Today is the last day in my Messy Desk Series...I hope you enjoyed my posts and gained at least something you can use in your classroom! Today's post is a long one. I'm just sayin'!
Just as a recap:
~Reward those with organized desks with Clean Desk Fairy Coupons
~Consequence those with a ticket from the Dirty Desk Police
~Have a set of mini-brooms and dustpans available for students to clean up their pencil shavings, paper scraps, etc.
~Draw a diagram for students to show them exactly what a clean desk looks like. Have them draw their own pictures of all their items organized in their desks.
Please see all my last posts to get all the free printables I provided for all the above tips!
And now for the last tip...
I saved the best tip for last; the kids just eat this one up! It's called Mystery Trash and you can do it every afternoon or just when you think the students need a little more organization! How it works is at the end of the day for example, during clean up time, tell the kids it's time to clean up. Let them know that you have a piece of "Mystery Trash" in your mind that you see on the floor, but don't tell them which piece of trash it is. Tell them that whoever picks up the piece of Mystery Trash, gets a coupon for a special treat!
Watch out, because your students will become mini-maids in an instant! You will never see them clean like this and your room will be spotless. Your custodian will think something is wrong because your room was so clean!
After the specified clean-up time, stop the kids and present the student that picked up the Mystery Trash with a coupon for a small treat of your choice. I usually use a piece of candy because kids will do anything for candy it seems.
I've provided you with a Mystery Trash poster to display in your room to remind the kids of the event and the coupons to give the students that picked up the Mystery Trash.
Hint: Don't really have a piece of Mystery Trash in mind. Give the coupon to a student that usually is disorganized and doesn't really care about their area being clean. With this as a positive consequence to cleaning, it just might nudge them to becoming more organized!
Poster Above
Coupons Below
I really hope you can use all the tips and tricks I've shared with you these past five days! Please let me know in the comments which tip, trick and/or printable you think you could use the most. I'd love to hear your preference of the tips that would work most with your own unique class!
And now for my favorite topic of all time... Crafts! As an artsy-fartsy momma, I just love me some crafts. If it includes a glue stick and paper, I'm in! Throw in some markers, and I'm a craft goddess in heaven. I was asked by a reader what my top crafting products are, and here's my list (in no specific order). And as a side note, I'm not getting compensated from any of the following companies. I just really love their products!
1. Glue Sticks~I've seen many posters that chime, "Not a lot; just a dot" and it sounds great. But even better would be "Let's use a stick of glue; it works tried and true!" (I just made that up:) Remember that I'm a Craft Goddess, so what I'm saying here is from a thousand or more swipes of a glue stick... Please get rid of that liquid glue and use glue sticks instead! Trust me, it's a lot less mess, you don't have to practice before using it, and it's not that expensive. The little bit higher cost is worth it to me, if I don't have to unclog tops, refill bottles, refill glue sponges... Uh, no thanks. I figure, the projects we make aren't going to last forever anyways, so why use liquid glue? If it sticks together and will look great on the wall, the ease of glue sticks is so worth it to me. Trust me on this one. Aside from the classroom, this is my home choice of glue also. Now don't get me wrong, there are moments I need a stronger hold or liquid glue for a specific project. But I buy glue sticks in bulk like shown above for home use, as well as class use.
2. Bic Mechanical Pencils~From a clip artist point of view, these little inexpensive pencils ROCK! This is what I use to initially draw all my graphics and I wouldn't have it any other way. I tend to use a lot of "eraser" and get picky if there's not much left on the pencil. If I use these, I can just throw it away and grab a new one! And the novelty of these is perfect. Kids just LOVE to use these to do their work. And there's no loud pencil sharpening or long lines at the sharpener.
3. White Cardstock~I also use this brand to draw my clip art on and to do craft projects. If you need white paper, but heavier than copy paper, then this is the way to go. And as for using it for art purposes, the paper is super smooth which makes for a crisp drawing line and the paper is heavy enough to hold up to watercolor paints.
4. Cutting Utensils~ See those zebra striped scissors up there? Yup, being the Ms. Fashionista I am, I own those very scissors. And I got them at WalMart so the price was right. And I also recommend getting adult size scissors for students that are in grades 4 and up. Their hands vary in size so much that some may be ready for big kid scissors and I don't want them using mine all the time! And I also have an x-acto knife handy at home for those intricate cuts I have to make.
5. Sharpies~This is steadily gaining on my top list of marker brands for sure! I use them for drawing, household purposes, and I like how much they cost. Not very expensive as far as permanent markers go. And there are many different types on the market...glitter, paint-pen, neon, you name it. They have the color!
6. Mr. Sketch Markers~Don't get me wrong, I'm a Crayolaholic for sure. But these markers can't be beat for anchor charts. They don't bleed through and they are scented too! So kids love to use them also. Their colors are very vibrant which makes for a better chart also. They tend to be more on the expensive side, but I love the way they write and color. Side Note Funny Story: I would always know when Garyn got into my Mr. Sketch Markers...he'd have a bunch of little marks under his nose from smelling all of them. He'd always wonder how I caught him using Mommy's special markers;)
7. Glue gun~ This is an absolute must-have for projects that need a stronger hold. I told you, I stay shy of white liquid glue. This is a much better alternative and it holds better also. Every crafter has to own a glue gun.
8. Construction Paper~Every crafter has to have this on hand for all the numerous projects we do. And it's virtually a staple in elementary classrooms. So make sure to have a variety of colors of construction paper available for your kids and students to use!
9. MULTICULTURAL Crayola Products~Let's face it friends, we live in a multicultural world with many, many different shades of brown walking around. Let me tell you, when I finally saw a marker that was my skin color, I almost did cartwheels right there. Please, please, please consider getting these for your students in the classroom. It screams community and multiculturalism which is what we need to be all about. Even if you have an all-Caucasian classroom, they need to know what's out there in the real world too. They need them just as much as us brown people. You'll be sending a strong message by using these with your students; a message worthy of noting.
and finally, my number 10. Crayola Products~Tried and true Crayola stands up to many tests of quality and passes them every time with flying colors. With all their varieties... washable, neon, fine point, etc. you can't possibly have a hard time finding what you need. And for students, this is my number one school supply I purchase for my students: Crayola Basic Colors Markers. They may cost a little more for school supplies, but they are so worth it. They are high quality for markers and can be used for many "serious" art projects. I have Crayola products laying all over my house too!
I'd love to know what your top crafting or classroom supplies are! Leave a comment about your must-haves; I'd love to hear your suggestions!
Have a Wonderful Wacky Wednesday Friends,
