All Things Bulletin Board!

I am so excited to link up with my heroes, Angie Olson from Lucky Little Learners and Ashley Schroeder from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd for the next two month to chat about B2S.  This month is All Things Bulletin Board.  I was really excited to get in my classroom and take pictures of my bulletin boards and all of my great ideas, then... I went to school.   Floors were not finished and I was not allowed to get any where near my room.  WHAT A BUMMER!!!

So then I had an amazing idea.  I will show you my plans for this year, things I have tried in the past that really work, and some amazing ideas from some fantastic teachers.

Please click on any of the bulletin boards and it will take you right to the original source of the photo.

One of my favorite things to do, as a teacher, is decorating my classroom.  I love the ooh and aah my classroom gets on Open House night.   I found these two bulletin boards on Pinterest and thought ooh and aah!  I also thought about the time it took this teacher to put the board together and how much their students must mean to them.  Wouldn't you love to be a student in these classrooms????

Bulletin boards can set off your classroom decor or set off your classroom for excitement to learn.  One of my favorite units of study is my fairy tale unit about Jack and the Bean Stalk.  We study several ELA standards and the life cycle of a plant.  Wouldn't these bulletin boards be amazing to add to my class to stir excitement?

Last year I decided that one of my biggest makeovers in Daily 5 would be my writing.  My students hated writing.   I would have the biggest class disruptions in writing.  So this summer, I read many blogs and found this awesome product from A Cupcake for the Teacher called Writing Center Starter Kit.  Many teachers have it.  You have to take a look at it.  It makes such a functional bulletin board.  No wasted space!

 The huge pencil can be found for free here.  Thanks to Lindsey, The Teacher Wife!!!

Some other functional bulletin boards I have used in the past are the Add It Up! board and the Boggle board.  These are great boards for centers or morning work.  I change up the Add It Up depending on the number of digits we are working with.  I also change up the letters on the Boggle board depending on the sound pattern we are practicing.

 

The Equation Station is a new activity I have found on Pinterest this summer.  It looks awesome.  I think I can use it when I am teaching addition up to 3 digits and mental math strategies.   

Tracking students progress is very important.  In my second grade inclusion classroom, I do not like to track grades on bulletin boards.  I track them privately, so it is between the student and myself.   I do like to track how much they are reading.  Since most of the reading practice happens in school, all students have a chance to shine.  We use 100 Book Challenge at our school.  In my class last year, I made a gigantic vine across the back of my class.  Students were little bees flying from flower to flower as they read more and more books.  This was a great motivator.  I celebrated every 50 steps.  

I had to take my vine down last year because it was so dusty.  This year my theme is going to be gardening with bugs and mason jars.  I found this fun bulletin board from Clutter-Free Classroom this summer.  Isn't it cute.  I am going to try my own version in the colors I am using.

Bulletin boards are wonderful tools to beautify a classroom or to make a classroom an engaging and functional place to learn, however nothing is better than to have a bulletin to show off student work.  Student work is why we are teachers.  Student displayed work shows the students that they are truly valued.  In my class, everyone's work is displayed.  Each and everyone of my students gives me 110%, even if it is not grade level work, I value it.  Sometimes a student only has you as cheerleader.  So, on that note, I leave you with an amazing example of a student work bulletin board.

I can't wait to get into my classroom on Monday so I can show you what I can really do.  So watch out for our next link next month... Classroom Reveals!!!!!  I can't wait!