Guess what I love most about August. Is it the long, lazy days of reading at the beach and picnicking in the park? Nope! Is it the end-of-summer sales at the outlet mall? Guess again. Is it my birthday? Hell, no.
It’s the $1 bins at Target.
During the last few weeks of August, Target dumps its leftover inventory into a teacher’s paradise filled with classroom decor, educational materials, and office supplies. Need a set of folders featuring famous female scientists*? A calculator that uses emojis instead of numbers? A USB stick that doubles as a bat signal? It’s all here at single-digit prices. And the stickers--oh, the stickers! I could wallpaper my entire classroom with foil stars and tiny images of Disney-licensed characters. (I won’t, though. I mean, I shouldn’t...right?)
The find I am most excited about this year are these dry-erase label/cards:
I am a firm believer in assigned seating; spend five minutes in a room with two 13-year-old BFFs, and you will be, too. I usually assign new seats four times a year, once at the beginning of each quarter. I also do a lot of group work and like to switch it up so the kids get to work with someone different each time. In the past, I have assigned seats by writing every student’s name on a sticky note placed on his or her desk. Although the Post-It company has benefitted greatly from this method, it does seem a bit wasteful. This year, I plan to use these dry-erase cards instead. I can then collect them at the end of class, erase the names, and use them again next time I assign new seats.
The cards also come in six different colors per pack, so in addition to their regular assigned seats, I can organize the class into groups by color. For example, I might have all the students with pink cards work together, and so on. This could definitely come in handy with jigsaw groups. Another idea is to have the students use the cards to write down questions or observations about various aspects of the text--for example, a blue card for characterization, a green card for theme, etc.
These cards are not sold online, so get thee to a Target store quickly before they sell out or the fear of nuclear war closes them all down (too soon?). And let me know: How will you use them in the classroom?
*As far as I know, this does not yet exist. Can someone please get on this?
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