Creating displays of student work is NOT easy! We all have to start somewhere and sometimes that “somewhere” is bad. This was the case with my first bulletin board! The students wrote poems during our one ELA lesson and I told them to make them look nice so that I could hang them on the board in the hall. It was a Friday before a long weekend and I wanted the students to know that I stuck to my word. I was determined to get this board done. The picture below is how I left it at the end of the day.
[ID Begin: A grey bulletin board with a black curvy border. There are 17 poems written on paper that is either blue, yellow, red, or orange. The bulk of them are in a straight line across the middle with no space in between them with 3 being placed in the center above the row. ID End.]
As I was part way through, I knew that it did not look great but I kept on the trajectory because it made me laugh! I was hoping that it would make someone else laugh too and it did! One of the other teachers at the school said that she had one student who just loved the linearity of it.
My friend and colleague, Karlea, had tasked the class I was working with to colour frogs to cheer me up after being away from school for a few days due to an unfortunate circumstance. She then put them on the barren bulletin board display and it added to much life!
[ID Begin: The same board as above but with frogs that have been coloured by students filling in the empty space. ID End.]
Overall, creating displays like this is a skill that can be built and improved upon. I am excited to see what my boards will look like in years to come as I grow and my skills grow with me! (I am also hoping that I will always have someone like Karlea to give me a hand when I need it.)