Tips For Teachers

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Monthly Collections
Some time ago, I gathered 10 empty paper boxes with lids and covered them with Mactac™. I labelled each box for one month of the school year. Now when I find an activity idea or something that I might want to use during the year, I put it in the appropriate box. If the work is a June activity it goes in the June box, etc. When the month rolls around I have blank calendars, art work, seasonal decorations, monthly book report sheets and extra mittens and hats for the winter months. This saves me hours of looking and of sorting.

Paper Flow
To keep the flow of paper and scribblers moving smoothly, I have two office baskets one on top of the other on my desk. The students pass their work into the bottom basket, and when I have corrected the work I place it in the top basket to be passed out by the Pass Out Paper Person.

Thanks to Wendy Rodda. Wendy has been teaching for 23 years in the Annapolis Valley, NS.

Art Clean-Up
I had been teaching art for many years when I finally learned how to clean up papier mâché! I was very anal when it came to clean up—I used to put the excess flour and water mixture in the garbage and then spend quite some time cleaning out the gloopy ice cream pails. On days when I completely ran out of time, I would guiltily put the ice cream pails in the garbage only to start again the next day. One day I had started the clean-up by throwing out the excess, but then was interrupted. The next morning I realized that the thin layer of paste left in the neglected ice cream pail was easily whacked into the garbage! I could then mix new paste in the quasi clean pail....where was I when that lesson was taught at university?

Thanks to Susan Carter, the Art teacher at Fort Saskatchewan Junior High, Fort Saskatchewan, AB.

Send us a Tip for Teachers that you would like to share with your colleagues—something that saves time or works really well to solve a common classroom problem. If we print your tip, you win a year’s subscription to Canadian Teacher Magazine and a book prize! Email to info@CanadianTeacherMagazine.com with Tips for Teachers in the subject line.