Learning is more effective and stimulating when you are using teaching tools that are already in front of you. It is up to teachers and other school staff to ensure every student has the tools they need to learn. When students know what tools they have available and how each works, they are more apt to pay attention and, in the long run, learn what they need to succeed.
Why are customizable products great for teaching tools?
By customizing our products to meet your school and classroom needs, you can help improve your instruction time. For example, free up time in your schedule by hanging custom signs with simple instructions so they don’t need to be constantly repeated. Use name tags and name plates to show teachers’ names. And even have badges available for parent volunteers. Here are several of our most popular items that teachers use as teaching tools for their classrooms and schools.
Use our engravable custom signs in your classroom today. For example, personalize a custom sign to show your classroom schedule. Or have a sign engraved with other classroom instructions. While these signs are a great teaching tool for the classroom, they work just as well for the rest of the school.
Use them for bell schedules, No Running in the Halls signs and even more. Each engraved sign is available in multiple colors on durable plastic material. This means that you can customize the color to match your school decor or even show some school spirit. Add logos, graphics and text to make your message seen.
From teachers’ desks and doors to the counselor’s office, name plates can be used everywhere in your school. Not only are name plates great for teachers’ names, but they are also great for identifying different classrooms and other areas in the building.
One of the great parts about custom name plates is adding your logo or school mascot next to names. Or you can use icons to designate closets and other rooms throughout the building. They come in the same durable plastic material as custom signs so that you can match everything in your building.
Step up your security with personalized badge holders and custom lanyards. With a handy photo and your school’s name printed onto replaceable inserts, badge holders just became your best friend. Using these inserts, you can instantly identify teachers, staff and even visitors quickly by printing any information you need and sliding it into a holder.
Then match the lanyard to your badge. By using colored (and maybe custom imprinted with your school logo), you help your staff and visitors keep their identification handy. Lanyards are also perfect for fundraising events, sporting meets and any other time your school gets together.
Personalizing Your School and Using Teaching Tools
From the classroom to the counseling center, we have custom products to make your school run smoothly. Use these great teaching tools to help your teaching and instruction. Do you have other ideas for our custom products? We’d love to hear them!
Here’s a fun idea: when giving out welcome gifts to your students, make sure to wrap them with fun ribbon rolls. Your students are guaranteed a great first impression when handed trinkets with personalized ribbons wrapped around them. And, maybe they will even behave a bit better as a way of saying thank you for your thoughtfulness.
Using something as simple as custom signs will help any teacher with their classroom prep. From decorating to giving instructions, use these tools to help your classroom run smoothly. These signs can also help keep your students on track and provide them with help where/when they need it.
Using Custom Signs for Your Classroom
Get students excited about their education with classroom signs. Use them to encourage participation with motivational quotes and classroom rules. By hanging these custom signs behind your desk, you’ll have no trouble keeping students engaged throughout the school year.
Whether teaching in person or online, classroom signs will look great behind your desk, or anywhere they are easily visible. Customize each sign with text and graphics that remind your students why their education is essential. As they see these signs every day, they will stay motivated to pay attention and participate in class.
Keeping Students Engaged with Classroom Signs
Here are some unique ways to engage your students by using custom text and graphic signs. Remember, you can create nearly any design you want so that you can share what you need with your classroom.
Class Rules: Help your students remember classroom rules with beautifully engraved signs. Add steps to complete projects or basic rules to remember to each sign. No matter what you choose to add to your signs, remember these are fully customizable, and you can add nearly every instruction you will need for your classroom.
Inspirational Quotes: Motivate your students to do their best every day by sharing quotes from famous scholars or inspiring leaders. From Dr. Seuss to William Ward, add your favorite learning quote or message to any sign. Choose from our fonts or provide a fancy one, and don’t forget the graphics to go with your quote!
Learning Objectives: Help students stay focused on their education by giving them specific goals to work toward during class. Then, add these goals to a new sign that you can display at the front of the classroom to help remind your students that they are striving for bigger and better.
PRO TIP: The above list is only a few things that our custom signs can be used for, so let your imagination flow and design anything you need for your classroom!
Designing Custom Signs
SIZE: While we offer standard sizes, don’t be afraid to venture into the custom area. We can do any size sign between 20 and 144 sq inches!
TEXT: Choose one of our stock fonts or provide your own and add nearly any text you need to get your message across.
GRAPHICS: While we are limited to details due to our engraving machines, don’t feel like you can’t ask for something spectacular. After all, look what we did a while back!
FRAMES: Depending on the size you order, hanging your sign is easy with a black or gray frame.
DESIGN: If you don’t know how you want your sign to look, we have a design team waiting to help you. Submit any idea, and we will work with you to get it from concept to finished product.
Need more classroom ideas? Here’s some help to get you started!
While we don’t have pens and notebooks, we do have something you need! Check out all of these different ribbons. And, find out why they are essential to have in your classroom and available for your students.
You may think having students who want to be at school and learn from their teachers sounds to good to be true. But that’s what schools that focus on increasing student engagement are seeing. More than coming to class and turning in homework, engaged students are enthusiastic about their education and have a desire to excel in their classes. If you want to see your students succeed, you must figure out how to engage them in the learning process.
What is student engagement?
In education, student engagement refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show when they are learning or being taught, which extends to the level of motivation they have to learn and progress in their education.
How does student engagement affect learning?
Multiple research studies have found that students who arrive on time, pay attention in class and complete assignments are more likely to get higher grades and graduate on time. On the flip side, studies have found that students who do not pay attention or participate in classwork have lower grades and are less likely to graduate on time. Because student engagement directly impacts student performance, it is essential for teachers to recognize when students are engaged and increase that level of engagement.
How can you tell when students are engaged?
There are three types of student engagement: behavioral, cognitive and emotional.
Behavioral Engagement is when students actively participate in the learning process. They show up on time, turn in their homework and bring the materials they need for class. They also participate in class discussions, do what their teacher says and consistently try their best.
Cognitive Engagement is when students try to learn as much as they can. Not only do they pay attention in class, but they also ask thought provoking questions and go beyond what you ask them to do.
Emotional Engagement is when students have a positive outlook on their educational experience. You can tell students are emotionally engaged when they treat you and their classmates with respect and approach schoolwork with optimism.
To know how invested your students are in their education, look for all three types of engagement. If you only concentrate on behavioral engagement, you may overlook students who feel left out or need to be intellectually challenged.
What makes student engagement challenging?
Keeping students engaged is hard, both in a classroom setting and an online learning program. In a classroom, you have to teach all of your students at once. This makes it hard for you to determine how quickly you should go through a lesson. If you go too fast, some students will get frustrated as they fall behind. If you go too slow, other students will lose interest as they wait for the next activity
The difficult part about teaching students online is that they can get easily distracted. Not only can they get lost in browsing the internet or playing video games, but they can also get disrupted by other people who do not realize they are in class.
Online learning also makes it hard for students to connect with the class emotionally. If students feel that they don’t have a relationship with you or their classmates, then they are less motivated to participate in discussions or do their homework.
Student Engagement Strategies
Now it is time to plan how you will increase student engagement. To help you get started, here are some ideas that apply to almost every grade level. And they work for classroom and online teaching.
Behavioral Engagement Strategies
Students will know how to behave when you give them class rules to follow. List your class rules on a custom sign or plaque, and hang it where students can see it. Make sure to include a rule about students treating each other (and you) with respect so that everyone has a positive experience.
Get more students to participate in class discussions by putting each student’s name on a name tag. When you have a question for the class, draw a name tag out of a box and ask that student to answer it. This strategy prevents the same students from answering all of the questions. It also motivates your students to stay alert because they never know when their name is going to be chosen.
Another way to get students to stay alert is to use blank ribbons as attention signals. Hold up one color ribbon to say when it is time to listen and another color when it is time to discuss. Using these visual cues helps your students know what to do and stay engaged throughout the lesson.
Cognitive Engagement Strategies
Motivate your students to do their best by coming up with learning objectives for your class. Learning objectives show your students what they can achieve if they pay attention and complete assignments. Once they understand how your class benefits them, they will take it seriously. To keep these learning objectives on the forefront of their minds, add them to a custom sign or plaque for all your students to see.
Keep your students focused on their schoolwork by making educational bookmarks for them. Use Custom Top Ribbons to make full-color bookmarks that teach grammar rules or math formulas that will help students with their homework. Your students are sure to appreciate these learning tools and use them for textbooks and other class materials.
Part of keeping your students engaged mentally is giving them a chance to unwind. To make this easy, customize name tags with a wide variety of mental breaks (e.g., sing a song or play rock, paper, scissors) and put them in a jar. When it is time for a mental break, take a tag out of the jar and have your students do that activity.
Emotional Engagement Strategies
Get your students excited to learn by decorating your classroom with ribbons, plaques and more. Even if you teach online, decorating the room you are in with bright colors and custom designs will stimulate your students’ imaginations. Hang a ribbon chandelier from the ceiling or drape a ribbon garland along a wall. Give your whiteboard a little flair by lining the edges with a brightly colored ribbon. To decorate your desk, customize an acrylic plaque or desk wedge with an inspirational quote and graphic.
Emotionally engage your students by helping them get to know you and their classmates better. Customize badge ribbons with a wide assortment of positive characteristics, such as Life of the Party or Proud Computer Geek. Have each student wear these ribbons during class by attaching them to their shirt. (Don’t forget to wear ribbons that describe you.) By using these descriptive ribbons, your students will emotionally connect to you and their classmates as they see (literally) how much you all have in common.
Students will have a positive attitude toward learning when you make it fun. Use paper inserts to play trivia and other games with your students. While you are at it, why not throw in some friendly competition with spelling bees and other contests. Don’t forget to pass out Achievement Ribbons so your students will always remember the fun they had in your class.
What engagement strategies have worked for you? Share them in a comment so other educators can benefit from your expertise.
Improve Performance Through Student Engagement
No matter if you are teaching online or in person, keeping your students engaged in the learning process will improve their school performance. They will earn better grades, score higher on tests and graduate on time. So what are you waiting for? Put custom name tags, ribbons, plaques and signs to work for you so your students will reach their potential.
Giving is more than
just taking something (money or product) and donating it to someone
in need. It is also about adding to our community and raising our
standards. More importantly, it’s about educating ourselves about
what is needed in our community. And, while we are receiving this
education, we are also providing it to others.
Here at Coller Industries Incorporated, our primary focus is meeting our customers’ needs and providing a better future for our community. As such, we have a constant desire to give back to those in need. And what better way than investing in the education of our children?
The mission of Granite Education Foundation is to improve educational outcomes by strengthening the Granite School District Community. This is accomplished through the engagement of business and community partners in the support of Granite School District and the academic achievement of all its students.
Who we are. Granite Education Foundation is a coalition of engaged business and community leaders with a passion and understanding of the importance of an education.
What we do. Granite Education Foundation seeks to improve the academic success and well being of each student with a particular emphasis on supporting students at risk of not graduating.
How we do it. In collaboration with Granite School District, concerned individuals, and community partners, Granite Education Foundation provides basic needs, programs and educational enhancement services that have been shown to improve the chances of student academic success and well being.
In 2009, we started giving to The Granite Education Foundation.
We are happy that we have been able to continue in this giving tradition, so last year we donated again. The knowledge that this money goes to help the children in our community is what keeps us giving. It isn’t about the money; it’s about the future of our kids and where they will lead us because they were able to obtain a good education.
We believe in giving
toward the education of our children and our future. And because of
that, we have enjoyed receiving something back for the past 11 years.
Each year, as a thank you for our time and money, Granite Education
Foundation has some of their school children write and send a
personal thank you. We are always thrilled when our special letter
arrives.
This year, the note
that came with our Valentine’s card read:
Happy Valentine’s Day! Granite Education Foundation and students from across the district wanted to express a heart-felt thanks for all you do. Enclosed you will find hand-made Valentine’s Day cards our students created with YOU in mind. Thank you for being a part of our success. We look forward to working more with you. Yours truly, The Granite Education Foundation Team
The Valentine’s Day
card that came with this letter was handwritten with a simple message
of, “Thank you for donating to GEF.” These two letters were
included in a gray, felt heart shaped envelope. And we love it!
Gary Coller,
President of Coller Industries, said, “We donate because it’s the
right thing to do. We do it for the children in our neighborhood.”
While it is the right thing to do, we see the benefits it has on our community.
The monetary donation goes toward a scholarship fund for students in the Granite School District. And, with more than 50% of Granite School District’s 67,000 students living at or below the poverty line, we need to be doing what we can to support our community.
This donation also
goes toward coats, gloves and shoes for these school kids. Backpacks
are also filled with school supplies at the beginning of the school
year and given to the kids who need them the most. We are proud to
help support these efforts of giving.
And, we want to say
thank you to the GEF for all of the outstanding work they do for our
education system here in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our children benefit
every day from their kindness and dedication toward learning.
Due to Coller Industries Incorporated’s continual support and donations, we were able to be a part of the “Excel Evening of Honors” on April 13th. Granite Education Foundation presents awards each year to exceptional teachers and administrators working in their district.
It all starts with the smallest of donations: TIME.
Since Granite Education Foundation’s inception in 1988, educator recognition and support has been a key priority. The Excel Awards are a prestigious honor given to the top 10 educators of Granite School District and has been sponsored by Granite Education Foundation since the beginning. Students, administrators, parents and colleagues nominate educators that exemplify the values of Granite School District.
“Watching the videos of each teacher and their stories and how they make a difference in the kid’s lives was the best part of the evening,” Hannah, Customer Service Manager and Coller Industries Incorporated, said.
Being a professional educator isn’t an easy job. Sometimes it can even be a thankless job. But, thanks to these amazing teachers and administrators, public education continues to excel.
Each year, GEF supporters gather to recognize outstanding teachers, administrators and community members whose personal commitment and contribution impacts 68,000 students in the Granite School District. The Excel Award is bestowed upon nine teachers and one administrator that have been nominated by school administrators, colleagues or students.
Here are the 2018 Excel Award winners.
Congratulations to these incredible educators!
(Top to bottom; left to right.)
Leah Tarrant – Taylorsville High School Lori Lindford – Bennion Elementary Jill Thackeray – Skyline High School Jodi Larson – Upland Terrace School Stephanie Varoz – Crestview Elementary Amy Winder – Elk Run Elementary Katie Pearce – Rolling Meadows Elementary Brandon Kerby – Cyprus High School Janice Wayman – Hartvigsen School Archer Birrell – Hillside Elementary
These individuals are then put through a rigorous review and observation process by experienced education specialists who ultimately identify 10 teachers and administrators from all over the district. In mid April, up to 300 individuals from Granite School District, supporting businesses, community members, and local leaders gather to recognize and honor these 10 winners in the Night of Honors a dinner and award ceremony.
As Coller Industries makes generous donations each year to the foundation, we were able to attend this gala not only as distinguished guests but also as an award presenter. After explaining Coller Industries to the attendees, Hannah proudly presented Archer Birrell, a 3rd-grade teacher at Hillside Elementary, with his Excel Award.
While our role is small in comparison to each of these educators, we are beyond happy that we get to take part in this fantastic award opportunity. In a nutshell, “We donate money for clothes and shoes for the kids in the Granite School District. Then we get to honor these great teachers for their excellent work by presenting the award on behalf of Coller Industries and the Granite Education Foundation,” Hannah said.
The Granite Education Foundation Excel Award
Each Excel Award recipient received a sculpture, designed by local Utah sculptor Matt Glenn. This sculpture comes in two parts. The bottom portion has the four Granite Education Foundation hand icons from their logo. Each hand symbolized educate, give, volunteer and advocate. The top portion is a student’s hand reaching for a teacher’s hand. This piece is also reversible so that the teacher’s hand is extending up toward the student’s hand.
“Educational awards, such as the GEF Excel Award, are awesome because children are the future,” Hannah said. “Teachers are important and deserve this recognition for what they do for our children.”
And, we agree. These teachers are very deserving of this prestigious award. We want to thank these teachers and all the others who work endlessly for the welfare of our kids. You all make a huge difference!
