Your Art Room's A Mess: Scissors

Here is another excerpt from  "Your Art Room's a Mess" available on ITunes.

Scissors

What is this used for?

• Cutting paper, cardboard, yarn, felt…anything and everything in the art room!

How should this supply be stored?

• In color-coded cups, cans, or bins in the Student Area.  Only enough scissors should be in each cup for each child that sits at a table.

How should this supply be distributed?

• Table helpers can retrieve the cups, cans, or bins for their table or the teacher can pass them out after instructions are given.

What is the student going to do with this supply?

• If there is one pair that is different from the rest, every child will want that pair.  The color of the handle and the blades should match if possible.
• Teach the student how to use scissors appropriately.  Do not assume that a student knows better than to cut their shirt, their hair, or their classmates hair.  They need to be taught that this is not acceptable.

Are there any special concerns with this supply?

• It is worth it to buy more expensive student scissors and hold on to them longer.
• Old scissors can be used for specific media like plaster gauze, or metalworking.

Scissors are kept in the Student Area in color-coded cups.  If a table has six seats, they get six pairs of scissors.  One thing that makes things just a little bit easier is to make sure all six of those pairs have the same color handle.  Not necessarily the table color… just all the same color.  In fact, if you have 25 pairs of scissors with the same color handle, that is golden.  It may never happen, I am still working on it!  When you buy a class pack of scissors they come in an assortment of colors and even though you can finagle them as you pass them out to each table, or have them in each cup, it is still a point of contention!  I once had one old-fashioned metal pair of lefty scissors kicking around my Student Area.    Every child who came up to get scissors would try to get the rusty old metal pair with green handles.  The student was not left-handed and had no reason for needing that pair other than it being different.  It would cause arguments, which ultimately would end in a student finding out the scissors did not work for them anyway.  Modern children’s scissors work for lefties and righties. 

Scissors are worth the investment.  If you buy 25-30 pairs of cheap scissors, you will probably be buying 25-30 pairs of new ones the next year.  As I have replenished scissors over the years I keep my “old” scissors for use with other specific media.  For instance, I have a full set (about 25 pairs) to use only with plaster of Paris gauze.  A few pairs are used solely to cut aluminum.

If you like what you've read here, check out other free chapters:
Management Plan
Behavior Plan
Student Area
Teacher Storage Area
Pencils
Erasers




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