“Why cut forever, when you can just post the background” Harry Cantor, Retired Teacher: Dayton, OH

“I made bulletin boards for years. By my 11th year, I figured out that I would need exactly 15 sheets of construction paper for my bulletin board and that it would take me close to an hour to place all the pieces. Then I figured out you can just go to one of those “Just A Dollar Store” and buy a paper, or non-shiny tablecloth and pop it up. You can even get seasonal backgrounds. It is so much easier, I think I updated the boards more often because it wasn’t as big of a pain to change the backgrounds.”

Vital Issues of the Day Pat, High School Teacher: Fairbanks, Alaska

“Identify 5-10 important issues that should be addressed. Tack legal-size envelopes (face down) on a bulletin board with the name of the issue printed on the back of the envelope so that you can open and close the lid. Ask students to stuff envelopes with any articles or information that they find during the week on any of the topics posted. Each week, spend about 10-20 minutes going over what each envelope had inside. Archive the information after each week in a location that is then accessible to students. Topics can change according as issues change.”

Post Assignments Fran, Inclusion Teacher: Bronx, NY

“Use bulletin boards to post assignments for the week. This is a great way to keep students on track and for teachers to refer to each assignment on each day class is in session. It is a good communication mechanism and reminds students of their responsibility to complete homework assignments or any other assignments that were given during the week. It also gives students a head start on completing any work for the week and helps manage time better.”

Steps to Writing Joan, 5th Grade Teacher: Madison, Wisconsin

“As a reminder to help students remember the steps to the writing process, post the steps on a bulletin board for students to always have to refer to. The steps include Pre-writing; Drafting/Composing; Editing/Revising; Publishing. Details under each step can be explained so that students have guidelines. This will free the teacher to spend more time helping kids one-on-one during the writing process because she/he doesn’t have to explain it every time writing is assigned.”

Past and Present Debra, 6th Grade Teacher: Scottsdale, AZ

“Ask students to bring in pictures of themselves as babies as well as a present-day photo. If possible, ask for photos of family members as youngsters and present-day photos of family members. Also, ask that they bring in photos of any ancestors’ photos that may be available. Make sure that the photos are labeled and that the students asked their families for input. Place these photos on a bulletin board specifying which are past and present with captions under each. This can be used as a great discussion of historical events that occurred during the times that the photos represent.”

“Please Touch” Board Jennifer, Primary Grade Teacher: United Kingdom

“When you are trying to teach young children about their senses, here is an idea for the sense of touch. Create a bulletin board with the words “Please Touch” as a title. The following are some ideas of what you can put on this board: a feather, cotton ball, sandpaper, a piece of material, ribbon, and a rock. The students can add things to the bulletin board as their awareness grows. They can describe the feeling of each item on the board. A vocabulary list can be developed, describing each item. Students can write descriptive sentences using the words. Make a list of other things that feel the same as each item. Talk about similarities and differences.”

Math Mania Harry Longerman, 4th Grade Teacher: Brooklyn, New York

“Use your bulletin board for posting results to any survey that you can conduct with your students on any given topic. This can change each week. You can keep the results of the survey by using a frequency distribution and then calculating the results with the entire class at the end of the week. This can sharpen math skills and keep students interested in the results as they are posted. Results can be posted as charts, bar graphs, or qualitative measures. I used this with the past election and it worked great. It kept students interested and reinforced math concepts as well.”