Sometimes it’s the simplest little tricks that can make a big difference in our work. Back in February, for example, I wrote about using carabiners on my backpack to help me keep track of my keys. Recently, I stumbled across an unexpected use for rubber bands.
Brian and many others may love teaching with chalk, but it’s no big secret to anyone who pays attention to my online activities that I am a huge fan of using colored markers and whiteboards in the classroom. There are two problems that I encounter with markers, however: first, they have a tendency to roll off the desk at the front of the classroom, and second, when it’s time to leave I never know which markers are mine and which belong to the classroom. (Very minor problems, I know.) I don’t remember when I first did this, but I’ve started to wrap a rubber band around each of the markers. Now, the marker can’t roll at all, and mine are the only ones in the classroom with a rubber band around each one, making it easy for me to grab those that belong to me when it’s time to leave.
The point here is less, “Hey, use rubber bands with your colored markers!” and more “Sometimes easy solutions to irritating–albeit minor–challenges are found in unexpected places.”
What are some of your “simple little tricks”? Let’s hear from you in the comments!
[Creative Commons-licensed flickr photo by ghwpix]
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10 Responses to Simple Little Tricks
drnels - October 28, 2010 at 4:40 pm
I keep my markers in a metal pencil box that has the map of the London subway on it. And I rubber band a small travel clock to it for class (since I don’t wear a watch).
millikinenglish - October 29, 2010 at 5:23 am
I use large colored paper clips to remind me of what I all those stacks of papers are on my desk. Papers with a red paper clip means I have to grade them; green means they’ve been graded and need to be returned to the students. Yellow means it’s a stack of my notes, and blue tells me that these are handouts. It’s a small but amazing time-saver.
salagubang - October 29, 2010 at 7:31 am
At the start of the term I create a folder for EACH class and I save all messages. I can easily retrieve any and all messages at any time and when students have questions, the evidences are there. This has saved me from countless troubles with both students and administrators especially when it comes to “he said, she said” issues. It’s also a fun way to see “history” in the making and a neat way to store data. I have not decided yet on what to do with two year’s worth or emails from former and current students but one of these days I’ll figure this out.
dsbergccp - October 29, 2010 at 7:46 am
ZIP LOCK SANDWICH BAGS
In my “book bag” that I carry to class that contains my lectures and such, I have a bunch of zip lock lunch bags. In one I carry chalk (white and color), in another my colored markers (I’m in different types of classrooms). There are a couple of others — pens, pencils, felt tip markers all in one and a last holding paper clips rubber bands and my flash drive.
DB
vivid - October 29, 2010 at 8:19 am
I have a book bag tote for each class-reading materials, lecture notes, whiteboard markers, and a dongle to attach my macbook to the overhead projector if need be. the two totes sit underneath my desk and are always ready to go to class with the appropriate materials in them. Anything new that needs to go to class–eg graded papers, new handouts, etc–goes straight into the bag.
creamcity - October 29, 2010 at 10:10 am
I have a use for the ubiquitous clear plastic conference nametag holders that add up in any academic’s desk junk drawer over time. I use my hole puncher to secure one in each of my course binders, each binder already outfitted with large plastic pocket inserts, already hole-punched, for all of the paperwork that adds up per course. But small bits and bytes of paper can get lost in those. So small conference nametag holders are perfect for the little bits of paper that add up per course, too: multimedia podium code (previously, multimedia podium key), business card of favorite campus techie to call (with private cell phone number) when podium fails, pack of Post-Its for last-minute thoughts to add to/flag in lecture notes, etc.
margray - October 29, 2010 at 11:13 am
I teach a lot more classes than vivid, so the bag system wouldn’t work for me, but I do something similiar. I color code each class at the start of term with something as close to the color of the text as possible, but each class having a different color. For exampler, for a class with a text having a lot of blue on the cover, I have blue folders, one for syllabus and grade sheet, one for work to be graded, on for things to be passed out or returned, and the exams, handouts, etc, are copied onto blue paper. Other classes would be red (with pink exams), yellow, green, orange, purple, manilla, etc. I also write the information about the class on the front of each folder with a sharpie. This keeps me from grabbing the wrong stuff when running out to teach class.
singfasola - October 29, 2010 at 12:01 pm
1. In line with millikinenglish, I use colored folders to identify tasks and “collections”.
2. My pens (which grow legs at the slightest opporunity) are PURPLE or some other distinctive color.
3. My program is online, and although administrative and curricular matters involve paper (see #1) most correspondence is email. I can always access the network, but email, remotely, not so much. When significant email correspondence begins (not just yes/no) for an issue or a student I start a folder on my network share,turn those emails into PDFs, and store them online. Individual shares are password-protected, so other eyes can’t do “random browsing.”
cypripedium - October 29, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Since I am slightly too disorganized to use margray’s folder trick and teach too many classes for the book bag trick, I keep a wire desk organizer basket for each course. This corrals student papers, handouts and attendance reports and even has room for the textbook. It takes very little effort to dump materials in the appropriate basket and there’s much less to sort through.
11230640 - October 31, 2010 at 9:24 pm
1. As a lab scientist, long ago I learned from the proprietor of the student shop at my postdoc lab that if I wanted to keep my screwdrivers, wrenches, hammers, scissors, etc., I should paint the handles a bright color no one else used. Spotting any outside my lab I didn’t consciously lend out, I have carte blanche to lift them without consulting anyone and bring them home.
2. As a student, I felt that for students to keep up with note-taking, no instructor should get a head start by filling the blackboard ahead of the lecture. (By extension, this goes for Power Point, too, though handouts help.) Both then and in my own classes, I also had occasional problems with going back to something I put on the board earlier, only to find it’d been erased. Taking a cue from the old physics lecture halls in Princeton’s Palmer lab, which had a scrolling cloth blackboard, I started using overheads equipped with a continuous scroll of acetate. Made it easier for me to write big enough for students to see easily, too.