Classroom Ideas
Binder clips, those more mature cousins to paper clips, are easily one of the most versatile office supplies on the market today. From averting fashion disasters to wrangling technology, the uses of binder clips are legion. Let’s take a look at some of the most creative ways that teachers and students are using binder clips to upgrade their lives.
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1. Detangle the cords behind your computer
Even in our increasingly wireless era, computer cables can be the bane of a well-organized teacher’s desk. Binder clips clamp neatly to the edge of a desk. Use the metal arm loops to coral cords. You can go a step further and label each binder clip according to the type of cord it holds so you can easily find the mouse cable when it goes on the fritz.
2. Hang posters and bulletin board borders
To use binder clips to hang posters on the wall, loop a binder clip over a tack or hook, then use the binder clip to grab onto the poster, student artwork, or bulletin board supplies. This allows you to easily switch posters without having to remove tacks or poke more holes in your walls. You can also use this same method to hang small art supplies like tubes of paint from the walls, allowing you to use a bulletin board like a pegboard and gives you more vertical storage space in your classroom.
3. Use them as labels
A little bit of washi tape and some stickers can give a plain binder clip a bit of pizzazz! Or, if you have a basket full of binder clips in a rainbow of colors, you can create clear labels using a label maker like this portable Bluetooth one.
4. Label mailboxes or cubbies
And speaking of labels, binder clips with letters, numbers, or names attached can be used as simple, easily removable labels to mark student cubbies in the classroom or copy room. Clip them onto the bottom or top of each cubby and you are good to go.
5. Prop up your hot glue gun
This binder clip hack is next-level awesome. When you’re using a hot glue gun, there’s just no truly convenient place to set it down and then pick it back up – at least until this trick came along. Use the metal arm loops to prop up the glue gun when not in use.
6. Organize small toys and office supplies
Thread a keyring through the arm loops of a binder clip, and then slide the rings onto a rail. The clips are then perfect to hang onto baggies filled with small toys, counters, or office supplies.
7. Organize folders
This tax hack from the office supply company Avery can easily be adapted for teacher file cabinets. Do you have individual file folders you’d like to keep together in filing boxes? Simply clip them together with labeled binder clips and you’ll never go hunting for loose files again.
8. Corral the classroom headphones
No matter how you slice it, headphones are a pain to store. Their cords become hopelessly entwined, and what should be a quick task – handing out earphones to each student – suddenly becomes an exercise in patience as each set needs to be carefully unraveled. Once again, binder clips come to the rescue! For individual earbuds, try winding the cord around the arm of a binder clip. You can also use mini binder clips to clip the neatly wound cords together, preventing them from getting tangled while they are in storage.
9. Create a makeshift phone stand
Binder clips can make a useful phone stand in a pinch. If you have students who need to take a selfie or make a makeshift tripod for a video project, binder clips can hold phones steady and secure.
10. Keep rolls of paper tightly wrapped
Rubber bands can get brittle and snap, making them an imperfect option for securing rolls of wrapping paper or poster board. Instead, pull out the trusty binder clips and clamp down each end for a tightly wound roll that’s not going anywhere.
11. Secure trash bags to the garbage can
For pesky trash bags that get pulled down by heavy trash, binder clips can save the day. Once you loop a new trash bag over the lip of the can, simply clip the bag in place in three or four spots to keep the bag secured.
12. Hang up extra masks
While most teachers are back at school in a mask-free environment, most of us still have some spare masks tucked away in desk drawers for those inevitable sick days. Binder clips can be used like hangers for masks – you could even install a mask station for student to grab disposable masks as needed.
13. Make the cutest bookmarks ever
Thanks to “A Girl and Her Glue Gun,” you too can make these cheap, easy, and utterly adorable bookmarks. It’s as easy as hot gluing googly eyes to binder clips and then clipping the page of a book to mark your place.
14. Create mini clipboards for your students
This great craft tutorial comes from Instagram account Coffee ‘n’ Vanilla, and it’s easy as pie. All you need are three items: a coaster, a stack of square sticky notes, and a small binder clip. Clip the sticky notes to the coaster and you have a perfect mini clipboard.
15. Fix a fashion disaster in a pinch
Fashion emergencies happen while teaching and teachers can’t leave for a quick outfit change, so a little MacGyvering is in order. Once again, binder clips come in clutch. They can work as hair ties if a hair band breaks, and they are useful to replace a missing button or loose hem until you can get home and do a real repair.
16. Organize papers
Perhaps the simplest and most obvious way to use binder clips is to secure papers together. Teachers have stacks of papers lying everywhere around the classroom: papers to be graded, papers to be handed back to students, papers to hang on bulletin boards, assignments turned in late, assignments to save as examples for future classes, work to send home with the student going on vacation next week…the list goes on. Paperclips don’t always do the trick because they don’t hold securely – but binder clips sure do.
There you have it – proof that the humble binder clip is the most versatile of all the items in your junk drawer. Keep them on hand to make your life easier and more organized.
