Three Quick and Easy Bulletin Boards

As the resource teacher at a detention center, my case load is always overflowing, so despite the fact that I love keeping the boards in our halls fresh and motivational, time is my enemy. As my budget allows, I am investing in fabric and vinyl boards that are durable and reusable. They hold up well in a very challenging educational setting. Because there are no letters to pick at, the boards stay intact longer and can be stored to use again in a few months which makes it worth spending a few of my own dollars to make our halls brighter. With ten board in our halls, I can't afford to only use vinyl or fabric, so I still use a lot of my traditional methods. Below are three boards I got up in our halls this week.

Caught a 50% sale on Zazzle, so I took the opportunity to go ahead and get this banner printed. It was a big hit with the residents, teachers, and staff. The dog belongs to my neighbor, but he is a camera hound. Here is a link to the banner which you can customize.

I printed these letters out one per page each on a regular sheet of copy paper. I then had students color in a design of their choosing. The board is very large, 8' x 4' I think. This image doesn't really show how nice it looks up close. I cut the letters myself since we obviously can't give residents at a juvenile detention center scissors. I then laid them out on a table and used clear tape to connect each word. This made it easier to place them on the board quickly and fairly even.

Another quick board. After the students wrote the poems, I typed them and used pre-printed letters for the yellow caption. I didn't change the background paper from the last board since it was still in good shape. I would have loved to go through the whole editing process with the students, but this was a filler activity. Each student has their own schedule and classes on computers, so whole group activities are limited.  I have found that it does not matter the age or ability of students, most like to see their work displayed. Some of their writing is heart-wrenching, but I think giving them an opportunity to express their feelings in a positive way helps them reflect and cope with their circumstances. Sharing them helps those of us who work with these students to remember that at the end of the day they are still very young and we still have an opportunity to help them get their lives on track.