The love a teacher feels for laminating is something people outside the world of education may never fully comprehend. They wonder: What’s the big deal? You put in a piece of paper, and it comes out the other side covered in warm plastic. Yippee.
They may never understand all the different ways laminating brings joy and peace to a teacher’s heart. With that in mind, we thought we’d give a little shout out to laminating with some of the reasons we love it so.
1. Because it stands up to our students day after day.
From kindergarten to high school, our students are rough on our supplies. Used regularly, nonlaminated items wouldn’t last a week. We love laminating because it means our hall passes, class job charts, and weather calendars have a chance of surviving the first 100 days of school without disintegrating into dust.
2. Because it helps with germs.
Speaking of those hall passes, bathroom passes, and nurse passes … laminating them also means that we can wipe them down with antibacterial wipes regularly. And as any teacher knows, hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes are half the battle.
3. Because it’s toasty warm.
School buildings are notoriously bad at holding steady temperatures. Many teachers have a “classroom cardigan” that lives in their room for when it turns surprisingly arctic for no discernible reason, but even better than the snuggly sweater is the cozy warm feeling we get as we walk back to our classrooms with a newly laminated stack of papers nestled in our arms. Soooooo toooaaasstttyyyy.
4. Because it deters our more … artistic pupils.
Whether it is a simple mustache on the faces in our inspirational classroom posters or something slightly more sinister, many teachers have experience with their classroom decor being, well, “enhanced” by a creative student. Laminating our classroom decor means that it has a much better chance of withstanding any would-be graffiti artists.
5. Because the act of laminating is so soothing.
There isn’t much time in a teacher’s day to practice mindfulness, but to a busy educator, laminating is almost as good as a yoga class. The repetitive process of lining up and sliding the papers through the laminator followed by the strangely enjoyable feeling of scissors gliding through the plastic as you cut the pieces apart is downright zen.
6. Because the smell of melty plastic is better than a lot of things teachers smell each day.
Admit it, teaching often feels like a particularly gross episode of CSI. What is that smell? Where did it come from? Nevermind, I don’t want to know! While some people may find the smell of warm plastic overpowering, teachers everywhere know it beats the smell of middle school boys right after gym class any day.
7. Because bad lamination is a nightmare.
When laminating goes wrong it goes really, really wrong. The bubbles, the wrinkles, or the horror of spending an entire planning period laminating only to realize that nothing stuck together? It’s not pretty. Because of this, a well-laminated poster, classroom sign, or holiday decoration can be a particularly wonderful thing.
8. Because the possibilities are endless.
While many of us only focus on the most practical reasons to love laminating, a quick search of any social media app will give educators a myriad of ways to use lamination in the classroom. From bathroom passes and arts and crafts to reusable rubrics and self-editing tools, lamination has found a place in almost every teacher’s classroom. And we love it.
Love laminating? Get free printables and projects from the awesome laminator resources page from Fellowes.
