It’s time for a “Bright Ideas” link up–and today’s is a short and sweet one.  This is one of those ideas I have used for years and didn’t think too much about-but I’ve had so many teachers in my building comment on that I thought “Hmmm…maybe not everyone has THOUGHT about this!” so I’m sharing with you!  Forgive me if I am telling you something you already know!

If you are like me, you are CONSTANTLY using chart paper for anchor charts, to track student thinking, and so on.  If you are like me, you like the juiciest, best markers EVER…but they tend to leak through and damage the next page.  For years I kept a piece of cardboard I inserted in when I wrote until I had the brilliant (well…I thought it was brilliant at the time!) idea to use my chart tablets BACKWARDS and write on the last page first.  The pages in front just get folded over so all I have is the last page and the cardboard backing.  Guess where all the little polka dots of leaked marker go?  Onto the cardboard!  I can tear that last page out when the chart is done, flip the next page over, and use that cardboard as the backing again.

Here are a few shots to show what I mean…the top left corner shows a piece of the back of the front cover (yeah…I use that one too), the upper right shows some anchor charts made with VERY leaky markers, and the bottom shows faintly how the back cardboard becomes my “soak it up” page.  No more ruined pages or speckles on my anchor charts!

Again–this bright idea is nothing spectacular–but it might be something you just hadn’t thought about.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

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