Organizing Class and Assignment Information

This is another idea I can't take credit for as I spotted it in a classroom I was subbing in, but I loved it.  It is a great way to organize information for each of your classes.  The box on the top right lists the class and all of the dates they have class- crossing off each one as it passes.  This provides a very visual way for them to see how much or how little time they have left to work on their projects.

The box below it is chart containing each students name going vertically and each aspect of the project going horizontally.  You can check each student (or have them check it) once it is accomplished.  The red arrow is moved to show them where they should be.  I love this for the sanity of the teacher- knowing who is on what step and showing the students what step is next.  It also provides a kick in the rear to those slow-pokes who would rather socialize or stare at the wall than get it done.

I assume the folder on the left is where the teacher puts instruction sheets.  Love this.  I was recently in a classroom where the teacher had all of the instruction sheets for every single project in an accordion style file folder.  While helpful to have them all in in one spot- the students lacked the ability to look through it and find what they needed.  Providing them with just what they need in a place where they can see it and you can easily point to, is genius.

I appreciate smart and organized teachers.  I also appreciate cell phone cameras allowing me to capture teachers genius ideas and share them with you. 

Organizing Cloths and Towels- Dirty and Clean

I can't remember if I have shared this or not, but currently I am a substitute teacher.  It pains me to not have my own classroom to organize and decorate.  And students to build relationships with and create fun/different lessons for.  But until that time comes again (after 5 years of subbing due to NO available teaching jobs here) I will appreciate the opportunity of visiting classrooms in various schools decorated/organized by a variety of teachers.  Here are 2 different ideas I observed in 2 different classrooms.  I love and appreciate each one. 

I love the idea of separating the dish cloths and dish towels into 2 baskets.  I always gave a mini lesson to my students on the difference- dish cloths are for washing and are small.  Dish towels are for drying and are big.  Inevitably someone(s) would use a towel to wash or a cloth to dry.  I know that doesn't mean the world is going to come to an end but it is a simple concept that will aid them throughout the rest of their lives.  These 2 baskets help emphasize (not the word I am looking for but can't think of it right now...) the lesson you give at the beginning of the semester. 

It is hard to read the labels on these baskets- the blue one reads "dirty" and the white one reads "clean".  Love this.  The students know exactly where to throw the dirty/wet cloths and towels if the washer is full or running.  And there is a clear place to put clean towels when they come out of the dryer- before they are folded and put into baskets (like in the above photo) or into the individual kitchens- as I did as we had everything color coordinated to ensure equal number of towels/cloths and organization.  I also truly appreciate the fact that the dirty basket is dark and the clean basket is white. 

technical difficulties

For those of you who follow me, I must apologize for the craziness this morning.  I accidentally deleted a post with bulletin board ideas.  Thanks to Google, I was able to find a way to recover it.  While re-posting of it, I was trying to post it with the exact URL so that those who have pinned, bookmarked, etc it would be able to find it without a lot of hassle. I ended up posting the same thing several times.  I still haven't gotten it exactly right but it is on the blog and that is what matters.

So sorry for filling up your feeder or inbox.  Have a wonderful Wednesday!  And Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.  (I am in Canada so it is off to work for the rest of the week for me!) 

Bulletin Boards Now Available for Purchase!

Some of the Bulletin Boards you see on this blog are now available for purchase from my etsy shop!  Just purchase the desired bulletin board and within 24 hours a PDF file will be emailed to you.  You just need to print, trim and paste a few parts before hanging up in your classroom or hallway!  If you would like the printing, trimming and pasting done for you, let me know.  The final cost will be higher and shipping will be charged!

I have also started selling items on Teachers Pay Teachers. The prices are slightly higher than my etsy shop for 2 reasons: 1) TPT takes a bigger percentage of each sale and 2) you receive the file immediately upon purchase.  

If there is a bulletin board you see on here and would like to purchase, please contact me by leaving a comment, convo-ing me through etsy or emailing me at imasewingmachine at gmail dot com.  If I made it, I would love to share it.


www.imasewingmachine.etsy.com

even more bulletin board ideas...

 I promised more bulletin board ideas and here they are.  They are not perfect in any way but hopefully they will provide inspiration for an idea that will work for your classroom/school.

Learn to Speak "Patternese".  This was one of my first bulletin boards.  I wanted something that would help teach my students the language of patterns- a.k.a. patternese.  Lame.  I know.  I found an old pattern piece and then labeled each part.  I also included a scrap of fabric for the selvage, a blurb about the grain as well as a mini piece explaining a fold line.  For the border I used measuring tapes as we had a gazillion laying around.

This is one of the bulletin boards I created for one of my masters projects.  A FFA (Future Farmers of America) adviser asked me to create something inspired by the Snapple commercials to display the many photos he had from a variety of events.  The idea is all his and his assistant.  I just executed it.  I think it's fun.  I put 2 FFA symbols over pictures of Snapple bottles.  Not sure if that is wrong or not... but I think it added to the whole theme. 

Another Masters project made for someone else advertising FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America).  I found all of the information on their website and just typed it all up in an organized way- Mission Statement, Purpose, Creed, Fun Facts, Programs and what it is!  I included blank pages for her to include the names of her advisers, student leaders and happenings in their chapter!  I connected everything with red and white ribbon- the official FCCLA colors!

The finished product from her classroom- including bags of sugar to represent how much is in different foods.

Yet another board for someone else.  She requested a board explaining calories in vs. calories out.  I explained that 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories.  In order to lose a pound, you need to create a deficit of 3500 calories.  This can be done by eating fewer calories and burning extra calories through physical activity.  I also included a list of activities to explain how many calories they burn (such as shoveling snow for an hour will burn 360 calories).  To help encourage students (and teachers) to make wiser choices at their favorite restaurants, I presented a high calorie food vs. a lower calorie food.  On some I included a speech bubble explaining how many hours of a certain activity they would have to do to burn it off.

The above photo is what the final bulletin board looked like in the classroom of the teacher I made it for.  It's a little blurry but you get the idea.  She had her students research sugar amounts in different foods and represent the amounts with bags of sugar.
The below photos are what I took of the information before I mailed it out.  I didn't have a classroom to use so I hung everything up on my kitchen wall- thus the drab background and horrible everything.  :)  

What it looked like on my kitchen wall.  Not perfect but a little easier to see the big picture.

Sew... This is a simple yet informative bulletin board teaching the different equipment used in sewing.  Underneath each picture is the name of the item and a brief description of what it is used for.

Another bulletin board made for another teacher.  The topic she requested was Body Mass Index. Each box explains something different about BMI answering the questions: What is BMI?  Is it 100% accurate?  How is it calculated?  What do the numbers mean?  Is BMI the same for everyone? 
Then included lists of possible effects of a high and low BMI, as well as the charts to see it visually.






This Who are You?  bulletin board alternated with my Patternese board.  This board started the semester as the first unit was Personal Development.  This is such a simple (almost boring) bulletin board but it filled the space and hopefully made them think about the different roles they play.  I did find a piece of mirror-like scrapbook paper that I put in the middle of it the last few times I put it up- but a real mirror would work better although would likely become the place for makeup and hair checking rather than pondering who they are.  ha.

NOTE:
Some of the Bulletin Boards you see on this blog are now available for purchase from my etsy shop!  Just purchase the desired bulletin board and within 24 hours a PDF file will be emailed to you.  You just need to print, trim and paste a few parts before hanging up in your classroom or hallway!  If you would like the printing, trimming and pasting done for you, let me know.  The final cost will be higher and shipping will be charged!

If there is a bulletin board you see on here and would like to purchase, please contact me by leaving a comment, convo-ing me through etsy or emailing me at imasewingmachine at gmail dot com.  If I made it, I would love to share it.


www.imasewingmachine.etsy.com

more bulletin board ideas

NOTE:
Some of the bulletin boards you see on this blog are now available for purchase from my etsy shop!  Just purchase the desired bulletin board and within 24 hours a PDF file will be emailed to you.  You just need to print, trim and paste a few parts before hanging up in your classroom or hallway!  If you would like the printing, trimming and pasting done for you, let me know.  The final cost will be higher and shipping will be charged!

I have also started selling items on Teachers Pay Teachers. The prices are slightly higher than my etsy shop for 2 reasons: 1) TPT takes a bigger percentage of each sale and 2) you receive the file immediately upon purchase. 

If there is a bulletin board you see on here and would like to purchase, please contact me by leaving a comment, convo-ing me through etsy or emailing me at imasewingmachine at gmail dot com.  If I made it, I would love to share it.


Now to the bulletin boards...

I recently (1.5 years ago) finished my Masters in Family & Consumer Sciences. One of my projects was all about bulletin boards. I LOVE creating bulletin boards. I had FACS teachers from all over contact me with topics they wanted turned into a bulletin board. Here are some of those creations. Please forgive some of the photos. I took a picture of each one before I sent it off to the teacher- and I actually assembled the boards on my dining room wall, which doesn't have the greatest light.

Please contact me with any questions about any of the boards.

International Foods- the countries featured in the class are displayed on methods of travel. The things learned (what you will take with you) is displayed on luggage. Pretty sure I found all of the pictures from clipart or google images.

Measuring Equipment. Divided them into 3 categories: measuring spoons, dry measuring cups, liquid measuring cups. Shares the sizes they come in, what ingredients are measured and how to use them.
NOTE: This bulletin board is available for purchase at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Measuring-Equipment-Bulletin-Board


Hand Washing. This is always an important lesson to teach. I had students trace their hands on different colored construction paper to create a border. Then found some interesting (and kind of disgusting) facts to display!


Family Types- This board was inspired by the stickers people have on their cars to show the members of their family. I created a ton of combinations- represented each family with people, the type and a definition. To finish it off, I included a quote about families from Barbara Bush- "Family means putting your arms around each other and being there."

Stay tuned. More to come. I promise.

Soapy Solution

Holy Molies. Has it really been OVER a year since I last posted?!?

Never again.

In fact, I have a goal to post something a couple times a week.
Sometimes it will just be an idea... like today.

When I heard this idea I thought "why didn't I think of that... 6 years ago?!"

Such a simple idea, but in my opinion a GENIUS idea.

I am a fan of having a small bottle of dish soap in each kitchen. Small being the key word as I find students use more when they see more.

Instead of scouring the stores for those small dish soap bottles that are never in stock when you need them but everywhere you look when you don't and get all gunky, and the lids break off, and the paper labels get soggy/saggy/sticky... use these: Squeeze Bottles.

Easy to clean. Easy to refill. Easy to spot when they are in need of a refill. And easy to find at craft or restaurant supply stores.

I'll take 8 please.