9 Ways for Teachers and School Administration to Use Their Lanyards

School teachers and administrators have a lot on their plates. From the minute the bell rings in the morning until the last bus leaves at night, they’re responsible for the lives of hundreds of children in addition to their educational growth. 

Keeping all of those people on task, safe, and thriving requires numerous systems and protocols and the tools to make it all happen are myriad. But one item that won’t break the bank, but can be an enormous help in numerous ways within the school are lanyards. 

More than just a tool for holding kid and faculty ID badges, lanyards have lots of applications within the school that can help with classroom management, student movement throughout the campus, and teaching tools. 

In this guide we’ll look at 9 ways for teachers and school administration to use their lanyards.

Students are very used to lanyards since many schools require they wear them as ID badges from the tender age of five. To help the youngest and special needs learners pick up important cues, some teachers are using lanyards as holders for cue cards, signs that tell students how to behave. For instance, a lanyard might contain a series of different sized cards that read STOP, QUIET, STAND UP, SIT DOWN, and TAKE A BREAK.

By using these silent cues, kept within easy reach on a lanyard, a teacher can get a classroom to follow instructions without raising their voice. 

Kids used to be handed a ruler or old chalkboard eraser as a hallway pass. But those days are no more. Today, more and more teachers are turning to lanyards as a handy means of excusing kids to use the facilities, see the nurse, go to the principal's office, and more.

Some educators DIY their lanyard passes; others purchase them online, like this entire pack of hall pass lanyards for educators. It includes a library pass, bathroom pass, office pass, hall pass, and nurse pass. 

3. Lanyards as School Visitor Passes

For school administrators, keeping tabs on guests and visitors is as much about helping people find their way around a building as it is maintaining the safety of a campus. To protect students and faculty, many schools use ID name badges for all guests. That’s because one good way of red-flagging someone is determining whether or not they’ve been given the appropriate badge. A lanyard name tag can help. Schools can color code them or personalize the badge reel with the words VISITOR to help everyone track who is on campus at a given time. 

To make this easy for educators, Specialist ID sells customizable badge tools including this self expiring visitor temporary badges and Red Printed Visitor Lanyard With Swivel Hook to manage guests. Thanks to the self-expiring technology, everyone can easily tell when someone is supposed to depart and flag them if they’re not supposed to be on site. 

Remember those stacks of flashcards you’d create as a student? Well, with a lanyard, a teacher can hold onto a whole punched stack of cards and quiz students throughout the day. Or pass a stack of cards to a group of students with one in charge of wearing the lanyard during their assigned time. 

All a teacher needs is a strong lanyard. For example, with a key bak, a teacher could easily create such a tool with an Adjustable Breakaway Lanyard. 

Want to honor a kid who is really doing a terrific job? Give them bragging rights by allowing them to wear a special lanyard for the day. It could say “Ask me why I’m a VIP student today!” or “I lost a tooth today!” Anything that makes a kid feel special and singled out for their great work. 

Some teachers make these themselves by using a lanyard attached to a Heavy Duty Clear Vinyl Horizontal Badge Holder With Resealable Top so they can easily swap in and out new cards as needed.

6. Lanyards as Math Lessons

According to teacher Erin Waters, lanyards make great tools for math stations. Kids get “the keys” to their stations, aka the lanyards, with that day’s lessons on them. It could be a stack of laminated subtraction questions they have to quiz each other on or a measuring activity they need to complete in a workbook, but the idea is that these lessons begin by picking up that day’s lanyard assignment.

Again, this is something a teacher could put together using a few lanyards like these Flat Wide Breakaway Lanyard with Swivel Hook from Specialist ID. 

7. Lanyards as Safety Tools

With the COVID-19 pandemic still going full force, the need to protect students and faculty from the spread of the disease is imperative. In order to maintain safe classrooms, one effective option is to employ face mask lanyards. These accessories attach to masks allowing kids to hold onto their important PPE while avoiding touching their faces unnecessarily. 

And fortunately, they’re affordable. Specialist ID sells them in a choice of five colors for just $1.99 a piece, so a school could easily outfit an entire student body.

Most educators are now required to wear an ID at all times while on campus. Typically handed out to staff, these accessories generally look pretty utilitarian. But that doesn’t mean teachers can’t perk them up. 

Thanks to customization tools at Specialist ID, a teacher or an entire faculty could design their own lanyards. Or, there are also lots of stylish design choices in like a chevron pattern lanyard, an American flag breakaway lanyard, or with hints of metallic non-breakaway lanyard.

Sometimes a teacher needs to get a response from their class, but doesn’t need everyone speaking at once. This is very true of virtual classrooms, where the many voices can muffle the sound and overwhelm classroom learning. Rather than have kids answer with their voices, they can have a Yes/No lanyard on their necks that they can use to respond. 

Some teachers have designed their own then distributed them to their students for them to use at home. 

Ideas for lanyards as tools for teachers and school administrators are a great and affordable option that can be implemented almost immediately. For more lanyard options, visit Specialist ID today.