Instagram Teachers to Follow for Back to School Inspiration

As a teacher, I spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking for lesson ideas, bulletin board inspiration, and so on. What I’ve found on Pinterest looks great, but many of the ideas have never been tested in the chaos of a real classroom. While great in theory, these ideas often flop.

My time has been better spent looking through different Instagram accounts of teachers who are in the classroom full time—tried and true—dealing with whatever is thrown at them on any given day.

Here are several of my favorite Instagram accounts of elementary classroom teachers who will spark your inspiration for this new school year, as well as additional teacher-oriented accounts for all grade levels.

Teachers of Primary Grades (K-2)

@aroundthekampfire
2nd Grade •• 23k followers
Ms. Kamp’s account is a resource goldmine for second grade teachers. Book suggestions, printables, and crafty activities make this a definite account to follow if you are a primary school teacher.

@ericabohrer
1st Grade •• 33k followers •• New York
Ms. Bohrer’s account is so worth clicking “follow!” She has great organizational tips as well as holiday, back-to-school, EOY crafts, printables, and strategies that she uses in her 1st grade classroom.

@heyheyfirstgrade
1st Grade •• 36k followers •• Texas
Ms. Dunagan’s 1st grade teacher sparkle is so inspiring! Her account has many crafty ideas, printables, and hands-on activities, but also lots of giveaways for her fellow teacher followers. So many cute ideas for your classroom if you teach 1st!

@missdecarbo
Kinder, 1st & 2nd Grades •• 68k followers
Ms. DeCarbo has so many great posts for primary grades. She has lots of worksheets and printables, many of which are related to read-alouds, as well as engagement activities and hands-on learning.

@foxwellforest
Kinder, 1st & 2nd Grades •• 31k followers •• 2016-17 PA Teacher of the Year
Ms. Foxwell is all about her picture books! She has such an obvious passion for reading; you can’t help but join her! Her account focuses on picture books she loves and how she uses them, with some activities and crafts mixed in.

Teachers of Intermediate Grades (3-5)

@madeinfifthgrade
5th Grade •• 13k followers •• Maryland
Ms. Solomon is a “relationships-first” fifth grade teacher. I really enjoy following Ms. Solomon because she is very real, but also very positive about her kiddos and her tough job. She posts a range of things—from holiday projects to motivational and interactive bulletin boards, as well as tools and TPT products that she has found worth the money.

@fantastically_fourth_grade
4th Grade •• 39k followers •• North Carolina
This account is one of my personal favorites! Ms. Sammie has been teaching for nine years and has lots of resources to share—from organizational binders, to decorations, to bulletin boards, and more. Her joy and positivity come through the screen, and you can’t help but smile at how much she loves her job.

@archers_all_stars
4th Grade •• 101k followers
What I love about Ms. Archer’s account is that she gives great tips on organization and upcycling products for new uses. Who doesn’t love a thrifty teacher? Her use of old bottle caps and furniture would be reason alone to follow, but she also has excellent ideas for hands-on math and science work.

@thirdgradeswag
3rd Grade •• 70k followers •• Minnesota
Mr. Nelson is another teacher who knows the value of building relationships with students. His account is all about motivating and inspiring teachers that what we’re doing is truly making a difference. Mr. Nelson shows that a classroom environment full of kindness and respect is what makes the most impact.

@theuniqueclassroom
3rd Grade •• 123k followers
Ms. Amy has a wide variety of content for her many followers to view. She posts often, so it is definitely worth your “follow.” She has memes, resource finds, organization tips, recycled uses for things in her classroom, book reviews, activity ideas, and more.

Teacher-Oriented Accounts for All Grade Levels:

Art Teacher Cassie Stephenz: @cassie_stephenz
Teachers Pay Teachers: @teacherspayteachers
Target Teachers: @targetteachers
Dollar Tree Classrooms: @dollartreeclassrooms
We Are Teachers: @weareteachers
Classroom Pinspirations: @classroompinspirations
Teachers Follow Teachers: @teachersfollowteachers

I also want to mention that you can follow hashtags on Instagram, and you’ll see any post with that hashtag on your feed, even if you’re not following the person who posted it. Since I’ll be teaching fifth grade this year, I currently follow #5thgrademath, #5thgradescience, #iteach5thgrade, #iteachfifthgrade, etc. It helps a lot when you see posts about what you want since there’s no way to possibly follow every fifth grade teacher who has an Instagram account!

Just a note: something that has been healthy for me is to have a teacher Instagram account separate from my personal account. I used to have just one account, but I’ve found that having them separate allows my mind to be off work when it needs to be, instead of seeing classroom ideas while I’m lying in bed trying to catch up on what my friends are up to online.

To make a separate account: go to your profile and click the three bars in the upper right hand corner > Settings > Add Account. You can quickly switch back and forth by touching and holding your profile picture in the bottom right hand corner.

…Have you read the word “teacher” so many times in this article that you’re starting to question if it’s spelled correctly? Yeah, me too.