Heading back to the classroom (II)

Boards spread news students can use

By: Lacey Korevec
   While students are busy doing back-to-school shopping and enjoying the last few days of their summer vacation, teachers at Brunswick Acres Elementary School are already in their classrooms, cutting, coloring, laminating, measuring and stapling.
   Bulletin boards are one of the most important, and time-consuming, parts of setting up a classroom, fourth-grade teacher Evelyn Matus said. Since most classrooms have between three to four bulletin boards, and teachers are also responsible for those plus one outside of their classrooms, many begin working on them at least a week before school opens.
   "Just getting everything hung up and cutting all that stuff out is probably more than half of getting ready," she said.
   Ms. Matus is famous among the other teachers for coming up with exceptionally creative and elaborate bulletin boards. This year, she’s in the process of building one that will read, "Where did your feet take you this summer?" Though it’s not complete yet, she’s planning on having cutouts of sneakers on the board, as well as writing projects by each of the students explaining what they did over summer break.
   "I just like to make them fun and I don’t really repeat things," she said. "I try to come up with something new throughout the year."
   Rafael Botello, who teaches first grade, is partial to boards that feature animated characters. Some of his past creations have been based on characters like SpongeBob and Shrek. He said he tries to use themes the kids will get excited about.
   "Right now, at the beginning of the year, I always like to have the kids make the one outside," he said. "I usually like to go along with a lot of the movies that come out, so the one outside is with ‘Cars.’"
   He changes his bulletin boards at the beginning of every month, and said students react well to the change.
   "The more you change it, the more the kids actually pay attention," he said.
   Mr. Botello said he likes when students inspire themes for his bulletin boards.
   "You kind of read your classes and see what they like," he said. "Usually, it comes up in discussion. You just kind of check each class differently."
   Lauren McDonnell, who will be teaching second grade and is new to the district, has one bulletin board that will present a piece of work each of the students feels most proud of, she said.
   "If they like the way something came out, they can put it up and they can change it every so often. It’s their wall," she said. "As a class, we might decide, ‘Oh, this came out really well. Let’s put our poem up there.’"
   Ms. McDonnell said she spent a lot of time coming up with her bulletin board themes, which she thinks are important to the atmosphere of the classroom.
   "I’m a nerd," she said. "I think about it all the time. I’m always trying to come up with cute ideas and ways to interact with the bulletin boards."
   The boards become more interactive and functional with each grade, fifth-grade teacher Nikki Friedman said. They also require constant maintenance from the teachers, especially if they include daily materials. One of her bulletin boards is dedicated to the curriculum and will have important learning tools posted on it for social studies and language arts that will change as the students progress through the curriculum.
   "You can’t get through the routine of the day without stuff like this, especially the one with the curriculum," she said. "You need that for social studies. It’s got maps on it and rotations for language arts."
   Having boards that present students’ work is crucial because it gives them extra incentive to work hard, she said. Students also benefit from using interactive boards that post their daily jobs and homework assignments.
   "I think it makes them more independent, so I think they appreciate that," she said. "I think they enjoy seeing their work on the boards, seeing a picture of themselves, anything that’s personal from them. So I think it makes them more motivated."
   Like many of the teachers, Ms. Friedman said she finds bulletin board ideas in magazines and online and then build on those ideas with some of her own. Most of the supplies for boards can usually be found in the school itself.
   "We have an Ellison letter cutter so that you can cut any kinds of shapes that you need or letters," she said. "I need to do that because I don’t draw very well or write very well. And as far as paper and construction paper goes, we order that from the schools, so we have all that. If I need anything else, like cotton balls or something like that I can just run out and get that."
   Making bulletin boards was something Ms. Matus really looked forward to when she first started teaching, she said. Though she doesn’t get as excited over them anymore, she said she still takes them seriously and knows how important they are for students.
   "I wouldn’t say that I necessarily look forward to it now," she said. "It’s just my thing. I like when people come by and compliment the bulletin boards. I’m out here all the time fixing them and stuff. I like everything to look nice."