Previously, I introduced a new section that I am adding to the education topic at Families.com. This section, Tips for Teachers, will highlight some tips that I have learned from experience and veteran teachers.
One thing that has taken trial and error for me over the past couple of years is the purchasing of student supplies. When teaching eighth grade, supplies were not as big of a deal. However, student supplies for kindergarten students take some creativity.
The supplies need to be accessible to the students and easy to use. Students should be able to use the supplies without a constant direct supervision of a teacher. The teacher needs to be able to circulate without having to physically complete the work for the children.
Through my kindergarten and first grade years, I have found that most students cannot properly use a regular school glue bottle. They tend to put way too much glue on the paper. The glue also ends up all over them and on the table. First, I tried the glue toppers that control how much glue comes out of the bottle. The toppers work okay for a while. The students tend to bang or hit the topper on the tables to get the glue out. The toppers are then noisy. They can get broken and stopped up with glue. Next, I decided to try glue sticks.
Glue sticks work well for me. The key is teaching the students how far to roll up the stick and how to tightly place on the top. I purchase a large stick for each student. I can usually go one or one and a half nine weeks with one stick per child.
Some magazines offer purple glue sticks. I have tried these and they are not my preference. They seem to be gooey. I like the plain white School Smart 1.3 oz stick from Classroom Direct.
Merit Pay and Special Education