Proactive Organizational Tips for Messy Student Desks

Proactive Organizational Tips for Messy Student Desks Neat desks are essential to help students build constructive study habits, organizational skills, and a clear mind for concentration. That positive feeling you get when you walk into your classroom in the morning and things are all straightened up from the afternoon before it works the same for students. When they have clean desks, they will feel good about school in general and the whole classroom has a better atmosphere for learning. Here are four organizational issues and the simple strategies that will help students keep their desks as neat and structured as possible.  Ã‚   1. Little Stuff is Everywhere The Solution: A plastic shoebox-size container, which can be bought at any big box store like Wal-mart or Target, is a cheap and lasting solution that keeps all of the little things together in one place. No more pencils, calculators, or crayons stuffed in the nooks and crannies of a desk. Once you buy a set of these containers, theyll last you years (and save you at least a dozen or more gray hairs!). 2. Loose Paper Explosions The Solution: If you look in your students desks and see countless loose papers flying all around, then you need a tried and true solution the Neat Folder. Its simple just give each student a folder in which to keep the loose papers that they will need again in the future. With all of the items consolidated, the inside of the desk assumes a more organized and sophisticated look. (Well, at least as sophisticated as a 30-year-old school desk can look.) Give students each color-coded folders that correlate with each subject. For example, a blue folder is for math, a red folder is for social studies, green  is for science, and orange is language arts. 3. There Isnt Enough Room The Solution: If there are simply too many items in your students desks, consider keeping some of the less-used books in a common area, to be distributed only when needed. Take a critical look at what youre asking children to store in their desks. If its too much for comfort, alleviate some of the items in competition for precious storage space. Every little bit makes a difference, so try creating space on the bookshelf just for student textbooks. This will help alleviate all of that extra clutter in their desks. 4. Students Just Wont Keep Their Desks Clean The Solution:  As soon as its tidied up, it transforms back into its formerly disastrous state. Some students just cant seem to keep their desks clean for any length of time.  Consider implementing a program of consequences and/or rewards to motivate the student to maintain the proper standards of desk cleanliness. Maybe the student has to miss recess, maybe he or she can work towards earning a privilege. Find a plan that works for that student and stick to it. Edited by Janelle Cox

Make Crystal Pinecone Ornaments

Make Crystal Pinecone Ornaments Crystal pinecones are real pinecones that you can coat with crystals to make ornaments that appear frosted with ice and snow. These decorations are easy to make and can be preserved to use year after year. Its the perfect crystal project to make homemade ornaments with kids or to practice growing crystals. Crystal Pinecone Materials The most important material is the pinecone. Choose any genuine pinecone. It doesnt even need to be in great shape, since you can crystallize over any imperfects. The other ingredient is a salt that forms pretty crystals. I used borax, but you could use alum (big chunky crystals), table salt (small sparkly crystals), Epsom salts (fine needle-like crystals), or sugar (chunky rock candy crystals). Sugar or salt are nice if youre worried about kids or pets tasting your creations. If you use borax, it is also great for making crystal snowflakes, which you can make at the same time, if you like. pineconewaterborax (or one of the other ingredients)jar big enough so you can completely cover the pinecone with liquid If you want to hang the pinecone, like for a Christmas tree ornament, youll also want a hook or wire. Crystallize the Pinecone If you are going to hang the pinecone, its easier to add the hook before the crystallization process. Attach an ornament hook or run wire around the pinecone first.Figure out how much water you need. Rather than mix the crystal solution right in the jar, I prefer to fill the jar with water, then heat it to boiling and pour it into a mixing bowl. This way, its easy to filter the solution and remove any undissolved material.Stir in your crystal ingredient (borax, for my pinecone). Keep adding more powder until it stops dissolving. This is your crystal growing solution. If you wanted a colored crystal coating, you could add food coloring to this mixture. For borax, youll use about 2 parts water to 1 part borax (e.g., 2 cups water and 1 cup borax).Put the pinecone in the jar. Pour the solution over the pinecone. If you have a lot of undissolved material, you can filter the solution by pouring it through a coffee filter or paper towel into the jar. Otherwise, just add it to the container, trying to avoid adding in solids. They wont ruin the project, but do affect the size of the crystals youll get. If there is undissolved solid, youll get fine crystals, like snow. Fully dissolved liquid and slow cooling gives you large, icy crystals. The pinecone will probably try to float. I put a rock on mine to hold it down, minimizing the contact between the rock and the pinecone since crystals cant grow where the pinecone is covered. It does not really matter what you use because the pinecone wont float for very long. Once it soaks up the liquid and starts growing crystals, it will sink. You can remove any weight you used to ensure coverage of the pinecone.Check on your pinecone after about an hour. If you used a weight, you should be able to remove it. You can also un-stick the pinecone from the bottom of the jar, to make removing it easier later on.Allow at least a couple of hour to overnight for crystals to grow, depending on how coated you want the pinecone. I removed my pinecone after about 2 hours. Set the crystal pinecone on a paper towel to dry.You can hang the pinecone indoors or outside. However, you might want to seal it against damage from moisture, especially for outdoor use. Make sure the crystallized pinecone is completely dry before sealing it. Id allow 3 days (though you can use the pinecone indoors while youre waiting). To seal the crystals, you can spray the pinecone with sealant, dip the cone, or paint on lacquer or varnish. Good choices include Future floor polish, Varathane, or Modge Podge. Any of several products will work just fine.