Eliminate No Name Papers

Elementary teacher looking for a classroom management trick to eliminate the no name paper terror! Check out this organizational idea!

You get it. I get it. Sometimes the kids don’t seem to get it.

Teachers preach that immediately after a paper is passed out a name better be in the upper right hand corner.

The beginning of the year we even sang the cute little song: The first thing I do is always the same, I pick up my pencil and write my name.

I would even repeat it back to them. In reality at least half of the class forgets. I’ve seen students owe recess time for not writing their name on their paper. These kids have a piece of my heart, and that’s why it tore me up to watch them sit out as a consequence. The no name issue could be easily fixed if only I had a way to motivate them.

IT HIT ME. My kids LOVE Scents. These smelly markers are a jack of all trades in our classroom. A favorite use is searching and smelling for text evidence.

I decided to transfer the love to our turn in method. I have a small pail that contains highlighters for my turn in station (click link to see post). In this pail I had regular ol’ highlighters that the kids used to highlight their name on the turn in sheet then highlight their name on their paper. The kids in class knew to highlight their name in the turn in sheet but rarely highlighted their name,

Click on the picture below to download:

Today, genius struck. I swapped those measly highlighters for SCENTOS Markers and my kids were EXCITED to turn in their work! Our class discussed that they could not sniff directly from the marker but may sniff their paper once they circled/highlighted their name. You should’ve seen how cute they lookedsniffing their paper and saying, “Mhmmmmm blueberry!”

Simple, yet effective. I hope this helps solve your problem like it did mine!
🙂

My collection!

In the beginning, I chatted about how I place the signs above on my turn in board and session. Click the image below to read how!

No name paper organization using Scentos or Sketch Markers

I hope this was a ‘ZESTY’ idea for your classroom!

Written by

Amber Calderon

Amber is veteran teacher that built a successful TPT business before being recruited to lead social media and content marketing strategy for two Ed-Tech brands. She loves using her unique knowledge of the teacher marketing space to help teachers grow and scale their business with the right digital marketing strategies.

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5 Comment

Reply
Brittany
July 27, 2015 at 6:20 pm

I've never heard of these markers! I'll have to check them out. Where do you buy them?
Reply
Joyce Lansky
July 28, 2015 at 4:20 am

Sounds like a plan.
Reply
Debra White
March 21, 2016 at 9:30 pm

I implemented the "highlight your name" idea a few years ago….and it solved the problem almost immediately! 🙂 It is always great to share awesome ideas that work!

The Scento markers can be purchased at Walmart.

What a BRIGHT idea! 😉
Reply
Louise
July 29, 2016 at 7:09 pm

Are the Scento markers light enough to highlight or do they make highlighters?

Reply
Amber Calderon
August 4, 2016 at 10:35 pm

The markers are light enough (sometimes the dark blue gets to be too dark), but they DO make highlighters!