June 21, 2016

Why I wouldn't use these Pinterest "tricks" in my classroom



First, the clip chart. I don't like clip charts and I don't use them. I could write an entire chapter on the "why" of this, but to keep it short: they didn't work for me. 

1. Every time a student does something good or not good, you tell them to clip up or clip down. That is dozens of times a day you are breaking instruction or pausing in your train of thought to tell a student to clip up or clip down. 

2. These students are getting up out of their seats, breaking their path of learning, to clip up or clip down. It's distracting for everyone. 

I took a class a few months ago and someone suggested a clip chart as a great method of student accountability and everyone ooed and awed and I thought Is this 2006? 

I feel like this paper plate version would fall apart by mid-September, especially if the students are the ones moving the clips. 



I really do have many thoughts on management systems because I've used some really bad ones and some really good ones. It's trial and error every year with each new group of kids. But I will be elaborating on this in the future. 

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I can't even with this. Maybe in a center-based learning primary school. Maybe in preschool. I can't even imagine what would happen if I set something like this up (if I were allowed to...I wouldn't be allowed to).

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I have a homework folder system too. It does not look like this. 
I would like to know who has the wall space for this kind of system. It looks like they probably have 30 folders up there. I could think of 30 other things to use that space for. Also, how are they attached? I feel like they would fall down. 

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Speaking of homework turn-in, I'm all about listing reminders next to the turn-in tray. However, if you put your reminder on the bottom of the tray, the only student who sees it will be the first one to turn in their work. The first one to turn in their work either doesn't need the reminders because they are incredibly on top of things, or they rushed through it and won't read the reminders anyway. It's like a law of physics. 



As for the clip part (what is it with teachers and clips?), I've never tried it. I initially think it may only work if you're doing one assignment turned in at a time, but maybe you could tweak it to work for you. You'd have to train the kids well, though, on how to use it. 

And we need to consider that the source of the above picture is Buzzfeed (worthless.com when it comes to teaching ideas) and the source of the idea is photobucket. I give that the side-eye. 

But I have seen this in classrooms before, so maybe it does work?

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Obviously, what I've been doing with my spare time is perusing Pinterest and picking out all of the stuff I would never do or use. Stay tuned for a list of Pinterest tricks I would definitely use! I've been writing Pinned It/Did It posts for years now anyway.

2 comments:

  1. Looks like Pinterest does love its clip pins.
    Yeah - some things just aren't practical... pretty, but not practical.

    ReplyDelete
  2. In first grade, I use a stoplight system, but it had magnet cars, not clips. It really was more for me to know who needed a time out at recess or not. So it wasn't insanely distracting. Those many tired clip systems are too much for me.

    That swimming pool theme is insane and ridiculous.

    I definitely don't have that kind of all space for homework folders. AND seeing as how I see about 60 kids in 6th grade, that's totally impractical. I hardly ever collect homework anyway. I will ask them to get it out, I will verify that it's done, and then we go over it together.

    And you're totally right about that homework bin.

    Do really teachers actually do these things?? ;)

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