Bulletin Board Hack!

 

Confession:  I do not like changing out my bulletin boards throughout the school year!  Once it is up, it is up.  It's not coming down until the year is over.

So, I need my boards to look pretty and new all year long!  I need them to last!

I learned quickly that bulletin board paper crumples no matter how carefully I put it up!  I leaves holes when I take something down to put up new.  And it fades!

So that leads me to Hack #1: Use Fabric!

I started to use fabric and have not looked back since!  Each year I check the clearance bin at Walmart for cheap fabrics in my colors.  I might buy one or two new fabrics a year, but often times, I don't feel the need to buy any new.  I have been using fabric for 9 years, and the first ones that I bought still look new and fresh!  Buying a little at a time, helps to save my wallet (and husband) from being so upset with me.  I love looking for ones with a small print.  It adds a little texture to my room without being overbearing.

My other downfall is borders.  Borders crinkle and crumple.  They don't always fit and I can't stand little pieces. I always overlap my borders so I don't have to cut, but that means I need more border for each bulletin board.  Trying to store them throughout the year is impossible, especially when you have a lot of different borders.  Not to mention, my OCD kicks in if the border just doesn't quite fit with my fabric that I have up.



So that leads me to Hack #2: Use Fabric!!

 

Haha, I know!  It's the same as Hack #1, but I think that's the point.  The past two years I have decided to use fabric as borders to add a little texture and oomph to my bulletin boards.  It holds up SO much better AND it looks pretty and bright all year long!  At the end of the year, I simply fold it up and put it with the rest of my fabric.  I love it too, because I can use the same fabric on all of my bulletin boards to bring my room together.  And it won't cost me a fortune!

So I bought a corresponding color of fabric.  I bought black to offset the bright colored fabric that I have for my background on my bulletin boards.  You can see it has little white polka dots, just to add a little something extra.

I have several big bulletin boards, so I bought a piece that was 3 yards and a piece that was 2 yards for a total of $15.  When you buy fabric, it is usually already folded in half.  That is a plus.  I fold it in half one more time (longways) and then cut the folds so that I have 4 long pieces.  Each piece is about 6-8 inches wide or so.

The next part takes a little time, but it is not hard and it will last all year.  That makes it worth it.  When I put this up, I just bunch and staple!  Bunch, staple, bunch, staple, bunch, staple.  As you go, you can fluff it up.  You can't really mess it up, because it is all bunchy!

Here is the end result!  I love it!

You Oughta Know! Blog Hop

I am here to share with you something that you just gotta know if you are a teacher!  This is such a fun idea for a blog hop, but I must say that I had a hard time narrowing it down to just one thing.  Since the new school year is coming up, I thought that I would share with you my fun folders!  This is an oldie but a goodie!

I have been using fun folders for about 3 years now.  My students' fun folder is a folder full of things that they can go to when they have finished their work.  Is it fun?  Well, I think I have kind of tricked them into thinking it is fun! hehe.....sneaky, sneaky!  Our fun folders contain things like a blank hundreds chart, our handwriting page, fun writes, addition cross out, retell charts, and addition/subtraction pages.  What makes them fun?  They are ALL laminated so that the little ones can use dry erase markers on them!!

So I am also going to share with you a few organizational tips!
            *I keep all of these in a folder that students keep in their desk, making them always on hand.
            *Each student keeps an eraser and a black dry erase marker in their pencil box.  I recommend black, as the colored markers do not erase so well.
            *I number all pages in the top right hand corner with the student's number so that if it is lost, it can easily be returned to its owner.  You will want to number these BEFORE you laminate.  The kids LOVE to trace over their number with their dry erase marker, which incidentally, removes sharpie.
             *Inexpensive eraser options include small pieces of felt or cut up wash cloths.  With felt, it needs to be changed out often as it can turn the kids' fingers black.  With wash cloths, you can wash them!  You can get a pack of these for $4 at Wal-mart and cut them in quarters for MORE than enough for your whole class!  (I have also used old socks and t-shirts!)

               *For cleaning your "boards" I recommend Awesome Cleaner!  This stuff ROCKS!  It is ONE DOLLAR at the Dollar Tree.  Who can beat that bargain?  Once a month, I have a parent volunteer gather all of the folders and clean all of their "boards."  It keeps them from getting too gray and dingy and works great.  (By the way, this stuff removes stains from anything and everything!)

               *Color code them!  If you color code your "boards" or pages, it is really easy for students to find what you are wanting them to work on.  You can tell students to take out their yellow board instead of finding their addition page.  It helps students to find what they need quickly.

 Have I mentioned, that these are exceptionally handy when you have a sub?

Easy peasy sub plans:
Reading - Read aloud a story and have students complete the retell chart (green board) in their fun folder.
Spelling - Have students write all of their spelling words using a fun write (on their red board).

Math - Have students complete their addition/subtraction facts (yellow board).  If they finish early, they may play addition cross out with a partner (purple board).

No prep!!  =)


I do hope that you will stick around and check out more great ideas on both my blog and the others in the linky!  If you are not already following, you can do so here!

An InLinkz Link-up

My First Linky Party!

I am trying out my first linky party with Second Grade Shenanigans! She is doing a linky party about New Year's Resolutions and today is all about organization.

As a teacher, I find that I actually make most of my new year's resolutions in August when the new school year begins.  Do you do this also?  This year's resolution was in fact organization! I am not the most organized person (meaning I am not organized at all) and it was becoming so frustrating!  With all of the increases in expectations this year (more meetings, more data analysis, more assessments, more paperwork, and so on!) I knew that if I didn't do something I was going to go out of my mind!  So this year, I put together my Teacher Notebook and now I can't live without it!

This is my teacher notebook: just a basic 3 ring binder (but it is huge!).

It includes a divider for all of the important things that I need at our school.

 I keep all of my data on my students here, my class lists, class schedules, passwords, everything!  And it goes with me to every meeting...that way I can refer back to the things I need if I am in an important meeting about a student.

I also have a binder for my lesson plans that would include everything that a sub would need (another copy of my class list, schedule, bus list, etc) I found that I keep my Teacher Notebook with me so often that it wouldn't be at school when I had to get an emergency sub (not to mention that I was uneasy about keeping so much student data available for a sub). Sorry, I don't have a picture of that notebook but it is very similar.

I am a binder person so all of my master files are also in binders.  I think it is so much easier to contain it all and look for it all when it is in a binder.  So all of my master copies are organized into binders for each subject area that I teach.

The only other thing that I have been organizing is my computer.  I have organized all of my files and pictures into folders so that I can find it easily.  I have even organized Pinterest!!  lol  How bad is that?  I have become so addicted, I have found that I can't find anything on a generic math or reading board, so now I have individual boards for addition/subtraction, time/money, phonics, comprehension, etc.  SO much better!

Next up...YouTube.  Do you use YouTube like I do?  We use it just about every day (that or some other type of music).  I need to organize it better into some good playlists.

How do you organize?