Bulletin Board Best Practices – #1

Well, I have several bulletin boards to think about at the beginning of the year.  I have a huge bulletin board in the hallway that I usually use for general music advocacy or to advertise for upcoming concerts.  I also use this big board occasionally to display student work or teach musical content.   I have several smaller bulletin boards in my music room that I use for musical standards, objectives, “I Can” statements and other required material.  I have a lot of spaces to think about and when it hits crunch time I’m rushing to get those spaces finished and filled.

I told my student teacher on day one that one of the things he would have to do by the end of his time at my school was create and put up a bulletin board.  It’s not on the checklist of official things that his University requires, but it’s great training and something that I had to do when I student taught.  He admitted to me right away that that’s not something he feels overly confident about and that I would have to help him figure out what to display, why it’s important, how to put it up, etc.

I figured that all of you might have some of those same questions and that if I blogged about it, some of you veterans might also chime in in the comments with ideas that you have.  Below you’ll find just a few quick little tips to help you as you set up your classroom and start to think about bulletin boards!

Even when you think that you’ll only use this bulletin board set once, it’s probably better to use the nice stuff and laminate, laminate, laminate than make it quickly and toss it in a month or two.  There are things that I made in my first year of teaching that I’ve used over and over again (when I thought I would only use them once and then throw them away).  I think it’s worth the time and small extra effort in the beginning to use card stock, print with the nice printer, and really take time as you cut out and prepare.  You could potentially use something forever if you make it the right way.

There are instances when I don’t take the time to make everything more durable through lamination, but most of the time I think it’s worth the effort.  For instance, when I put up a bulletin board to advertise an upcoming concert, I’ll laminate everything except for the date of the concert.  I know that I’ll do “A Bear-y Merry Holiday” sometime in the future, so why not save myself trouble years from now and keep this bulletin board set around so that I don’t have to remake it later.  Make it well now and you’ll save yourself hours and dollars in the future.

I like being creative, I really do, but I’m learning when it’s time to sit back and rest on the laurels of someone else who has already done it far better than I ever could.  What I mean is, when you see that really cute bulletin board set on Pinterest and you think “Oh gosh!  I could make that!  What a cute idea…” ignore your natural tendency to try and do it yourself.  There are a lot of wonderful ideas on Pinterest but DIYs take a lot of time.  You run into snags you didn’t know were there and that bulletin board that looked so simple and cute turned into a monster that’s costing you time (that could be devoted to planning or grading or whatever) and it’s costing you money (as you run to Michaels to get the pipe cleaners you didn’t realize you’d need).  If it comes in a set, is relatively cheap, and has really good content involved then just buy it.  Seriously, it’s worth it if it saves you time and effort that you could be spending with students or family.

My perfect example of this is the Composer of the Month bulletin board sets that Sara Bibee created.  These are total gems!  You can buy a set, print it off, laminate, and use FOREVER!  There’s great content, they’re so visually appealing, and it’s super convenient to print and laminate.  In theory I could spend the time to go out, do the research, buy the fonts, find the cute backgrounds, spend the time formatting, try and find good pictures, rework the formatting, adjust things that weren’t working, and on and on.  Or, I could spend $2 and download this amazing set that’s already done for me.  I got 12 in one purchase and I’m not looking back.  If you wanna see all the composer/performer sets she offers Click This Link for the complete listing.

Conclusion:  Sometimes it’s worth it to do it on your own.  You might be able to make something cute and fun and put a unique spin on it… but sometimes it’s worth the money to avoid the loss of YOUR time and to avoid stress and just buy it.

I think that almost every bulletin board I make includes an element from something that I’ve made before.  Maybe I’ll reuse the fish cut outs from that beach theme a year ago or pull out the colorful borders that I use with my beginning of the year bulletin boards.  As often as you can, reuse the materials that you already have AND when you’re buying stuff, plan on buying things that you can reuse.

One thing that I always try to reuse and recycle is bulletin board backing.  I learned during student teaching that you can use butcher paper from the big colorful rolls in the teacher’s lounge but those fade quickly and are easily torn.  You can use plastic table covers that you can get at the Dollar Tree for cheap because those don’t fade.  However, they have their downsides too and if you have a lot to cover it can get pricey to have to buy them every time you change the bulletin board.  My cooperating teacher suggested that I use fabric.  You can get it at any craft store, you can buy sheets, or you can find random fabric remnants at garage sales, consignment stores and more!  Cloth doesn’t fade, doesn’t show staple holes from previous uses, and can be used over and over again.  Get something on it?  Just throw it in the washer!  You can even tie-dye and manipulate the fabric if you want a certain effect.  There’s one navy fabric that I use about 4 times a year and it’s the perfect background for any occasion!

4) Know your audience!

You really need to sit down and think about who your bulletin board is intended for.  One of my biggest pet peeves is placement on the wall.  I walk through schools all the time and see student work, important words, and bulletin board elements posted 5-8 feet off the ground.  Imagine yourself as a kindergartener. Can you see that stuff?  I try to never put anything higher than 6′ (if I can help it) or at least nothing higher than the bulletin board itself.  I teach a lot of little people who are not very tall.  If they have to really crane their necks to see what I’m writing, then I probably need to rethink the placement.  Put it at their level, they’re more likely to interact with the content if you do.  If in doubt, think like a little person and ask yourself if you can see the content.  If not, move it DOWN!

I hope that you’ve found some of these ideas to be helpful and/or that they affirm what you’re already going.  I’d love to hear some ideas of yours!  Leave a comment below to share YOUR thoughts about the best things to do with bulletin boards!  I’d love to include your ideas on the next installment of “Bulletin Board Best Practices!”