Random Bulletin Boards and Such...

Today, I was able to get home at a decent hour!  Since it is still too warm for a walk - it was pushing 90 degrees today in SoCal - I decided to share a few bulletin board pictures that are long overdue.

In our district we are required to post the standards.  Apparently, it magically makes the lesson better.  Now, I have always talked about the "target" of the lesson, and I have even made sure that the students wrote it down on the top of their assignment, but I am not so good at posting the standards. 

  • First of all, most teachers write the standard as it appears in the state framework.  Most of the time, I am not entirely sure what that means.  
  • Some teachers just write the numbers and letters of the standard...I can guarantee that method means nothing to the students. 
  • One year, I had big notebooks at each table and made the kids flip to the correct one at the beginning of each lesson.  The kids loved it, but the notebooks took up too much space, and the flipping through my perfectly color-coded targets took too much time.
So, with the new Common Core standards, and the renewed emphasis (been teaching a while now, and that mythical pendulum that you scoffed at as a new teacher...well, it really does exist) on posting the standards, I had to come up with a way to stay on top of it.  Heaven forbid if I get a "Where are your standards posted?" note!  Seriously, I would die because I have to please everyone.

This is not a real bulletin board, so I was able to hammer in a few nails to hold the clipboards.  I am working on my own set of "I Can" statements, because I have not found any that match exactly what I do and how I break it down in my classroom.  Not to mention, they have to emphasize the standards that our district are emphasizing.  Those will be available this summer on TPT.  The little clipboards are perfect!  I just switch them out at will and don't have to think too much about it. 

Next to the "I Can" statements is the chart tablet that I write their meager reading HW on - ACTION magazine.  It is pretty much in shorthand, but they totally understand what they are SUPPOSED to do.

Below is the class calendar of testing dates, trainings for me, after school intervention dates, and of course, minimum days!

The little clipboard to the left holds my OCD lesson plans.  They are randomly checked too, and it makes it easier if they are hanging, and more impressive to the parents.

Why a bulletin board and not a white board?  I only have ONE white board!  That was the main problem I had with posting the standards before!  I have to actually USE that white board. 

This board is about to come down.  It occurred to me that I had not taken a picture of it.  These are the kids that showed growth on the SRI before Christmas.  Just recently, we took a new one and they have even more impressive scores to show off, so it is coming down.  A few on the bottom row were not so impressive, but I have Special Ed students in my afternoon group, and they do not always show the growth as consistently as my "regular" students.  See the student with the lowest growth?  Well, he just jumped 114 Lexiles on this last one:).  Different ways, on different days!
Last June, I scored at Big Lots and found these really cool square plates.  I just typed in their names and growth into a square with rounded corners, my TA and I trimmed them off, then we taped them on to the plates.  If they had reached their goal, they received a giant gold sticker to make it even more impressive!  The students love looking at their "plaques" or plates.  When I said that I was going to take them down, several jumped right up and asked to keep their plates.  Sillies, of course they are getting their "plaques."

Well, the washer and dryer are calling my name!  Some boring chores have to get done before Lucy and I take off for our walk at the park.  Last night, there were herds of bunnies...they come in herds, right?  Anyway, Lucy was most interested in those big eared hopping creatures.  It is such an exciting life we lead:).

5 comments

  1. I am horrible about swapping out my I Can statements. I've experimented with a few different ways this year, and nothing has stuck yet. I might be able to use something like this...

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  2. Love your clipboard idea! I might have to steal that idea!

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  3. I usually just write a learning target with the standard referenced in parenthesis. I've learned that my students don't care AT ALL what standard they're learning.. they just want the agenda, and this is enough to make administrators happy.

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  5. I love the growth idea! I would love to pin these ideas to remind myself when I have time to get crafty :) There's a pretty easy way to add a widget to your page so people can pin your pictures without having to link back from pinterest. (In case you're interested: http://languageartsbliss.blogspot.com/search/label/Pinterest)

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