How To Work Around Paper and Copy Limits: Guest Post from Tom DeRosa

Teachers are used to working with limited resources, but few issues impact your daily instruction as much as limits on paper, the number of copies you can make, or both. In my career, I’ve dealt with all three. There were schools with strict copy quotas per teacher or department, overworked machines that broke down weekly, too few copiers for a large campus, or no direct access to copy machines at all.

At my first school, we had a part-time “copy person” who was the only one authorized to make copies. If you needed copies, you had to get them to her several days in advance at a minimum. On the other side of this issue is paper, which is subject to similar restrictions. Plus, if you have a printer in your classroom, paper seems to become even more scarce.

 As a teacher who always created a lot of custom materials and didn’t rely on textbooks, this was a source of endless frustration, as I’m sure it is for many others. Out of necessity, I developed a series of simple teacher hacks based around three principles: Learn how to use all of the copy machine’s features. Use The Three R’s. Make copies without a copier.

Learn How to Use All of the Copier’s Features

There’s a basic set of features almost every copier has that will limit your paper use and the number of copies you’ll make.

 Double-sided printing.

First, there’s no reason to ever print anything single-sided. Technophobic teachers don’t bother to figure out how to do this, which doubles the amount of paper used. Remember, you don’t need a two-sided original to make a two-sided copy either.

 Multiple pages per sheet.

Even if you use only the two pages per sheet conversion, you’ve just cut your paper use AND copies in half. Combine it with #1, and you can turn an eight page original into only 2 pages and 4 copies.

 Resizing.

 Sometimes fitting things onto a smaller number of pages is just a matter of scaling something down, which the copier can do for you. While you may use an extra copy or two to get the size you need, if you cut a page or two from your print job, the paper you save for your job adds up quickly. Sometimes you can actually fit a little more than the multiple pages per sheet function if you resize yourself. A regular 8.5″ by 11″ page reduced to 60-70% will often easily fit on half a page. Find the right number by noting what percent the copier uses when it does multiple pages per sheet for you, and increase the percentage a bit.

Scanning and emailing.

Newer copiers actually let you scan any document and email it yourself as a PDF. If this is available, you can eliminate the need for printing tons of extra copies for absent-minded students, or even yourself. Scan it, then print it on demand later.

The Three R’s

Reduce.

The easiest way to reduce copies is to print only a “class set” (enough copies for your largest class) to be reused throughout the day. If students work in pairs or groups, your class set will shrink even more. Generally, the larger the original document, the more you should lean towards the class set, even for tests. Remember, anything your students can write can be written on their own paper, including their

work if you require that. Once you remove spaces for answers from your handouts, whatever the subject may be, you’ve probably eliminated several pages from your original.

 If you have a printer in your classroom, whether school issued or your own, procuring ink can be an expensive and difficult task as well. Reduce the amount you use by printing in a low-ink mode (sometimes called draft, economy or fast mode), printing only specific pages, or utilizing a program like Green Print to eliminate anything you don’t want to print (like ads and menus from websites, for example).

Finally, ask yourself this question whenever you feel the urge to copy: “Do I really need to copy this?” If it’s a very short assignment, for example a handful of open-ended questions, is it really a big deal to put it on the overhead or board and have students copy it (or just answer it)? You don’t want your class to be known among students as the one where “all we do is get handouts”.

Reuse.

Reuse every single-sided paper that crosses your desk. You’ll likely get tons of these from school officials, but you’ll also have a surprising amount left over from things you print after you’re done with them. I kept a special box for these near my desk, because it has tons of uses: scratch paper for students (and me), printing non-official documents on my classroom printer, and as a canvas for cutting and pasting together the originals I would later copy for class. It’s amazing how much paper you go through for stuff you only need temporarily.

Obviously if you’re making class sets, you’ll be reusing copies throughout the day, but remember that you could save your class sets and reuse them in subsequent years or semesters to save even more.

Recycle.

Okay, so you won’t reduce the number of copies you make or paper you use by recycling, but you’ll send the message to your students that you’re trying to cut paper waste. Hopefully, they’ll do their best to follow your example.

Make Copies Without a Copy Machine

Your own classroom printer.

I’m a big proponent of having your own printer in the classroom, preferably a multifunction one that also scans and copies. They’re very affordable, and in a school with limitations and problem copy machines, it will make your life a lot easier. You can make single copies very quickly or print on demand from your computer. This saves you from emergency runs to the copier and doesn’t make a dent in your copy quota. If your school copier doesn’t have the scanning capabilities described above, this is your way of avoiding the copier altogether.

Have a home printer.

If having one in your classroom isn’t an option, you should absolutely have a multifunction printer at home. You can get a lot of prep done that might normally require a copier, if only to make one or two copies to create your originals. You can even print out class sets (using the low-ink setting of course) when time or access to the copier at school is an issue.

Scanning.

Finally, the ability to scan documents is completely necessary if you’re serious about cutting down both paper use and the number of copies you need to make.

Tom DeRosa lives and teaches in McAllen, Texas. The owner and author of TeachForever.Com, he has also written several pillar articles of note. Included are 52 Teachers – 52 Lessons, The Golden Girls’ Guide to Telling Great Stories (fantastic), and Why We Need to Change the Way We Teach Math.

Photo Credit: Teach Forever

Guest Post from Karen Schweitzer: 20 Professional Development Resources for Teachers

For most teachers, education doesn’t end when a degree is earned. The teaching profession demands continuing education, and in certain cases, advanced education. Fortunately, there are many online resources that can help teachers with professional development. Here are 20 resources for educators to explore:

NCATE – The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredits schools, colleges and departments of education. The NCATE website is a good place to find lists of accredited institutions and scholarship resources.

 NEA – The National Education Association (NEA) is an advocate for teachers and students. Members can access classroom management and professional development resources as well as web and print tools.

 AFT – The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is a teacher’s union that offers many interesting resources on their website. Teachers can view salary surveys, education news, and publications and reports on a wide range of topics.

 ASCD – The ASCD is a non-profit organization with members in more than 100 countries. The organization offers an excellent professional development survey on their website as well as several other professional growth resources for teachers.

NBPTS – The National Board for Teaching Standards (NBPTS) is a non-profit organization that was formed to advance the quality of teaching in schools. NBPTS offers information about education standards on their website and provides numerous development tools for teachers.

RISE – RISE (Resources for Indispensible Schools and Educators) is a non-profit organization that dedicates itself to connecting teachers with low-income public schools. Teachers can use the RISE site to search and apply for jobs.

PBS TeacherLine – This PBS site is an online professional development resource for teachers. TeacherLine provides standards-based graduate-level courses for credit as well as a few free resources to encourage professional growth.

Thinkfinity – The National Verizon Thinkfinity Training Program provides many free training opportunities and resources for educators and after-school practitioners. Offerings include state-specific professional development, instructional videos, and free courses for graduate credit.

Learner.org – Learner.org offers many free professional development video courses to teachers. Courses cover a wide range of subjects and provide information on how to teach today’s standards-based curricula.

Teachers Network – The Teachers Network is an advocate for teacher leadership and student learning. The organization provides many free professional development resources for teachers, including articles, how-to’s, and lesson plans.

Teacher’s Domain – This online teacher library provides free digital media for the classroom and professional development. Teachers who register for a free account can store and share resources online.

TeachersFirst – TeachersFirst offers a series of free online education sessions for teachers. Known as OK2Ask, these sessions last approximately one hour and can be attended from any computer with an Internet connection.

The Teacher’s Podcast – The Teacher’s Podcast provides PD resources for teachers who are interested in integrating technology into the classroom.

We the Teachers – We the Teachers is a social network for teachers. It is a great place to meet other educators and discuss professional development opportunities.

The Apple – Created for current and future educators, this social network provides career advices, education resources, message boards, free job postings, and many other online resources.

Applebatch – This K-12 teacher community was created to help teachers advance their careers. Teachers can join groups in their profession, share resources, build their network, and apply for new jobs.

TeachAde – TeachAde is a social networking site for teachers and other education professionals. Members can network with other educators around the world, search for resources, and create resources of their own.

FolioSpaces – FolioSpaces is a unique social networking system that can be used to create free electronic portfolios.

Fund for Teachers – Fund for Teachers is a non-profit organization that provides teacher grants and other professional growth resources. New grants are awarded each year.

Scholarships and Grants for Teachers – This blog post provides information on a wide range of grants and scholarships for future and current teachers who are pursuing continuing education or degrees in education.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online colleges for OnlineColleges.net.

Other articles from Karen:

Tuition-Free Education Courses for Teachers

25 Free Apps and Web Sites for Tech Loving Teachers

40 Places to Find Free Lesson Plans

Setting the Tone: Strategies to Start the Year Off Right

School Bus

 

We all know how we start the year with students directly impacts what is to come . . . and just how smoothly it will go. Following are a few ideas to get things flowing in the right direction.

Post an inspirational quote on the door, or at the entryway.

Something about striving for excellence, or perhaps self esteem. This is a great way to establish atmosphere from the start.

A horizontal line of clocks above the board at the front of the room.

Starting with the city your classroom is in, and moving from left to right, put a sign under each clock with the name of a different international city. If you have pen pals in a particular city, include that one as well. Set each clock to the appropriate time zone for its corresponding city. This decorative element is fun, unexpected, and sets a serious academic tone in your room. It’s also very grown up, making it excellent for high school students as well as classrooms as young as the fourth grade, where feeling more grown up is a huge priority.

A math assessment.

On day one. Pick whichever one you deem fit for your new students. A quiz, or perhaps the annual grade level pre-assessment from your school’s selected math series. If the series does not provide a pre-assessment, there should be a yearly review from the previous year’s grade level. Consider using that. Not only will it provide you with hard data on whether or not your students’ skills have atrophied over the summer, but incorporating this on day one will send the message that you mean business. Math is considered serious subject matter, and starting off with an assessment on mathematical content will ensure your students will take you seriously as well. Obviously middle and high school teachers who don’t instruct on every single subject will need to consider alternative assessments or activities, but for general elementary teachers, this is a winner.

Post the latitude and longitude of your location outside your room.

A simple “welcome to” sign will suffice. You can determine your accurate longitude and latitude by using either a GPS, Google Earth, or this link from the USGS.

Letter writing.

Since basic letter writing skills start getting covered as early as first grade, and reviewed for years afterward, they are a great activity to assign the first day of school. The basic elements are quick to reintroduce, the assignment is assessable at a glance, and it allows for a variety of ability levels to participate without being singled out. Whether you have the students write away for freebies, compose a thank you letter to last year’s teacher, or choose a favorite author to write to, the important thing is to have a hard copy of an entry level writing sample for each student. From here you can gather multitudes of information on exactly how you should implement your initial language arts program.

A walk through practice session of the admin-approved fire drill procedure.

You might also include a tour of key locations such as the nurse’s office, where to line up after recess, the cafeteria, etc.

Pack your evacuation bag.

This one is more for your peace of mind. The details are covered in the previous bomb bag post, but suffice it to say an emergency departure bag is a good idea for any teacher in today’s society.

These are my top seven picks for beginning of the year elements to include. I deliberately left off the covering of the class rules, because I know you’ll all do that anyway. The purpose of the piece was to provide solid strategies for professionals at multiple grade levels that would help set a productive tone. My hope is that I’ve achieved that purpose. I believe I have. Have a great start to the school year, everybody.

Photo Credit: KB35