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Ahhh, Amazon.com. The endless expanse of internet shopping where you can find absolutely anything you need AND tons of things you don’t!

Last year, Amazon started promoting the idea of the Teacher Wishlist - a great idea! Chances are fairly good that you need a lot of things to pivot to COVID-safe practices in the classroom, supplies for teaching online, or things to make blended learning a reality.

And with what teachers are paid, it’s even more likely you’ll need to reach out to your community for support.

Amazon is a great place for a teacher wishlist because it’s one-stop-shopping, many things are on the Prime “free-shipping” list, and you also get access to lots of intangible things in you have a Prime account.

You can get just about anything you need from Amazon, although right now cleaning and PPE supplies are limited due to the massive quantities needed by … well, everyone. It’s still a great place to find classroom decor, books, manipulatives, games, resources, craft supplies, and lots of other items you need in day-to-day teaching.

Prime members also have access to videos, music, photo storage, and Kindle’s lending library (you get one free checkout each month).

You can share your prime account with others, so if you and another teacher want to create one together, you can, even if you have two different addresses (and even if you live in a different state!) Note: you do have to share your credit card information with the other person, so make sure it’s someone you really trust, and if you ever part ways for whatever reason, be sure to secure your information.

In addition, Amazon has a Prime Store Card with an additional 5% off purchases. There are Warehouse deals, an outlet store, coupons, Gold Box deals of the day, Subscribe and Save deals, and student discounts for anyone with an email address that ends in .edu (a student account is free for six months and is half-price - $50 - annually).

You can even register your Amazon Smiles account to give a percentage of every purchase you make to the charity of your choice. 

Create an Account

The first thing you need to do if you want to create a teacher wish list with Amazon is create an account. It’s actually free to do so, and this doesn’t sign you up for Prime or any of the other features listed above. 

Create a Wishlist

To create a wishlist on Amazon:

1. Log into your account and go to the far right side of your screen. Hover over “Accounts and  Lists”.

2. Select “Create a List”

3. Here’s what it looks like when you select it. Type in the name of your list.

4. We chose a familiar favorite teacher and named our list for her, but you’ll name it for yourself. Once you’ve named the list, click “Create List”. 

5. Go shopping!  Find an item you need or want.

6. On the left, under the area that says “Add to Cart” and “Buy Now”, scroll down to find the “Add to a List” menu. 

7. When you click on the down area on the left labeled “Add to List”, you’ll have a dropdown menu. Choose the list you want to add the item to. Note: If you have different sections or content areas, you can make multiple lists. If you coach or sponsor an extracurricular group, you can make lists for requests specifically for those as well.  

8. This may be a little difficult to see, but on the left, there is a button that says “Invite”, and on the right, there’s one that says “Send list to others”. Both of these buttons do the same thing - make this popup appear that says “Invite others to your list”.

You can either let people view your list without editing it, or allow them to view it AND edit it. 

9. While you’re on your list page, you can also choose to manage your list or print out a hard copy to share with others. 

10. If you want to collaborate with others, share your list online, or invite people to otherwise interact with your list, you’ll need to create a public profile. To do that, go back up to the far right, hover over “Account & Lists”, and select “Your Account”. 

11. On your account page, find “Your Amazon profile” in the first column. Click to select it. 

12. This window will pop up. Click the yellow “Create your profile” button. 

13. Creating your profile is not a long, complicated process. You add the name you’d like to be seen as publicly, add what city and state you live in, and if you’d like, you have the option to add a picture.

Remember to be safe. You may want to create a profile and account specifically for your “public” purchases, and another for your private household purchases. That way, if you want to leave feedback for a seller or a review for a product that you purchased for yourself and not the classroom, you’ll have that separate from your school stuff. 

13. Here’s what your profile will look on the top why you access it...

14. and this is the lower portion.

15. Here’s a sample of what a public view of a profile looks like. 

One more cool feature the Amazon wish list has is this little area. You can leave a comment letting people know why you need the item, what learning standards it will help you fulfill, or otherwise justifying your need for the item.

In addition, you can select the priority of the item so people will know how important the need is. You can indicate how many of each item you need, and as you receive items, you can keep track of how many you have received.

To get this box to appear while you are on your list page, select “Add comment, quantity, & priority”. It’s located under the “Add to Cart”, “Move”, and “Delete” button on the right of the item you’re wanting to edit.