The Paper Problem

The school year is coming to an end. As a teacher, I watch a lot of supplies get tossed without so much as a blink from my students. One of my biggest pet peeves: those spiral-bound notebooks. I wonder what the probability is that a student will actually end the school year on the very last page in their spiral...What does happen is that students end up with a bunch of half-used spiral notebooks by the end of the year: one for math, reading, maybe social studies. So on the last day of school, the notebooks get pitched, along with about 100 sheets of unused paper.

Okay, first: waste prevention. If possible, don't use spiral notebooks. Instead, buy loose-leaf paper and use a clipboard or a binder. Not only will you have exactly the right amount of pages, but you're not wasting that piece of spirally metal. In college, using a clipboard in lectures was handy. When I got back to the dorm, I just put the notes I took in each class in the appropriate binder.

For old half-used spirals you have laying around...What I've done is actually take the time to snip away the metal spiral. I used metal cutters and removed the spiral piece. Then I used the paper in my clipboard. This avoids tearing out all the pages and having the paper bits everywhere.

Do you have a great end of the school year green tip?