Sticky notes are an indispensable tool for any teacher. I mean, they’re cheap, easy to use, and come in a variety of shape, sizes and colors. Sticky notes used to be just for handwritten notes, but I’ve found a way to create customizable, printed sticky notes on my computer.
Teachers Pay Teachers
If you haven’t created a free account at the Teachers Pay Teachers website…what are you waiting for? Oh, you must be one of those teachers with an endless amount of time to create all your lesson materials from scratch. Well, if you’re not one of those teachers…sign up! I did a few months ago. You can get free, high-quality and easy-to-download resources for your lessons. Don’t let the name of the website fool you – there are a LOT of free downloads, and what does cost money is incredibly cheap. Why am I pushing this website? That’s where I found a free Word document by a teacher who had created a template for designing your own customizable sticky notes.
Editable Sticky Notes
Teachers are so creative. When you don’t earn a lot of money, you have to be creative when it comes to finding lessons and resources. 🙂 I took the basic template I had downloaded from Teachers Pay Teachers and revised it to suit my own needs. I’ve included a few links to those revisions that you might find useful with your own students.
An Alternative to Adhesive Labels
I know some of you are thinking, “Why don’t you just use adhesive labels?” Fair enough. You could, but those are expensive. Convenient but costly. They are certainly appropriate for some tasks, such as labeling practically everything at the start of a school year. I like to use the sticky notes for two situations:
- When I only need a few, why waste a whole sheet of labels? The more often you run a sheet through a laser printer, the heat diminishes the sticky-ness of the labels.
- You can communicate a lot more information on a standard-size sticky note than you can on most labels.
Give It a Try
Think about some situations where you want to communicate more effectively with your students and their families. Consider using a customized sticky note. It may take a few extra minutes, but I think you will find it worth your time.
Thanks for sharing! I saw some Metacognition ones sticking to student desks in your room during the PLC. Such a fantastic idea!
I almost didn’t write about this topic because I wasn’t sure it was “deep” enough to deserve its own post. Then I decided that anything that helped students learn was worthy of a post!