
waaaahhhh, da, da, da dooom….
Orange balloons, LOUD BUZZ of voices filling your ears, a select group of teachers cross the threshold into vivid colored products for the classroom as far as the eye can see. The wide eyes of the teachers lock onto each other as all draw in a DEEP breath exhaling simultaneous WOW, OMG, Paradise! Music from The Twilight Zone unfurls in my head.
We have found it!

Our mission:
Each of the teacher/bloggers are to locate TEN products they want in THEIR own classroom in this MASSIVE expansive exhibit hall.
Each year, the Education Market Association brings together educational retailers with “companies of all sizes that produce and deliver every type of product you find in an education environment.” Providing members with consumer product insight through a new program, a select group of teacher/bloggers were invited to become Teacher Trendsetters who cruised the isles like missiles with radar zeroing in on the latest “gotta have” products for classroom teachers.
I cannot begin to tell you the fun I had meeting the vendors, learning about products, discussing common core, and asking what a non-educator would find very strange questions.
- What are the ingredients of a product, because you KNOW a student is going to eat the product!
- Why did the company produce a badge/button with no way to affix to a student? We can’t use straight pins like in the “old days.”
- Is the item available in red, blue, or another color? I ask because I want that color.
- Why is this piece made of foam instead of a less destructible component?
How often have you seen something and said, “why didn’t I think of that?” Sometimes the small things are the most exciting when that little item can help teachers.
As the four of us completed our mind blowing trip around the Ed Expo, we then submitted our top 10 products. The assignment may sound easy, but was EXTREMELY difficult. I think you’ll agree once you see the products.

Click the image that looks like this:

Blue Orange Games
Spot It! and Tell a Tale
Creative Teaching Press
Easy Daysies Classroom Management
ECR4Kids
Jumbo 4-to-Score
Educational Insights
Magic Moves – Jammin’ Gym
Eureka School
Scratch Off Stickers
Junior Learning
Touchtronic Letter Apps for iPad
Learning Wrap-Ups
Wrap-Ups for Vocabulary, Math & Learning Palette
Maranda Enterprises
Speedy Recall, Quadefy & Nounsense
Math Man
Math & Movement DVD
Melissa & Doug
Suspend
Moore Co
Shapes Desks & 5/6 piece take apart white board
Stanley-Bostitch
Super Pro Glow Commercial Electric Pencil Sharpener
Time Timer
The Timer Watch
TTS Group
Water World Set
There you have it, the top products selected by teacher bloggers for most wanted in the classroom. What is your favorite? Which would you like to see reviewed and a giveaway? I’ll see what I can do to make that happen. But (thoughtful) responses are needed 🙂

I would like to know more about the Time Timer. I work with more and more ASD students and since giving advance warning of impending transitions are important, the visual indication of time that this device seems to give would be so helpful. Please review it – I want to know more! 🙂
Hi Tanya,
Hopefully I can make that happen! Thanks for your input.
I would like to know more about the Math and Movement DVD… I need away to get my students up and moving. It’s easy to get hooked into the drill and practice trap. Students need a FUN way to learn math, and I’m always looking for ideas!