Listen to Reading Tip: Headphone Cord Management

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In our Listen to Reading Daily 5 Center, we have several iPods that I received through a grant. They are super-helpful and loads of fun, but OHMAGOODNESS, the headphones were the bane of my existence!

I don't have a "before" picture, but I can easily say that hours were spent over the course of several weeks trying to constantly untangle the seemingly endless cord that come on these headphones.

I do really like these headphones, I promise. For one, they are inexpensive, so I don't feel bad if my kids accidentally break them (accidents happen). They also are pretty clean, especially compared to the ear buds- the idea of my 27 kids sharing things that go inside the ear just didn't seem ok. They are soft and adjustable, so really, they fit the bill well.


Ok, back to my rant... no joke, these headphone cords are so long, which may be fine for me, an adult who is way way taller than a 3rd grader. But for my thirdsters, these were a mess. They were always in a knot, no matter how neatly they stored them. They would always get twisted and end up in a huge black gob. Then, they would bring them to me and I would use my planning time trying to undo them.

Well, that had to change ASAP!!

A genius parent helper and I put our heads together one afternoon (as I was getting ready to throw them all in the trash) and came up with idea of zipties.... aha!

This has been a lifesaver! To do this, simply wind the cord around your palm nice and neatly, from the plug all the way to where the cords split to go to each ear- if they are like mine, that still leaves plenty of room for the kids. Then, zip the cords down in three places as tight as you possibly can! Then, pull tighter :) Trim the excess ziptie and enjoy!

 Now, I can easily store each pair of headphones in their own ziploc baggie and never, ever, ever have to deal with huge cord knots again!

Aaaaah, I am in Teacher Heaven!

Do you have other creative ideas for storing headphones in your class? Share below- I'd love to hear about them!