#2getherwearebetter Bulletin Boards

I am so excited to be linking up with Angie and Ashley to talk about Bulletin Boards! My old classroom actually only had one bulletin board (gasp!?!)....I know, I know. So, I got pretty creative with using all of my wall space. This post will show case all of my boards (bulletin, white, chalk) and hopefully I can give someone in my same situation some inspiration!

*Disclaimer: Here in my part of Virginia, we are not back at school. We aren't even allowed back in the building yet. Yup. So that means all of these pictures are from the school year that just ended. I am also moving schools and leaving my beautiful classroom behind for a "portable" classroom (you can read more about that here). 

Portable = Trailer

Make sure to come back next month for another #2getherwearebetter linky where everyone will be showing off their rooms (and trailers), it should be interesting!

You are going to see a theme in my boards. It is my favorite tip:

....Now on to the pictures...

This is a panoramic view of my room. The bulletin board I told you about is the one with the black paper. You will notice a lot of wall space left unused. We have a very strict fire code in our county and their are specific regulations about how much of our wall we can cover and how much space we have to leave between the items on our wall and the ceiling. Don't even get me started on classroom doors...NO PAPER! You heard that right, as of 3 years ago, we can't even decorate our classroom door. Everything has to be at least 2 inches away from the door frame. Wack.

I actually don't use paper for my bulletin boards. I use plastic table cloths. You can get 3 table cloths in any color for $1.00 from Wal-Mart. I like these because they keep their color all year. I know a lot of people like fabric, but there are just too many hoops I would have to jump through to use them in my county (fire code again).

My chalkboard, which is huge, is along the entire front wall of my classroom. Right in the middle is my Promethean board, which leaves me with a left and right side to utilize. The right side of the board is my student center. This is the side closest to the door and it has everything they need to interact with throughout the day. 

Here's what the numbers mean:

1. My state objectives: I printed these on neon paper a couple years back . I keep them in a plastic sleeve. When I switch units, I just switch up the order of the papers in the sleeves. It works perfectly because I never forget to post my standards.

2. Missing Work Chart: This is my missing work station (you can see a better close up below). When I grade an assignment and notice a student didn't turn it in, I issue them a missing work ticket with their name, the assignment name, and the due date. I place these tickets in the pocket chart next to their number because let's face it, if the assignment never made it out of their desk, the ticket won't either. My parents always stop by to peek at this when they are in the building to see what their kids is missing.

3. Classroom Rewards: My school has a reward system where every class can earn stickers for good behavior around the school. We tally and reward by quarter, so these black papers became covered in our school pride stickers throughout the year.

4. Helpers: There is a list with boys names and a list with girls names. Each day I would circle the girl and boy helper of the day. The list went in order so the students always knew who was next.

5. Bathroom Checkout: My students got 3 bathroom breaks a week (outside of our regularly scheduled class break times). As they used each one, they crossed off a number on the red, yellow, then blue sleeves. Any bathroom breaks not used by Friday result in a ticket for our class drawing.

6. Lunch Count: All of the sections represent a different choice. The students move their name magnets (you can see those in a column along the side of the board) to the choice they were having that day.

The precious teacher who was in this room before me had a whiteboard installed, which I appreciate. This white board is not magnetic, which I don't appreciate. So, I decided to use it as my class calendar. I didn't expect this to build responsibility like it did. My 8 year olds were checking it to make sure they brought sneakers on PE day and that they were prepared for their day to be the helper. You can read more about what I included on the calendar here.

Ok, so this is my actual bulletin board. I might have had only one, but it was super long! I always divide my bulletin board into sections to house my retired anchor charts. When I add anchor charts, I only staple it at the top, so students can flip through if they need to get to an older chart.

About a year ago, I asked maintenance to hang another bulletin board on the wall, it ended up being about the size of the ones they sell for college dorms. But, that's ok! It was just big enough to hold my Behavioropoly board.

When you run out of bulletin boards, anything will do. My cabinets turned into my Data Wall and blank wall space turned into our Homework Turn-In Spot!

Thanks for stopping by!

Make sure to check out some of the other teachers linking up to get even more great ideas for your bulletin boards!!!