work for you. 🫵

Using lists to do my heavy lifting is one of my favorite life school hacks.

Write down or type everything and then have an easy way to find the info when you need it again.

Really important lists get a prime spot on the teacher info bulletin board next to my desk.

This includes my life school hacks for IEP Documents Checklists and my oh-so-handy percentage cheat page for figuring out what number goes into an IEP goal when I’m looking for 80% accuracy.

School life hack number nine: Utilize your Dishwasher.

I love my dishwasher. ❤️

I mean, seriously, he’s one of my besties.

It saves me hours of standing at the sink washing and rinsing.

Honestly, I still feel like I spend too much time on dishes but this girl loves to eat so it seems like a natural consequence.

But, just because my dishwasher lives at my house doesn’t mean that it can’t help me out with my school chores. 💦

In kindergarten and special education classrooms, there are a lot of things that need washed.

I’m talking manipulatives, toy cars, plastic containers, and so much more. 🪀

Remember how I said I don’t like standing at the sink doing dishes?

Instead of washing things at school, I load up my wheely cart with things that need washed and bring them home for my dishwasher to do the job.

All-in-all, the dishwasher does a better job at sanitizing than I seem to.

Most importantly, this life school hack saves me precious time. ⏳

Also, it does a stellar job keeping germs away so my students and I stay happy and healthy.

However, I do have one insider tip: if you are washing small plastic pieces make sure to put them in a garment mesh bag on the top rack of your dishwasher.

Winning at Life with School Hacks

Alright, it’s your turn!

You are armed with nine life school hacks to save you time and frustration.

Head out into the school 🌎 world and the real world and let me know how these school life hacks work for you!​

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