Keeping minicards organised has always been a big headache for me.
First I tried elastic bands, then envelopes and a million and one other ways.
And you could guarantee that come class time there would be at least two cards missing and half a dozen from another set in there!
But …. thanks to the Dollar Store/100 Yen/ Pound Shop I think I’ve found the solution, clear plastic bags ( 30 for a dollar!) for each theme.
All neatly organised and ready to go – fingers crossed!
Do you have any tips for keeping cards organised? Please do share in the comments!
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Oh, wow. You just made my day!! How come I didn’t think of that before?!
I’m a teacher on the go, I mean, I visit my students’ houses to teach, so inside of my humongous lesson bag looks nothing but a disaster…Now I can fix it just perfectly!
Thanks, Richard!
You rock!
WOW, I have the same small bags But i have also big bags for the A/5 size cards and I put the small bags into the big ones 😉
I usually don’t have much of an issue with keeping sets organized, so much as knowing which cards I have in each set as I have personalized some of the sets to fit the not-Genki curriculum I have to teach. For instance, I have an entire set made up of all the different food cards (I have four of each food color coded red, green, blue, and yellow to allow for One Card left gameplay). The problem is that some of these words are not introduced in the curriculum, though I will sometimes leave these cards in and the kids will get some new vocab while playing a review game of One Card left. The other problem is pulling out just the cards I want for a specific class (just need to work ahead of time, haha). I have a whole set of animals, stationery, etc. Rubberbands work fine, but I need to find a better way to keep them stored so I can find the appropriate stack without having to dig through a box of piles of cards.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0007KK0G2/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
THis is what I bought a few weeks ago.
Helped me so much since then.
I can ask children to to put up the cards too when we are done so they do all the work 🙂
thx for the precious tip!!! But where can you store them once they are in these perfect little bags? maybe old shoe boxes?
Awesome idea! Everything is a mess in my bag too! tnz for the idea!
A while ago Richard wrote something about “lapbooks”. I checked it out and found some youtubes showing some nice projects that could be done with the kids to organize all the material they get in class. But they could also be good for organizing theme materials. I was thinking of preparing a “lapbook” for each topic (mini cards, lesson plan, worksheets, game cards etc… ) you could also attach the “lapbooks” together to one big lapbook. That way you have a lapbook for 5-6 lessons. So once you organize all the materials you need for each lesson in a lapbook, you’re all set to go! 🙂
http://genkienglish.net/teaching/genki-english-lapbooks-great-idea-for-homework/
If you like, take a look at my blog from March:
http://margitsacademy.weebly.com/blog-201702608512398209862646920107/10
These are also all bags from 100 Yen store. They are long lasting though, with a zipper and you even can pull a hook through and hook them on your jeans, like a key holder.
(Richard, I also used those ones you have in the foot, before, but some kids have fun with the sound when bursting them)
The ones in the picture as you see come in different sizes, so sometimes I put everything of one topic into a bag (UNO, Domino, and mini cards)
You can sort by color, if you like.
And, just put them into a drawer, like in the lower picture.
Easy to find, what I need.
The big thing is that I’m not following the Genki themes sadly and I suppose once I get all my stuff organized to go along with the curriculum I must teach, the school will then switch to a new curriculum and schedule, and ugh…headaches…I really am lost.
After laminating 6 identical sets for one particular song, I label each set on the back corner with a different colored permanent marker. ie “Vol.01.01” for What’s Your Name….etc Then, anyone can easily reorganize the sets by color and quickly count to make sure the right number of cards are grouped and banded.
Elastic bands rot over time, so I’ve used 100 yen hair band elastic for years. Works for me.
Hi! I have some locker/bookcase space at school but its small so I use zipper files (B4 size) to hold all the GE flashcards and game card sets (8 sets color coded for each group) for each theme (plus worksheets etc). On the side of the I have labeled the theme so its easy to grab and everything is in it.
Also, since elastic bands break after a while, I use a hole punch to make a small hole in one corner of the game cards and use a plastic hoop to keep the sets together.
The B4 folder comes in various colours so you can colour code for either CD number or level etc and you can get from the 100 yen store. The hoops are also from the 100 yen store and there’s usually 10-12 in a pack depending on the size of the hoop (also various colours). This has worked really well for me over the years and it looks tidy and colourful too.
Hello Genki teachers! I usually buy very cheap plastic folders and plastic sheets to store and organize my materials. They are ready anytime as I can see it through the transparent plastic and all fastened in one folder. I usually label it by topic or by lesson whenever I can utilize each. I will email the pictures to you Richard 😉 for the sample.It keeps me away from clutter and saves me time to look for pictures for my lessons.
I also use zip bags but I’ve found that if you color code on the back of the card before laminating it’s easier for you and for students
A simple dot of color is enough.
I do something similar to Magrit. For my flashcards I have them tied up with a rubber band and in a box – (it’s just easier to grab them opposite looking through baggies); and material that has different pieces (like something for body parts or similar), I will put in a baggie and then in a separate box. All my material is laminated, so it’s protected and lasts. I wish we could post pictures here…….. 🙁