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I am an elementary school teacher and was wondering if a Cricut machine could be useful in my classroom? If so, what can it be used for and which machine would best suit a classroom? Thanks for any info you share!
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If I were a teacher, I would love to have a Cricut! Many years ago, when my children were younger, I spent countless hours with the manual die cutter the school had making letters or images for the bulletin boards! That alone would make me want one in my classroom.
But, aside from letters, there are so many images that you could use to decorate a room, label bins, make name tags, journals and on and on.
Go to the Educational Forums and see what teachers have been doing!
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I think it really depends on what grade/grades you teach. The school bought one for the teachers where my husband works (middle school) and I really don't think that anyone has ever used it. On the other hand, I have volunteered in the lower grade schools and I see them used more. Examples are below:  One teacher would use it to make various scenes to go along with the time of year or holiday outside of her room. I never went in but would bet that she also used it to decorate her boards and stuff inside her room. For many classrooms I have had to cut out tons of shapes at Christmas, Valentines Day and so on and wished that they had a cricut. I almost brought it home once to use my cricut and save my hands. You are able to get different cartridges that would go along with what you are teaching. There is one of the states to maybe make flashcards to help kids learn their shape. I almost wonder if you could also have them put them together almost like a puzzle. (not sure if that would work but I don't see why it wouldn't) If you are at the stage of teaching letters or numbers you could also cut these out to help the kids learn them and even have them make words with the letters once they learn them. I can even see this done with numbers to help learn math. I think it really is endless. As to what cricut to buy it depends how big you want to cut things out. The create cuts up to 6" and the expression cuts up to 12". I think that they both cut as small as 1/4" but must tell you it is hard to work with items that small.
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Hi...I have had my Cricut for years and I love it. That said, please keep in mind that you are limited to the products sold by Provocraft for use with your machine. All images and fonts will need to be purchased. A digital die-cutter is a great idea for your classroom, but if funds are limited you may want to explore all brands of cutters and options as some other brands will allow you to cut fonts and other images that you already have on your computer. Again I love my Cricut, but it does require an ongoing investment. HTH!
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Great advice...thank you!
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Oh my gosh I use mine ALL the time. I have made everything for my classroom. I teach small reading and math groups for our school. Here are a few things I've used my Cricut for... Bulletin boards By heart words chart Calendar Memory games to go with the programs I am doing with my kiddos Door decorations Free seating Friday meter (for the cafeteria so my 2/3 grade kiddos will know visually how close they are to achieving their goal) I even did the words for a project one of the 4/5 grade classes did for our PTC auction fundraiser. I have lots more planned but just haven't had time to do all of the ideas rolling around in my head. lol I'm planning on doing a series on my blog of all of the school things I've created. D- Edited by user Friday, March 08, 2013 8:58:47 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: troymimi75dc940a6f 
I think it really is endless. As to what cricut to buy it depends how big you want to cut things out. The create cuts up to 6" and the expression cuts up to 12". I think that they both cut as small as 1/4" but must tell you it is hard to work with items that small.
I just want to comment on this. The create and Personal (V1) cut as small as 1 inch and as large as 5.5 inches. The Expression will cut as large as 23.5 inches. The Create and Personal will take paper as large as 12x6 inches and the Expression and the Expression2 have 2 mat options which lets them use up to either 12x12 or 12x24 inches. Also keep in mind the cricut is a closed system so you can only use their designs and you need to buy the image (expect for a free cartridge in the cricut craft room online program that requires you to hook your machine up to a computer with an internet connection) Hope this helps.
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