Job Discussion Forums

[flaco]

what's the best kind of paper to use?

what's the best way of presenting the text?

any advice is appreciated. thanks.

[Frater]

Using a light pencil, write the text in tiny letters on a single ply piece of tissue paper.

[Lynn]

It really depends.
When I taught in the public elementary schools in Japan, my cards were very big and in color with magnets on the back. The chalkboards in Japan are magnetic, so it worked out very well.

If you are in a smaller setting, index cards will do.

[johnslat]

Dear Frater,
Hmm, hardly in the spirit of comradely colleagueship. You didn't even tell him whether to use two-ply or four-ply.
Regards,
John
P.S. Abandoning irony and sarcasm for the moment, I'd suggest thin cardboard. Depending on where you are, you can likely get a large sheet of it at a nearby stationery or hardware store and cut it up into the sizes you want. Again, depending on where you are (and even easier), you might even be able to find actual blank flash cards or you could use index cards or Roledex cards.

[Frater]

[foster]

I use a large piece of bristol board or light constrution paper. Using my computer, I make a 4X4 grid in Word and then cut and paste the pictures or type the words in the boxes. Print them out, glue them on the cardboard and then cut them out. I would like to laminate them, but I dont have access to a laminator (yet)!!!

[johnslat]

Dear Frater,
Bless you, brother. Absolvo te. Go and sin no more (nor any less).
Regards,
John

[shmooj]

In Japan you can buy something called Kento (Kent) card which I guess should be available elsewhere. This is sturdy but thin enough to go through copiers and printers which is very useful.

Make the images colour and, if for kids, graphics (not photos).

Use Comic Sans for the font.

[schwa]

Never made flashcards, never will (5 years in the biz).

I use them, sure, with young beginners, & there are attractive durable sets for all sorts of vocab available commercially in any educational supply store or online. A few bucks out-of-pocket or hours of silly busywork? No contest. Or persuade your boss to spring for them.

I think there are more productive ways for a dedicated teacher to spend their preptime.

[shmooj]

schwa
Oh goody - you know some supply stores. I need a complete set of flashcards for two syllabuses that I designed containing around 500 phrases and words for two levels of a Cambridge Young Learners Test. Let me know when you can pick them up for me. I'll pay postage of course.

Like heck.....

Just cos you're willing to compromise, doesn't mean that the rest of us have that luxury. If you need specific images, you need specific images, and that doesn't mean we are wasting our time but rather investing it in our students.

[arioch36]

Shmooj,

Please keep the fact that you are a real teacher with professionalism a secret. You know there are people listening.

[shmooj]

oops - sorry

[sprightly]

i make flash cards all the time, or game cards.

the easiest i've ever made were by writing all the words on one peice of paper.
on another, i colour with two markers.
i glue them together.
i cut the words out.
presto!!
they can be colour coded, etc. (this week's class teased me on my artistic skills this week... love them.)

[flaco]

thanks!

[dyak]

Aww... now I really do miss Blue Peter.