Sunday, March 9, 2014

Bright Ideas Blog Hop: No Name Paper Solution!

Hello friends!
 
So happy you have stopped by for the second

 
Today's post will be short and sweet (cause I know there's TONS of other wonderful bright ideas to read today!) but I promise your time here will be worth it!
 
So, let me set the scene:
It's finally Friday and you're so excited for the weekend but grades are due by Monday so you're lugging home your 2-week pile of papers that HAVE to be graded and recorded before Monday morning. You think to yourself, this won't be so bad, I'll get my favorite series on Netflix playing and will just grade papers and plug them in and I'll be done before I know it! Then the unthinkable happens. As you're halfway through your stack, you find a paper with NO NAME on it. You think to yourself that that is certainly frustrating but one paper isn't so bad, I can just see who is missing a grade for that assignment and I'll know whose it is! But wait, another paper with no name, then another, and another until you're stuck with 7 NO NAME papers for the same assignment. And of course, it's a MULTIPLE CHOICE activity so there's no handwriting samples to analyze!
 
What is a teacher to do?!?
 
Please tell me I'm not alone and that a similar scenario has happened to you before as well!
 
Well, I'm here to share my BRIGHT IDEA with you to permanently fix that problem.
 
My year has been full of no name papers and with 50 students, that just won't do! About a month ago I decided enough was enough!

My kiddos are ALWAYS asking to use markers in class. One day I was strolling through the new CLEARANCE section of Walmart and I saw this adorable little chevron bucket for only 75 cents. Um, YES PLEASE!
 
Then, a few sections down there were some Scentos markers on clearance! I knew right then what my solution was going to be for the no name paper dilemma!
  
So I whipped up the label you see pictured in the first picture, taped it securely to the mini-bucket, put 4 Scentos markers into the bucket and placed it next to the turn in tray!
 
I had a long chat with my kiddos about how we weren't going to SNIFF the markers BUT that they could smell their papers once they circled their names! It was pretty adorable to watch them all circling, sniffing, turning it in. I was skeptical that the novelty might wear off but I can now say that after a solid MONTH of implementing this... I still have a 100% of all papers being turned in with NAMES on them! 
 
That's all it takes folks! Some scented markers, a label reminder and a mini-bucket and your sanity will be SAVED!
 
I truly hope this idea brings you some grading peace!
 
*Credits: Clipart by Melonheadz, Fonts by KG Fonts, Papers by Mr. Magician*
 
Next up on the blog hop is Michelle from Teach123! Michelle has a great post for you about a discipline tip that's sure to make things easier for you! Just click the button below to check out her post!
http://teach123-school.blogspot.com/2014/03/discipline-tip-seating-chart_9.html
 
 
You can also browse through the link-up to see all of the ideas being offered on this wonderful blog hop!
 

 


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16 comments:

  1. What a great idea! I love that you tell them not to smell the markers and smell their paper instead!

    Sara :)
    The Colorful Apple

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  2. Love that idea...they do love some smell good markers!!

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  3. I love those markers, Great way to solve a frustrating problem.

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  4. Love this idea! They'll do anything to use those Scentos! Thanks for sharing!
    Laura
    Peace, Love, and First Grade

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  5. Love this idea! Can we download Did you remember your name?
    jmacerata@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Hi!

      You sure can! It's a Fan Freebie on my FB page! :)

      Daina

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  6. I do something similar which is have the kids highlight their names instead. We never get to use highlighters in the classroom so that is exciting to the kiddos. However, my small sign wasn't enough for some of the kids, so I ended up printing the sign on a full sheet of paper so that it's literally glaring in your face when you go to turn you paper in. Now it's gotten everyone's attention. :)

    Pam
    Diary of a Second Grade Teacher

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  7. Oh goodness...no name papers on MATH tests are the WORST!!! So hard to distinguish the writing...and, yep...that ALWAYS happens to me right before report card times. Sigh.

    GREAT idea!
    :) Lisa
    Growing Firsties

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  8. Great idea, Daina! I love this simple and FUN solution. Thanks.

    Nicole
    Mrs, Rios Teaches Second Grade

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