Acceptable fonts for teachers to use?

[pacificrules]

As I'm getting ready for school to start, I've been updating a lot of my old beginning-of-the-year documents and realizing that an embarassing number of them are in Comic Sans or other similar fonts. What font(s) should I be using if I'm teaching elementary school? Which should I avoid?

[Deleted]

I always stick with times roman. I never use anything else.

[W.T.Faulkner]

Lurker chiming in. I teach 9th grade English and almost exclusively use Century Gothic.

[ohgillian]

Documents for parents, or for students? If for parents, Comic Sans is not okay.

[explorer2001]

Times new Roman, Arial, Calibri, or any other default font.

[raangoli]

I'm not a teacher, but I would go so far as to say to avoid comic sans even for the children. But then again, I hate comic sans. It drives me batty to see it used anywhere.

[Deleted]

I would use diffferent fonts for papers to students, other teachers and parents. I think it is perfectly accecptable to use Comic Sans for teacher made worksheets, handouts and tests for students. It is easy to read, plain, bold font. Some of my teachers used this and I liked it. For parents and other teachers I would use Times New Roman becuase it the standard and something they would see as professional. For classroom posters and items sent home I would use Times New Roman.

[UMaineTeach]

Aug 20, 2012 15:46:37 GMT -5 raangoli said:

I would go so far as to say to avoid comic sans even for the children.

The reason I like using it with young children is that it has the 'ball and stick' a. Not that they shouldn't get used to an recognize a type-face a, but there are times when the 'ball and stick' a is needed.

I wish were were more fonts with that kind of a that don't look so child-drawn.

Edit: I took a class about universal design for learning and that professor required a 'sans-serif' font for all documents because they are the most inclusive/easier for people with visual impairments to read. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-serif

[nicoliae]

San-serif with ball and stick a: Tw Cen MT & century gothic

[af1212]

I taught K and always used fonts with letters that the kids would recognize. They were taught to identify the "typed" a and g, but no reason to trip up a beginning reader unnecessarily.

[bliss]

Aug 20, 2012 15:45:07 GMT -5 v said:

I think Comic Sans is perfectly acceptable for elementary school.

It is when it is in actuaries' reports and such that it is problematic.

I agree. Kids in elementary school aren't going to know or care about the font.

Sending home information to parents in Comic Sans, maybe not so appropriate.

You can also download new fonts from 1000fonts.com that are free and might be fun for your students.

I personally like Comic Sans and other fun fonts. I hate *hate* Times New Roman.

[mccallister84]

I use tahoma. Everyone in my old department gravitated to a different font so we always knew where a document came from based on the font.

[MadamePresident]

I typically use either Arial or Calibri.

[sunny]

I was so ready to say "anything but comic sans," because gah I hate comic sans. But I would make an exception for little elementary school kids. I wouldn't care if you use it for them personally.

[MixedBerryJam]

The reason I like using it with young children is that it has the 'ball and stick' a.

I agree with this esp for early elementary, as they're learning to print. Also, I think a sans serif is far preferable for the same demographic.

I have a curriculum question, if you don't mind my asking. Do schools generally not teach cursive anymore? My rising 9th grader struggles with it, and looking at his last few years' of work, I don't think he ever learned it!

[pacificrules]

Aug 20, 2012 21:09:19 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

The reason I like using it with young children is that it has the 'ball and stick' a.

I agree with this esp for early elementary, as they're learning to print. Also, I think a sans serif is far preferable for the same demographic.

I have a curriculum question, if you don't mind my asking. Do schools generally not teach cursive anymore? My rising 9th grader struggles with it, and looking at his last few years' of work, I don't think he ever learned it!

I don't know if you'll see this response, but in my experience, very little time is spent on cursive. With so much to teach it's hard to fit everything in. And, since the majority of communication now is electronic, cursive is one thing that has seemed to get cut.

[Nonny]

Haters gonna hate.