***Sponsored by Westcott***
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Having the right tools in your classroom makes a difference. Just ask Susan Hannewald, a first-grade teacher at Otsego Elementary School in Tontogany, Ohio, and one of the lucky winners in the Westcott Warriors sweepstakes. This week, The Mailbox had a chance to chat with Susan.
Susan encourages her students to work independently. Earlier this year, when one of her students was having trouble cutting, she suggested the child give it one more try. That was her suggestion until she took a look at the little girl’s scissors. “The blades weren’t even touching,” Susan says. “That’s why she couldn’t do it!”
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Well Westcott scissors came to the rescue! Like dozens of winners in the Westcott Warriors sweepstakes, Susan and her students received a Westcott Warriors Prize pack, which included Westcott adult scissors and kids’ scissors. (Good news, here’s one more chance to win! Scroll down for details!)
What makes Susan Hannewald a Westcott Warrior? Let’s take a quick visit to her school and her classroom.
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Location: South of Toledo and within an easy drive of the Michigan state line. Otsego is a new elementary school that just opened for the 2012-2013 school year. In fact, Susan had access to her classroom for less than a week before open house. Yikes!
Favorite units and themes: Susan’s first graders start off the year with an apple unit, which ties in nicely with a local apple butter festival. The fun, learning, and creativity continue from there, with a special focus on Christmas Around the World, Dr. Seuss, grandparents, the 100th day of school, and science—all in addition to teaching Common Core skills for reading and math, of course. “We do lots of cutting and pasting,” Susan says.
Favorite part of the school day: Storytime. Favorite books include anything by Patricia Polacco and read-aloud chapter books, such as Because of Winn-Dixie, Charlotte’s Web, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Some of these books have themes that might seem difficult for first graders, but Susan says she’s always amazed by what her “little sponges” can absorb.
Why become a teacher? The school day follows a schedule, but every day and every year are different. Susan loves that variety; she loves meeting her little learners’ needs and encouraging their progress. “What better job could there be?” Susan asks. (I think we all know the answer to that!)
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The Mailbox and Westcott are thrilled to bring the Westcott Warriors program to teachers like Susan. Westcott offers lots of goodies for teachers. Click here to visit the Westcott site for free Common Core activities, and “Like” the Westcott Teacher page on Facebook to find out about special offers and exciting products.
Oh, wondering about that chance to win a prize? Submit a comment to my blog to share your “scissor story”—a time when having the right tools helped your students succeed (or, like Susan’s story, when not having the right tools interfered with students’ success). One lucky teacher will win two pairs of Westcott adult scissors! Submit your comment by 11:59 pm EDT on Wednesday, June 27, 2013, to be entered in our random drawing.
This summer, we’ll be focusing on other Westcott Warriors and giving you a glimpse inside their classrooms as well. Believe me, they sure are a “sharp” bunch!
Smiles!
Diane
I HATE those scissors that won’t cut. Working as a coop prek teacher we are often given donated supplies that include those bad scissors that just will not cut. Every year my co teacher and I have her son use the scissors we have been given to weed out the ones that do not work.If he can’t get them to cut either can our preschoolers.
We have never had to toss a air of WEstcott scissors just wish we had more pairs.
I teach in an ELD classroom. 90% of what we do involves cutting … cutting out words to place in the correct order for a sentence (syntax surgery), cutting out words to place on our grammar wall, cutting and matching synonyms/antonyms, cutting out memory games, etc. It gets SO frustrating when scissors don’t work – not to mention the extra time it takes when students share scissors. The scissors that the district gave my classroom a couple years ago were little, blunt tip scissors …. and they don’t cut paper worth a darn! I managed to scrounge up some of the 1980’s silver scissors, only to toss most of them because they don’t work.
I am being moved up to 5th grade this year where I plan on having my students present things (books that they read, what they learned about explorers, etc.) and I’m hoping that I will discover some working scissors in my new classroom. 🙂
I’ve noticed that many students come to third grade with poor fine motor skills. Either they don’t get the practice in Pre-K and Kdg. or they come to school without these skills as refugee students from other countries. Having the proper equipment is vital in such circumstances. That’s where my finances come in. Kids can only afford dollar store scissors and the ones from our supply room are even worse! Donations and good deals from the big stores are welcome, but sometimes only the best will do! Scissors are important tools taken for granted. Handwriting skills seem to be slipping away–let’s not allow that to happen to our cutting skills!!!
A sharp safe scissors does provide the children more success in cutting. It is difficult for children to try to cut with dull, cheap scissors-they get so frustrated and begin to tear the paper instead. I cringe when I go to homes of my students and they try to cut with cheap worthless scissors. Westcott makes them to work for students and adults-I love cutting with them.
For the beginning of school in Kindergarten great scissors are a MUST! I encourage and teach the students how to use scissors correctly but some students have never used scissors before and their projects are torn apart. I need a great pair of scissors to cut out extra pieces to replace their unusable ones.
I am a preschool teacher who also works with preschool special ed students. In my classroom, scissors are one of the main focus (besides writing) when it comes to fine motor. I can’t tell parents enough to invest good money in a good pair of scissors for their children. the plastic ones that don’t cut will only frustrate your children more. In addition, they will not be focusing on proper cutting techniques they will be more focused on why it isn’t cutting (which usually leads to them tearing their paper on purpose just to get done). The county that our school is in is the poorest county in the state. WE barely have a budget to get any Decent supplies. to be able to get some things we need without going into our own pockets (which we usually do for things anyways…but what teacher doesn’t?) we are forced to use the cheaper type of scissors.
Some of our students come to kindergarten lacking cutting skills it would be really great to have good scissors.
I’ve noticed over the last couple of years that parents have been buying their children “cutsie” scissors. They have elephants, pandas, etc. on them. They don’t cut!!! The students end up getting frustrated.
To stop the frustration, I keep a community basket of scissors that does not include the cutsie ones. Only good-quality scissors go in the basket. The students don’t seem to notice that the cutsie ones are missing. They are happy to have scissors that work. And it certainly makes learning easier!
I can truly see the difference when using Westcott scissors versus the other brands. My hands do not have to do as much work to cut and they glide down the laminate. Thank you so much for the great tool to help prepare with throughout the year.
Oh, if I had more Westcott scissors for my classroom. The children have a few other kind but, have trouble with cutting and having their fingers and thumb in the proper places. They have no trouble with the 1 or 2 Westcott scissors. Thank you.
I have been encouraging parents to purchase quality scissors for their child.
A good pair of scissors will last a child for many years. Can one put a price on a child’s creativity? On their ability to do quality work? Work that they can feel proud of?
Westcott scissors are on my class wish list and also on my suggested supply lists for parents.
Would love to have some Westcott Warrior Scissors for the class and grandchildren.
The lefties in my class have trouble holding a scissor, and most often get the paper stuck between the blades. When handed Westcott children’s scissors, they seem to be able to handle their tasks much more easily. We set the Westcott scissors aside to be sure the south paws in our group would always have the proper tools to finish their assignments.
Absolutely the BEST scissors in America. I have tried all kinds in my classroom and in my craftroom and there is none better!
Teaching little ones is such a rewarding job. When children have the correct tools on their hands they can go beyond their limits.
I have been using Westcott scissors for the last two years in our Kindergarten class. These scissors cut a lot better then the rest and I like the way the Westcott scissors stay cleaner then other brands. They don’t seem to break like other brands. Would love to see all of our Kindergarters have these scisssors. We are also a Title One school so we are seeing more and more students coming in that have not had the experience cutting nor even have a pair of scissors in their school supplies. I supply the students with Westcott scissors for the school year. I believe that students need to have their own scissors for the school year and all the help that they can get in their early years as they have so much to learn each school year and the rest of their lives. Thank you Westcott.
I love Westcott scissors! They seem to work well for “lefties,” too! By first grade, most students are using scissors quite well. I hope I win a pair!
I love your scissors, the kids know that whatever needs to be cut the scissors will do the job. I have asked my students parents to only purchase the student Westcott scissors as they last and as stated prior can do any job the kids can dream up. It is great to have these scissors and not have to worry about replacing them or having a crying 5th grader because they can’t complete their project. I have my Westcott Adult set on my desk, the kids know that they may borrow anything on my desk except for Mrs. Mariani’s good scissors (they are to good to lose!).
Young students give up when their tools don’t work right. Thanks for quality scissors!
I remember the very first time I used training scissors, with my kindergarten teacher. My mother asked where she could get a pair and work with me at home. Wescott training scissors were what I used to cut straight lines for the first time. (I was never a good cutter with scissors.) My mother always gets them for any child she knows who is turning 5.
As a teacher, I always look to Wescott for scissors. I wish they had more scissor options for the disabled.