Great Gadget Gifts for the Teacher

Tis the season! You might have a faculty white elephant gift exchange coming up or you just want to do something nice for your time out buddy. Whatever the case, here are some little gadget gifts that any teacher would love.

Get some sleep!

Between the stress and the possible early schedules, teachers can find themselves sleep deprived. There are two recommendations here: one to help you fall asleep and one to make waking up a little easier. 

The Night Wave projects a soft, pulsating blue light onto your ceiling. You breathe in time with the pulses and it helps regulate your breathing. You start to focus on keeping the rhythm rather than whatever else is going through your mind. You’re snoring in no time!

Bedside lights, like this one from Phillips, replace a harsh alarm sound with a light that gradually gets brighter over the course of 30 minutes, mimicking an actual sunrise—which helps if you have to get up before sunrise.

The No Yell Bell

How many times have you come home from school hoarse from having to talk/yell over a boisterous class? Instead of using your voice, or even an actual bell, consider the No Yell Bell. It’s shaped like a bell, but plays one of seven electronic sounds out of a speaker. Keep changing up the sounds and you’ll be able to grab the students’ attention much faster.

For the hoarder

Know a teacher who is drowning in paper? Graded or not, paperwork is one of the major hassles of teaching. A little document scanner, like this one from Doxie, doesn’t take up much desk space, is easy to use, and doesn’t cost a lot. Papers coming in and out can be scanned and sorted rather than filed or piled. They can also be shared with parents and administrators digitally, if needed. Perhaps they’ll even be able to see their desk again!

For the flipper

Perhaps you have someone experimenting with the flipped classroom blended learning model. One of the big challenges for those teachers is finding tutorial content for the students to watch at home. Making their own might seem like too much of a burden.

ExplainEverything is a great app that makes tutorial production simple. Content can be imported, annotated, narrated, and shared all in one app. Now that teacher can lecture without having to lecture.