lmrich Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I teach several classes at a university model school. So far while grading papers tonight I have seen papers fastened by: tape, a hair pin, a safety pin, a paper clip, a binder clip, and my favorite - a band aid. So as PSA, get your kid a stapler and use it. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I carried one of these around with me in school. Very handy--and would make a good stocking stuffer! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I teach several classes at a university model school. So far while grading papers tonight I have seen papers fastened by: tape, a hair pin, a safety pin, a paper clip, a binder clip, and my favorite - a band aid. So as PSA, get your kid a stapler and use it. Absolutely, we have 3. But another way to look at it might be that the kids who didn't use staples are learning a valuable lesson on how to get the job done using what you have..... at least that's what I tell my children when I can't find any of the 3 staplers we own. :D 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleowl Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 My thought when I saw your post title was, "um, yeah, pretty sure we have at least two of them - oh but wait, when I was teaching, my students sure seemed to lack access to staples!" Some elementary teacher who didn't like stapled papers (???) had taught many of my students to fold the corner and then tear a little part down to hold the pages together instead. Drove. Me. Nuts. I told them SO many times to please just staple! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom23Boys Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I teach several classes at a university model school. So far while grading papers tonight I have seen papers fastened by: tape, a hair pin, a safety pin, a paper clip, a binder clip, and my favorite - a band aid. So as PSA, get your kid a stapler and use it. I literally LOL'd at the bolded. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I make a point of having one for my kids because I remember very well not every having one. However, now my son is in public high school and he never touches paper. It is all done electronically. The teachers don't even have chalkboards any longer, it's all huge computer screen whiteboard things or projected from phones. I am sure someday he will need a stapler and will forget they exist. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Hmmm I have 2, one is a mini that will be kept in my backpack once I start going to campus and one is on my desk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 We have a few staplers and my kids know how to use them. I am impressed with some of the ingenuity your students displayed. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Hmm. I submitted all my assignments electronically for Uni. At the TAFE that ds19 and ds18 went to ( community collage) all assignments were NOT to be stapled, but rather fastened together with a paperclip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 But, but, but...they might staple their finger by accident. I think I did use a band-aid once. I think they should get extra credit for ingenuity. (Yes, my college kids have staplers. I have a few around the house also. Dh even has one for stapling big, huge stacks of paper.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm919 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I have 2-3 but I could not locate a single one on demand! I don't know, they just seem to float to the bottom of piles. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 In my lifetime I've been chastised for (or warned against) stapling checks to an order forms. So I have evolved to the "little piece of tape" method. There are people who hate staples. Deep down, no one really minds the little piece of tape. Binder clips, man, those things cost actual money. I'd use a band aid before giving up a binder clip. Not really. But, that binder clip person is a frivolous spender! Tape: it's cheap. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I make a point of having one for my kids because I remember very well not every having one. However, now my son is in public high school and he never touches paper. It is all done electronically. The teachers don't even have chalkboards any longer, it's all huge computer screen whiteboard things or projected from phones. I am sure someday he will need a stapler and will forget they exist. Child in the future: "Mom, you know what would be a cool invention? If someone made a device that would attach multiple pieces of real paper together, almost like those old-fashioned books." 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I got as assignment today three-hole-punched, held together with twist-ties in the holes. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 We have one here at home, and I sent one to college with DS. But they hardly ever get used. As others have said, both boys submit almost everything electronically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 My kids have one teacher who has specified no staples. It has been such a problem that last year I told the kids to all ask for a stapler for Christmas. I teach classes where the kids need to diagram and label pictures etc.. so they cannot just type answers on a computer and send it to me. They could scan it and send as a PDF, but I doubt they would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I got as assignment today three-hole-punched, held together with twist-ties in the holes. that just reminded me that ds18 handed in one of his assignments ( at TAFE) that he has SEWED together :confused1: :confused1: . Surely it would have been easier to ask me where the paperclips were than thread a needle and sew an assignment together. :confused1: I only saw the assignment after it was graded. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 I got as assignment today three-hole-punched, held together with twist-ties in the holes. We should keep a list.. I am looking now at a paper fastened with the post-it notes flags and another washi tape. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Oh my! Ds2 attends a UMS and I don't think any of the teachers would accept a several page paper held together by anything other than a staple. We have at least 6 staplers here for a household of 5. :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Well..... I am on stapler number three in less than a year. They don't make them the way they used to, I guess. Maybe their staplers are "in the shop?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Papers? Submitted on paper? That hardly ever happens in my world. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 What?! No one thought to do this?! (Throw back to my childhood in the 80s...) :p 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 Glad I have not had gum yet! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 that just reminded me that ds18 handed in one of his assignments ( at TAFE) that he has SEWED together :confused1: :confused1: . Surely it would have been easier to ask me where the paperclips were than thread a needle and sew an assignment together. :confused1: I only saw the assignment after it was graded. I sewed the homeschooling portfolio I had to submit to the school district one year. In a prior year they had lost one of my children's portfolios, then two years later found it, minus the expensive super-sturdy d-ring binder it had been in. Someone along the way had taken the cover page out of the binder's cover pocket (the cover page had "please return to" with my name, phone number, and address clearly printed on it), and also removed the inner pages (which were in sheet protectors), and put a rubber band around the whole stack. Eventually someone came across it and called me to come pick up the stack. They never found the binder. I was not happy. I decided I wasn't going to give them another binder, so subsequent portfolios were very thin, without binders or sheet protectors, and without anything I needed or expected to get back. Thus the sewing, which actually worked very well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSmomof2 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I carried one of these around with me in school. Very handy--and would make a good stocking stuffer! Me, too! I still have mine, and it still works great (20 years later). 😊 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abba12 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I got as assignment today three-hole-punched, held together with twist-ties in the holes. We have a winner. Seriously, who has access to a 3 hole punch and NOT a stapler? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 What?! No one thought to do this?! (Throw back to my childhood in the 80s...) :p Yep. That's how I did it when no staples were handy. Maybe op should teach this to her classes? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Eco-conscious people/schools may not use staples. The paper is recyclable, but it is a pain to remove staples from a stack of papers before they get recycled, so the solution is to use an reusable, easier to remove device ie a paper clip.....or to fold it. It isn't surprising to me so see them going by the wayside. Eventually, we will all have to purposefully teach our kids how to use a stapler, Just.in.case they ever need one....kind of like a payphone or better yet a rotary dial phone. ETA.....we have 4 staplers. LOL Guess I am not one of the above, but my kids have attended mandatory recycle schools, so the idea of going staple free isn't a foreign one to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Yes, of course. We have four broken staplers and I'll be damned if I'm buying another one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSmomof2 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 that just reminded me that ds18 handed in one of his assignments ( at TAFE) that he has SEWED together :confused1: :confused1: . Surely it would have been easier to ask me where the paperclips were than thread a needle and sew an assignment together. :confused1: I only saw the assignment after it was graded. That's really funny! 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 We mostly use a stapleless stapler I got at the Container Store. It punches the paper together. I started to describe how it works but my description was sounding more like a description of TEA than of fastening papers together... rather not family-friendly. Anyway it's great. I did once staple my own thumb as a kid. I survived and my thumb did too. I avoided the antique stapler my teacher had after that though, and used the new one that was safer. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 What?! No one thought to do ?! (Throw back to my childhood in the 80s...) :p There were lots of other videos on the right that show what to do when you don't have a stapler. It seems interesting to me that we now live in a world where when students don't have a stapler, they search YouTube for videos of solutions! Does anyone remember how resourceful we had to be: wander down the dorm hall asking for a stapler, drop by an office and ask to use the stapler, or if the department had a challenging secretary, sneak a quick staple while she was filing... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 There were lots of other videos on the right that show what to do when you don't have a stapler. It seems interesting to me that we now live in a world where when students don't have a stapler, they search YouTube for videos of solutions! Does anyone remember how resourceful we had to be: wander down the dorm hall asking for a stapler, drop by an office and ask to use the stapler, or if the department had a challenging secretary, sneak a quick staple while she was filing... Or in the extreme case, cleverly, dog-eared the papers together? College Bac grad of '96. My papers were stapled. But, one or two times, for whatever now forgotten to me reason, there were dog-eared pages that acted as a stapler. My name, the course and date were on each page at least... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 that just reminded me that ds18 handed in one of his assignments ( at TAFE) that he has SEWED together :confused1: :confused1: . Surely it would have been easier to ask me where the paperclips were than thread a needle and sew an assignment together. :confused1: I only saw the assignment after it was graded. I've done that and used sewing pins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Oh, no. I'm guilty of this. We had two staplers break at about the same time. I didn't want to repeat that (lousy staplers) so I dragged my feet for a bit before buying a high quality one yesterday. My high school calculus teacher taught us how to properly staple a homework assignment the first day of class (at a 45 degree angle on the upper left-hand corner) and took 5 points off any assignment that wasn't properly stapled. Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I love a nicely-stapled stack of paper. It is so secure, so permanent--yet, with the help of a staple-puller, butter knife or strong thumbnail, not so permanent that it can't truly be undone if, as with so many other regrettable decisions, one is willing to live with the scar. A paper clip, on the other hand, broadcasts one's fear of commitment. I despise paper clips. But my staple story: in my spare time, I practice a type of tax law and regularly submit packages of documents to the IRS. These submissions are 100+ pages comprised of a dozen different documents and a check. And the IRS prohibits them from being stapled, clipped or bound in any way--even with a rubber band! The stack just goes into a sealed envelope. Loose. It kills me! And they do in fact lose pages all the stinkin' time. Of course! I get that they want to scan and be all cool and paperless, but the time we all spend resending documents they have lost or helping them find one page in the pile, is a pricey but hidden tax on my clients. Staples are our friends, IRS. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abba12 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I did once staple my own thumb as a kid. I survived and my thumb did too. I avoided the antique stapler my teacher had after that though, and used the new one that was safer. So I'm not the only kid who did this! I feel so much better now. It hurt. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaelAldrich Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 We have a winner. Seriously, who has access to a 3 hole punch and NOT a stapler? Um, me? :leaving: We actually have a three hole punch, two hole punch (from our times in Japan), and a cute flowered one hole punch. My stapler died a while back. I do need a stapler..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 A band aid?! LOL We have a stapler. Somewhat related, I wish my instructor would bring a stapler to class on test days though. He will give out scrap paper, but there is no way to attach it to the test. He mentioned we can work problems on the back, um but who wants to switch back and forth...back and forth? Easy way to make a mistake. Yet he gives NO room to write on the test. I suppose I could bring my stapler, but it's a big stapler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Um, me? :leaving: We actually have a three hole punch, two hole punch (from our times in Japan), and a cute flowered one hole punch. My stapler died a while back. I do need a stapler..... We have all three of those hole punch things too. (and a stapler) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I love a nicely-stapled stack of paper. It is so secure, so permanent--yet, with the help of a staple-puller, butter knife or strong thumbnail, not so permanent that it can't truly be undone if, as with so many other regrettable decisions, one is willing to live with the scar. A paper clip, on the other hand, broadcasts one's fear of commitment. I despise paper clips. But my staple story: in my spare time, I practice a type of tax law and regularly submit packages of documents to the IRS. These submissions are 100+ pages comprised of a dozen different documents and a check. And the IRS prohibits them from being stapled, clipped or bound in any way--even with a rubber band! The stack just goes into a sealed envelope. Loose. It kills me! And they do in fact lose pages all the stinkin' time. Of course! I get that they want to scan and be all cool and paperless, but the time we all spend resending documents they have lost or helping them find one page in the pile, is a pricey but hidden tax on my clients. Staples are our friends, IRS. This actually makes a LOT of sense for documents that are going to be scanned. I have the most problems scanning in documents that have had a staple removed. So when I print out documents to be reviewed, I put a paper clip on them. Once I get the signature I need, remove the paperclip and scan the document in. I had not even realized how seldom I used staples due to this. (AFTER they are scanned in, I staple for my more permanent paper records -- but our main records are electronic now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 This actually makes a LOT of sense for documents that are going to be scanned. I have the most problems scanning in documents that have had a staple removed. So when I print out documents to be reviewed, I put a paper clip on them. Once I get the signature I need, remove the paperclip and scan the document in. I had not even realized how seldom I used staples due to this. (AFTER they are scanned in, I staple for my more permanent paper records -- but our main records are electronic now) If you're going to scan them anyway, why not just accept only electronic submissions? Saves paper, ink, time printing, mail supplies, postage, time to scan, shredding, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 If you're going to scan them anyway, why not just accept only electronic submissions? Saves paper, ink, time printing, mail supplies, postage, time to scan, shredding, etc. We submit electronically (And thankfully our customers so far allow it because it speeds up the process greatly). Inside our company 1) I get faster replies when I take the physical paper Change Request to the requested reviewer and have them review it there, on the spot and 2) it is easier to catch mistakes in paper (and write on it the changes) than to do the same in PDF and go back and forth with an email to explain what needs changing. We can't afford to miss things because of trying to review electronically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Y Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 What?! No one thought to do this?! (Throw back to my childhood in the 80s...) :p We use to do that! That and tear at about 1/2 inch intervals down the side and bend one tab back, one forward, next one back, next one forward until all the tabs were bent one way and the other . *ALTERNATE. That's the word I couldn't think of. Alternate bending one tab forward and the next backward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I also stapled my finger when I was a kid! We own an awesome stapler that can staple tons of pages. It was an investment. Every other "normal" stapler we have owned has broken/been hit or miss. I can imagine most people not having a working stapler. Ds is in college and one teacher did specify no staples. Not sure why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrichor Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I probably have 3 staplers. All of them are jammed. The last time I un-jammed one, it jammed again immediately. So I was considering buying another, but have trouble justifying it since we have 3 staplers already, and have managed to get by without a working stapler for the past few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Eco-conscious people/schools may not use staples. The paper is recyclable, but it is a pain to remove staples from a stack of papers before they get recycled, so the solution is to use an reusable, easier to remove device ie a paper clip.....or to fold it. It isn't surprising to me so see them going by the wayside. Eventually, we will all have to purposefully teach our kids how to use a stapler, Just.in.case they ever need one....kind of like a payphone or better yet a rotary dial phone. ETA.....we have 4 staplers. LOL Guess I am not one of the above, but my kids have attended mandatory recycle schools, so the idea of going staple free isn't a foreign one to me. AFAIK all places that recycle paper also accept staples. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 of course the crazy thing is I put a stapler next to the turn-in work box... Today I had a paper (from my middle school biology class) that was folded in all four corners with only one sentence written on the second sheet of paper with the back of the paper blank. It makes life interesting. I always staple the papers together before I leave the classroom. I am a bit paranoid of losing a paper. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 What?! No one thought to do this?! (Throw back to my childhood in the 80s...) :p That's clever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I have taught coop iew classes many times and just bring a stapler and stand at the door and have them staple them before they hand it to me. Kinda drives me crazy as I think especially homeschool families should have staplers but it was less aggravating than the alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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