Can’t wait to get another teacher supply catalog? Worried that the 25 catalogs you have stacked around your house and classroom won’t be enough for your shopping needs? If so, then ignore this post. But if you would like to cut down on unwanted mail, marketing calls, even emails, both at school and at home, then check out the read link below.

The Direct Marketing Association has up a helpful list of links on how to remove your name from various mailing, calling and email lists. It does seem a little like tobacco companies helping people to stop smoking, but if you are getting a lot of junk mail or other unsolicited communications, these suggestions might save a little time and a few trees.

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Teachers end up collecting bookmarks on their internet browser, lots of bookmarks. And it’s quite frustrating when you know you have a site bookmarked, but it’s either at home, or at school, and you just happen to be exactly where the bookmark is not. It can also become an organizational nightmare when you start mixing bookmarks: school, finances, home, fun stuff, kids’ websites.

Here’s where Foxmarks comes in. It will not only allow you to synchronize bookmarks to all your computers, but will now let you synchronize just the bookmarks you want, to the computers you want.

Foxmarks is an extension for the Firefox web browser, so if you are using Internet Explorer, you won’t be able to do this. Using Foxmarks, you can create sync profiles, like one for home, one for school, etc. If you’ve got Firefox and Foxmarks on all your computers, you’ll be able to use your sync profiles to sync home books marks with your home desktop and laptop, for example, and just keep school bookmarks on your school computer and the laptop you use at home for school stuff. You’ll also be able to keep all your personal or kids’ bookmarks off of your school computer. Hit the read link for directions on setting up sync profiles.

[Via LifeHacker]

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Sometimes I need to remember something and I don’t have an opportunity to write it down. Maybe I just don’t have a pen and paper at the moment. Maybe I’m in the car and it just isn’t convenient to write a note. Or maybe I’m just being lazy at the moment. But when I need to remember something and I can’t immediately write a note to myself, I just use this quick trick to tide me over until I can capture the idea on paper:

Grab a random item and let that be your idea placeholder.

Here’s how it works:

1. Grab a random item. Pick something that sticks out and is nearby, like a napkin, remote control, piece of scrap paper, spork, whatever.
2. Put it somewhere that you can see it. Set it on your lap, in the middle of the floor, in the middle of your desk, on your keyboard, even in your pocket.
3. Tell yourself what to remember. When you grab the item, tell yourself what the item represents: “This spork means to call Jeff about the Tigers game.” Tell it to yourself a couple of times.
4. Capture the idea as soon as you can. When you are freed up to write a note, jot down the important information you are remembering using your random placeholder.

This variation of the “ribbon around your finger” method probably isn’t going to help you remember something for longer than an hour, but when you need to remember something and can’t write it down immediately, this trick can keep you from that annoying there was something I was supposed to remember and I can’t remember what feeling.

What tricks do you use to remember important things when you can’t write them down immediately? Share in the comments.

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We’ve blogged before about the hidden locations in which clutter can reside in a classroom. But what happens when you locate clutter? How do you get rid of it? In the vein of “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” give it to someone else. And by give, I mean, sell.

You could go to eBay. But you have to pay listing fees and deal with the hassle of shipping your items to their purchasers. For a quick, easy and free way to sell your stuff online, try a location-based classified ad site instead.

These sites allow users to post classified ads to a specific geographic location. While the pool of potential purchasers is smaller than with eBay, the advantage is that the listings are free and the inconvience of shipping is usually eliminated as your purchaser can just swing by to pick up their item.

If you want to give this a shot, try these two free online classified ad sites:

Craigslist was the original free online classified ad site, starting in 1995 in San Francisco, California. Today the site boasts over 20 million users each month in 450 cities worldwide. The site is a minimalist’s dream, with no fancy logos, ads or graphics.

Kijiji is the new kid on the block, launching overseas in 2005 (Kijiji is Swahili for village, if you were wondering). Kijiji claims users in 300 cities worldwide. The site looks much more polished than Craigslist, but having just expanded to the US in 2007, don’t expect to find too many American Kijiji users yet.

The process for selling stuff with either of these two sites is relatively similar:

1. Select a city. After visiting either site, your first mission is to select the closest city to you. Craigslist will default to San Francisco, while Kijiji will come right out and ask you to find a nearby city.
2. Post an ad. Both sites have links to post a classified ad at the top left of their site. Click this to, well, post an ad.
3. Select a category. Both sites will ask you to categorize the stuff you are selling.
4. Type your ad. Enter a title, price and description of your item. Be as descriptive as possible.
5. Add images. Both sites allow you to upload up to four images of your item. Adding at least one image is a good idea. (Note that, at the time of this post, I had trouble uploading images to Kijiji.)
6. Provide an email address. This is required. Both sites allow the posting of classified ads without registering for the site, but you will need to activite the post via email. This is also how potential purchasers will contact you. Don’t worry, both sites mask your email address, with Craigslist providing a sale@craigslist.org email address, and Kijiji providing a contact form. But if you reply to an inquiry, you will be using your email address, unless you use a temporary email address.
7. Submit and activate your post. When you are finished with your post, submit it, jump through all the preview, terms and condtions hoops, and check your email. You will need to click a link in the email to activate the post. Watch out to make sure your spam folder doesn’t eat the classified ad activation email.

Classifieds on Craigslist stay posted for 45 days in most cities, except for some big cities, in which ads expire after only 7 days. Kijiji ads remain posted for 60 days, with no distiction for city size.

Reasons to consider Craigslist or Kijiji as a way to declutter your classroom:

• Listings are free. No fees typical of eBay or newspaper ads.
• Post an ad in five minutes or less. By copying and pasting, you can use the same text for both sites. You can also upload the same images to both sites.
• No shipping hassle. Puchasers come to you to pick up the item.
• Deal in cash. Forget about waiting for checks to clear. Just have the purchaser bring cash.
• Get cash for your trash. Before you pitch something or donate it, try selling it first. If you don’t get any takers, go with the original trash or donation plan.

With minimal time invested, you may be able to get a little cash out of your decluttering efforts. Just don’t use the windfall to purchase more clutter for your classroom!

What tips do you have for selling unwanted items? Share in the comments.

Further reading:

• How to Craigslist Better: 37 Tips and Tutorials [Frugalist]

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“The stapler’s jammed!” a student shouts from across the room. Argh! Now you have to stop everything, fix it for them, locate more staples, go ask the office because you are probably out of staples, and hope that the staple cache lasts to the end of the year. Staplers are one piece of classroom tech that is used frequently, but can oftentimes underperform, causing frustration and time wasting. But being able to staple papers together is an organizational must. So what to do about this little problem?

Use a staple free stapler.

Remember that paper-bending and ripping trick that kept papers together for about 50 seconds? That’s the idea behind the Staple Free Stapler (SFS), except, this time, it works. The SFS punches a tab into the paper, which it neatly bends over and tucks into a slot that it also punches. The SFS works for up to 5 sheets of paper.

Pros:
Holds up to five sheets of paper together, staple-free
Pages can be easily separated
No staples to prick fingers
No staples to purchase or locate
Safe for all ages
No jams to fix
Better for the environment

Cons:
Can only hold up to five pages. For more, one will need…a stapler

This might be a good option for student use, allowing them to staple their work before they turn it in. Placing a SFS with student teams, tables or groups would also save a line at the stapler and get work turned in faster, without having to worry about staple jams or reloads.

See a review at the Gadgeteer. Cheapedia also has several photos and a video review. If you are ready to plunk down the cash, you can snag your own staple free stapler here.

Wrapables Staple Free Stapler [The Gadgeteer]

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Classrooms have a way of hiding clutter. Closets, book shelves, tables, desks and counters are all inviting surfaces for those random objects that collect around the classroom. The Unclutterer blog says that, while you might have a place to store an object, you might not have the best place to store it. Even further:

Just because you have space to store an object doesn’t mean that you should.

So if you are looking for places to starting decluttering your classroom, here are a few ideas:

1. Desk drawers. Pokemon cards, crazy pencils, aspirin from 1994…who knows what is residing in your desk? If you are like me, you have accumulated confiscated student contraband, a random assortment of office supplies, and a collection of forms, as well as files and other important or not-so-important papers. Toss old student materials, obsolete forms and old papers. Sort your office supplies to make them accessible and usable.
2. Under your desk. That’s where that missing bag went! Teachers plunk down their heavy load by the desk, and it’s only a matter of time before something gets shoved under there. Take a peek and see what valuable (or not) materials are down there.
3. Classroom book shelves. Classroom books shelves aren’t exclusively reserved for books. Are your students using all the materials you set out there? Can some of those materials that aren’t used frequently be moved to a better storage area?
4. Curriculum book shelves. Do you really need 50 copies of the science standards? What about that folder of professional development materials from 2001? Start hacking away at this area and get it down to what you reference most and find useful.
5. Closets. Cover me, I’m going in! Besides the overzealous dust bunnies, closets are the classic location for old folders, notebooks, binders, curriculum materials, obsolete text books, classroom decorations. Be realistic with what you need and use, and eliminate the rest.
6. Tables and counter tops. Classroom tables and counter tops with their large, flat surfaces are the perfect storm for clutter. Most materials shouldn’t reside here, unless you are stocking the table with materials students need to access. Storage here should be temporary. Resist the urge to just set things down because you see the surface, and find better locations for the things that are already on your surfaces.
7. Filing cabinets. It’s nice to walk down memory lane by looking through your masters from 1987. And if you are like most teachers, you have accumulated multiple copies of everything! You might just have a few favorite materials you access, with the others being for “just in case.” Get drastic with this area, keeping only things you have used within the last year or have specific plans to use in the future. If you haven’t used it lately, chances are you won’t use it in the future.
8. Computer desk. Whether your computer is by your desk or located out so students can access it, this is an ideal place to collect scattered writing utensils, paper and other trinkets. Keep a clean surface here to place paper-based materials you may reference while on the computer.
9. Computer files. While this clutter isn’t physical, having a disorganized “My Documents” can still create mental anguish when you just know you saved that file somewhere. Organize your files into folders and start saving into the proper folder. You will locate what you need faster.

10 Places to Find Hidden Clutter [Unclutterer]

Studies show that computer keyboards have more bacteria than toilet seats.

Yuck! That’s from an NPR report and they have a pretty extreme solution to the problem: just toss your keyboard in the dishwasher! While you may not want to do that with school equipment, having 30 pairs (or more) of grimy-fingered hands all over your classroom or lab computer keyboards might make you wonder what’s growing in there.

Some places offer dishwasher-safe keyboards, and that might be an option for your classroom keyboard if it sees a lot of traffic, but if you’re not willing to shell out $50, try these ideas to make your keyboard a little more presentable. And here’s another idea: keyboards are so cheap, why not consider buying a new one yearly for your classroom? What are your tricks for dealing with keyboard cleanliness? Let us know in the comments.

Are Computer Keyboards Dishwasher Safe? [NPR via Lifehacker]