2 Minute Tip – Stapler Hack

At one point or another we’ve all wondered about something that’s so ubiquitous that we take it for granted as an everyday part of our lives.

The stapler plate – also known as the “strike plate” or for real staple aficionados, the “anvil” has two settings. No doubt you’ve pushed up the plate from the bottom and spun it around in a bout of procrastination at some point in your life.

Most of us leave our staplers the way we bought them and may never give the direction of the plate a second thought. The pins of the staple pierce through the paper and wrap in, like an icy death grip, daring anyone to try to take the paper apart.

But few of us play around with the other option, pushing the pins of the staple out and leaving the staple in an awkward “Take me alien space-lords” type of pose.

So what’s the other position for?

The under-utilized side of the stapler’s plate is meant for “pinning” – the idea that you want to temporarily bind papers together, but later you will pull them apart again. The word comes from – you guessed it – good old fashioned sewing pins that people used to use to punch through a few pieces of paper.

For teachers who haven’t gone totally digital, this could be a real help. When students turn in their papers you can pin a rubric to it to keep things organized, or you can hand them packets that are meant to be disassembled throughout the assignment.

In case you’re wondering:

Yes!

And, yes – it is an awesome stapler. At a rough guess I’d say it’s about 1,000,000 times better than the staplers your average school provides you with. You can scoop it up on Amazon on the cheap, too!*

Buy the Red Swingline Stapler

*Amazon link is an affiliate link – if you buy through it it won’t cost you anything, but throws a few cents my way to help pay for hosting and other expenses – most likely coffee.