Friday Five: Bulletin Boards on a Dime

I finally have my own room(s) for guidance lessons this year. This opportunity didn't happen until the second week of school, so I didn't get a chance to go into full teacher/decorator mode. That left very little zero time to go to teacher stores and obsess over fun borders and new ideas. Maybe that's a good thing. If I have time to obsess about something, I will. And it will usually cost me a pretty penny by the time it is over. 

I also probably saved me (and my loved ones) some undue stress. The only fight my mom and I have had since I was a moody teenager, was over a bulletin board my first year of teaching. It ended with me crying because it had to be PERFECT. I was sure the first graders would not love me if my word wall letters were spaced incorrectly. Rookie teacher move! 

Anyway, I had to decorate quickly and cheaply. Thanks to Pinterest and a little experimenting with cheap materials, I have five new bulletin boards to share with you.... 

It all started with a trip to the Dollar Store. I found these fun little tassels and big tissue paper poof balls which both looked pretty crunched up in the package, so I only bought one of each. Big mistake! I wish I had more because even though they are kind of crinkly, I love them. They are festive and fun and this whole bulletin board only cost $2. Win!

I originally went to the Dollar Store looking for fun, colorful cupcake liners. I didn't find any there, but Mama Bulino pulled through with all kinds of fun patterns and colors that she found at Tom Thumb. For this board, I flatted out some liners and the tried to have some still puffed up at the top. I like this one, but it's not my favorite. My creativity was lacking that day, so it's pretty #basic...

On the next board, I flattened a ton of cupcake liners and decided to put them all the way around the border, and I love how it turned out! 

Next, I got a little crafty and decided to make flowers out of the liners. I flattened out a bunch of colored liners and then started cutting to see what would happen. First I folded the circle into fourths...

 Then, I cut a little off the top...

I did the same thing over again but cut a little more off the top...

Then, I glued the two pieces together...

 And of course, added some sparkly flare...

I also got a little crazy with tissue paper and pipe cleaners while trying to make flowers and butterflies. The result is a garden that looks a little chaotic, but I think it's just perfect! 

I saved my favorite for last! My friend Kimmie over at Elementarynerd.com made a shirt last year that said, "Throw Kindness Like Confetti". Then, this little cutie (our art teacher's kiddo) saw a shirt like it at Target and they totally texted the night before so they could match ;).

Fast forward to this year...I found a FREE door decor pack on Teachers Pay Teachers to create my own kindness bulletin board. 

It was feeling a little empty, so I added a couple of kindness quotes made with Hello Fonts. I think I will be adding one or two more, but who know when that might happen...

 You may be wondering why I didn't confetti the bottom of the bulletin board?!?! Well, that's where I get REALLY excited! I am going to put a bunch of brightly colored Post-It notes out on the table below this board. Students and teachers can write a kind thought or compliment on a Post-It and then stick it to the wall below. Our kindness will LITERALLY become the confetti! Eek! Geeking out over here and so excited to introduce this to the students next week! I'll post more pics once it gets filled with kindness and love. 

I hope you all have a great weekend! Back next week with a very special introduction to our school's take on Restorative Practices.

What's Up Wednesday: A Beautiful Oops

 A Beautiful Oops!

This is a  first grade lesson designed to remind kids that it is ok to make mistakes. When you do make mistakes, you get the chance to try to learn and grow from them. Plus, it happens to everyone...especially me! 

I asked, "How do you feel when you make a mistake?" They said things like...

Horrible

Grumpy

Frustrated

Embarrassed

Gross

Angry at myself

Sad

Like I'm going to get in trouble

Then I read this book...

It teaches students that anyone can turn their mistakes into something beautiful. 

 Next, I told them I had been trying to paint a watercolor picture, but I kept making mistakes. I was about to throw away all my messed up papers and then I remembered the lesson I learned from this book. I wondered if the 1st graders could help me turn my mistakes into something beautiful. 

Imagination at work...

The loved turning the watercolor "oops" papers into something more creative, dynamic, and imaginative. I was SO impressed by their outside of the box thinking. I love giving students the opportunity to create without limits because they always surprise me with their ideas.

I only let them use crayons for this lesson, which sort of sets limits on their creativity. The book has some 3D/pop-up images, and it might be fun to have a tub full of old craft items that they could use to make their "oops" papers pop! I'm thinking I could put out scraps of paper, pipe cleaners, crumpled up tissue paper, and maybe some yarn.

-Book: Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg

-Water Colors to create the "oops" pages

-Crayons and other craft materials.

I am obsessed with these creative answers...

Side note- I have my very own guidance rooms this year!!!! Literally JUMPING for JOY over here! I forgot how expensive it can be to decorate a classroom, so I made my bulletin boards with all kinds of thrifty items. Mama Bulino found these adorable cupcake holders for me, so I turned them into a border for this bulletin board. 

I am so excited to have a place to showcase student work as we go through the year. I have been busy, busy decorating the guidance rooms and will do a blog post on those soon.

I hope you have a great Wednesday! See you next time! 

What's Up Wednesday: The ABC's of School Counseling

Welcome to What's Up Wednesday!  am changing up the format this year and each WUW blog post will feature a different guidance lesson. The letters in What's Up will walk you through the lesson and give you an inside look into the world of school counseling.

This is a little intro I did for my 5th grade classes. They pretty much know the drill for guidance by now, so I asked them for a little help in decorating my new room. I got this idea from my girl Kimmie over at Elementarynerd.com when she tweeted me an awesome student-centered classroom from one of her high school teachers.  Check out the original inspiration here! 

The empty walls were enough to make them jump right in to help decorate. We sat in a circle and went around giving each person a turn to share something they remember learning in guidance classes in the past. Then, I gave them 3 minutes to brainstorm on their own paper and fill in the blanks from A-Z. I was impressed with their creative and thoughtful responses.

They thought it was fun to share their ideas and to think about the fact that these posters would be part of the decor for all Beverly students to see. They were also very proud of the creativity in their answers. Even though we just did this activity today, many of them are asking when I will be putting them up and of course, they all want to help. 

Honestly, I liked this one so much that I might have to keep it for next year. Maybe I will change out a few of the posters if they are different or add in a new concept? It really made me happy to see that they remembered so much...even things they sometimes act like they are too grown up to do. You know they secretly love that stuff...especially that little green frog who teaches them to solve problems with friends. #Kelso

I am also planning on taking a picture of each class and putting it under the letter that their teacher's last name begins with. That will add an even more student-centered, personal element to the room and decor. I will post a ton of pictures when I finally get it all situated! 

Not much! I just gave them the A-Z paper shown below and let them go for it! To create the posters, I am using my beloved Hello Fonts and clip art by Creative Clips, Whimsy Clips, & EduClips. #clipartjunkie #fontaholic #obsessed

I am nowhere near finished, but I made these slides just so you could get an idea of the things they came up with...

And my very favorite idea...

That's all for now...have a great week!