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THE CARDBOARD CLASSROOM
E s t a b lis h (S o m e ) R u le s a n d E x p e c t a t io n s We are about to embark on a journey that can involve a lot of mess, confusion, and disagreement. Before starting off, you must have a candid conversation with your class. Talk about mess. Talk about supplies, structures, and routines. Talk about all the things you need to make your class run smoothly or to find your way back to smooth when things go awry. The chaos must function, and function safely. During the build phase, you can and should control the following ten things. All of these come from experience, and the list is always changing because students are infinitely creative, but the basic guidelines that follow should prove helpful for your classroom. Lay these out as rules and expectations for students.
• Demonstrate how to move around a classroom holding scissors. Don’t assume. Students forget. Demonstrate it. Demonstrate it again. Walk with blade down, gripped in your hand, point not sticking out. • Cut slowly. Say to students, “Cut away from your body. Do not cut down toward where your leg is.” (Yes, you have to say that.) Explain and model for students how to cut up materials on a stable desk and not to use their laps. • Have students cut cardboard with scissors first, and then introduce cardboard knives. Cardboard knives are small cutting tools with lightly serrated blades you can find at any craft store or on your favorite online megacorporation’s website. Schools don’t like the word knife, and some administrators will get nervous if you use it, so call them cardboardcutting implements or single-blade scissors. But really, they’re knives. They cut cardboard better than even the best pair of scissors. Do not buy these if your school regulations forbid them. (In chapter 9, page 153, we get into relationships with administrators. It sounds small and silly, but talking about scissors is an essential part of those relationships.) Students can get cut with cardboard knives, and even if the resulting cut is no worse than a paper cut, answering for that falls on the teacher. I am very deliberate with my students when I demonstrate the proper ways to use these tools. The word tool is also key; they are not toys but tools. • Let students work with scissors first so they know the struggle. Then introduce cardboard knives so students know how good life can be. Afterward, remind them that misuse of the cardboard knives sends them back to scissor time for x long. No one wants to go back to scissor time. Scissor time hurts your hands.
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1. Put safety first. You must be mindful that the materials and the tools you give students to use are age and skill appropriate for them. Consider the following.
