21st Century School Teacher

Okay, I thought I'd share a few bulletin board ideas that I've used in my classroom-maybe they can help you with an idea for yours...   If you’ve already read my post on bulletin boards, this one is redundant (sorry…)  I usually come up with a theme first for my classroom and then create my content lessons around my theme for the first days of school...not vice versa.

Some of my favorite bulletin boards from the past are....
1.  Brick wall with graffiti letters...  This requires a lot of freehand cutting--brick by brick, letter by letter.  I put black as the base color, cut squares out of red, positioning them about 2 inches apart, and then I cut out letters to look like they'd been spray painted--I also cut out small "drops of paint" that I strategically  dropped from letters, etc...  What's great about this idea is that any subject area could potentially use this idea--writing whatever message that works...

2.  Survivor..  I love Survivor and have been a fan since the first season---So of course I've done a Survivor themed bulletin board.  I began with the background color the same as the season that I was modeling after.  I cut out a large oval to create the logo on--large enough to put our mascot in the middle and change the outplay--outwit--outlast-- to something having to do with my classroom (I can't remember now, but it was probably respect, responsibilities---or reading writing and listening--something having to do with my class).  Next I did my side bulletin boards with "The teacher has spoken," and other Survivor catch phrases.  I used a ridiculous amount of green board paper that I scrunched long strips into vines and used the vines as my boarders--also hanging vines around the classroom.  My back to school presentation was themed this way too, and I even played the survivor music as students were entering my class...  The first days activities were based around survivor with several tribal competitions--fun!

3.  Quote based...  One of the quotes that I used was "Give a man a fish--teach a man to fish" only I changed it so that I was using our mascot--"Give a Grizzly a fish and he eats for a day, teach a Grizzly to fish and he eats for a lifetime."  I used over sized black paws reaching into the blue water (background color) grabbing fish out of the water... I had fish jumping over the top of the bulletin boar for 3D effect (don't  staple the fish flat, and they create more movement on your board)  I had schools of fish swimming through the water, and used seaweed to create more 3D effect.

4.  My school's mascot is the grizzly--if you hadn't figured that out.  So another idea I've used--when I am most desperate for a quick idea--is I've themed around school colors and grizzlies.  I've doubled the paper on my boards (orange and black) so that  I could use over sized grizzly paws to rip away partial pieces of the first layer, and then leave the background orange—it’s hard to explain, but it looks like the grizzly came in and tore corners out of my boards.  The paws hang down in different parts of the board, and other parts have the paw prints moving sporadically across the boards, walls, and even floors if you want to go that far…  Then in really big, big letters I cut out “Welcome Grizzlies”  The effect is pretty cool—especially if you use the walls, too.  I’ve also used lunch bags with students names written on them—scrunched up like the grizzly had pawed through them, and then I staple these to the board along with napkins, etc...

 5.  Last year I capitalized on the anime theme.  I found a few anime characters—boys and girls-- that were appropriate and cut them out—life sized.  I cut out lockers, books, footballs, etc. to focus on a back-to-school themed board... You have to be pretty artistic to do this one—but on my side bulletin boards, I used my projector to cut out black shadow anime figures and put those on the wall as well—I found these characters on the internet—an ipod advertisement—so I used string and put ipods on the characters.  Then I used music and songs to introduce all my units of instruction the first days of school.  I have to say the kids really like this (I haven’t figured out their attraction to anime, but they even knew which characters’ shadows I had cut out—weird!)  But it turned out awesome.

 6.  I’ve coffee stained large pieces of bulletin board paper to create a pirate feel.  This takes a bit of work up front because you have to brew A LOT of coffee and then stain the paper and let it dry.  Once it is dried, I curl the ends scroll like –it would have been cool to burn the edges, too, but that was way more work than I was willing to put in…  I created a treasure map, and my quote that year had something to do with education and treasure—can’t remember, but it was effective.  You could do scavenger hunts or mapping activities to coincide with this theme.

 7.  I’ve used string and laundry pins to hang a message across my board…  NOT really that cool, but easy with a 3D feel…

8. Now those are the boards I remember the most—other ideas?  I’ve always wanted to get that green outdoor carpet and hang it and do some kind of grass or golf theme.

 9. This year, Indiana Jones would be a great theme because of the movie release.  Using coffee stained paper, treasure maps, riddles—you could have a lot of fun with this idea.  The font is very recognizable, so I’d use letters hand cut in this style.  I haven’t seen the new movie, but I’d get on any Indiana Jones site and use the movie trailer or logos to inspire me.  You can find the music online—and I have a file, too, that I can upload if someone needs it.  I love to use music along with my theme—whether it is to welcome the kids into my classroom, for a presentation, or to introduce a lesson… (there is another post with a moviemaker presentation for the first day in a previous post--see "back to school moviemaker.")

 10.  Another idea I’ve had but never used is create people by stuffing real clothes—like a scarecrow—and then have doing something—not sure, but I thought it would be cool for a 3D effect.  Okay, maybe not...

If you have any great ideas for this year or from past years, please share them here so other teachers that find this entry can benefit.  There really aren’t that many awesome sites on the web with bulletin board ideas, so contributions are welcome...

A teacher that I met through classrooms 2.0 is doing a NASCAR theme this year… OMG it is cool… She found real advertisement life-sized cut outs, remote cars, flags, and used a race track theme for her word processing class… very cool!

I’ll add to this blog as I brainstorm more ideas—I guess the most important thing is to have fun, right?—my personal rules for bulletin boards are on another blog post—use the side bar to the right to find navigation to that blog if you’re interested…

New Brainstorm List of Ideas (I'm just thinking out loud--it's late, so this will probably be a bit random...

1. How about a journey theme with a big yellow bus and a road map--ids in the windows, etc. -- maybe some brochure like pictures with units of study planned for the year...
2.  A good teacher friend of mine got her hands on some wire butterflies--she used pinks and yellow boards and attached the butterflies to the board with a simple welcome--it fit her personality and looked great...
3.  I've always wanted to do something in black and white---maybe with black and white photos of students, authors, locations, etc. 
4.  A retro board or science fiction board--check out some font sites to get an idea of how to cut your letters out--there are some cool fonts out there that might inspire...  aliens, space ships--"Welding's class is out of this world!"
5.  Something like a movie poster or playbill with the main feature as your classroom, Adventures of Room 107"--would be fun to create a photostory movie trailer for a back to school welcome.
6. Comic book heroes anyone?  Wonder Welding or Super Smith... That would be fun--you could have a picture of your face on a super-hero's body flying across the board :) your cape could be 3D--okay... am I getting loopy now?
7. Christmas lights are great to light up the classroom--a theme with a sun or fire maybe--for your hot hOt HOT class...
8.  How about a huge,  over sized, like 8 ft. high book with pages that students could turn--or you could change each day depending on the message...
9.  I've tried to pattern after a screen shot from a computer website before with no luck, but maybe now with snagit or something it would be easier to do--a board designed as a page from a website--with the tabs and and windows changed to suit your class...
10.  If all else fails, have the students create postcards on the first day of class from somewhere that they were this summer, and then post them alternating pictures and text on the board. 
11.  I don't know why I'm numbering these...  How about "all the world's a stage" theme--you could hang curtains on either side of your board and create a scene within.
12.  A climb to the summit theme could be fun--with a mountain climber--or some other kind of explorer on a journey...
13.  A museum feel would be cool--hang picture frames from the top of the board with documents--like your class rules, or Shakespeare...
14. How about a Wizard of Oz theme? Follow the yellow brick road to Room 107--or you could change the color of the road to your school colors and add stops along the way where you post units of instructions held by the characters from the movie.
15. Alice in wonderland, for that matter, could be fun to...  "through the looking glass."

I came across some statistics at  usatoday.com—thought it was an interesting list to reflect on as a new school year begins.  I guess, to me, the most poignant of the list were the statistics on the racial and ethnic makeup of students that attend the highest “poverty schools,” how people polled say  US education is doing against other countries, and how people believe we best measure student achievement… 

These three point out, rather significantly to me, how the landscape of education in America has changed over the past few decades—Some of the statistics below point out that some things remain the same: weaponry brought to school remains about the same—about 1 in 5 kids.  But what do these statistics suggest to educators specifically?  How should teachers today approach their curriculum in a way that will best reach their audience?  Half of the American populous doesn’t think we’re keeping up with other countries—and if that’s true, what changes need to be made to keep pace?   Food for thought… Ideas?

STATISTICS ON U.S. SCHOOLS
Sources: AP-Knowledge Networks Poll, Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, College Board, American Association of University Professors.

Racial and ethnic makeup of public schools:
1972: 78% white, 15% black, 6% Hispanic, 1% other
2005: 57.1% white, 17.2% black, 19.8% Hispanic, 5.8% other

Public school enrollment in prekindergarten through grade 12:
1997: 46.1 million
2007: 49.6 million

Private school enrollment in kindergarten through grade 12:
1997: 5.9 million
2007: 6.2 million

Percentage of fourth-graders, by race and ethnicity, attending highest poverty schools:
White: 5%
Asian: 16%
American Indian: 36%
Black: 48%
Hispanic: 49%

Percentage of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds enrolled in school:
1965: 10%
2006: 66%

Students in grades 9-12 who reported carrying a weapon in the last 30 days:
1993: 22.1%
2005: 19%

Percentage of children 5 to 17 who spoke a language other than English at home:
1979: 8.5%
2006: 20.3%

How people say the U.S. is doing in education against other countries:
Getting ahead: 4%
Just keeping up: 44%
Falling behind: 50%

What people say is the best way to measure student achievement:
Test scores: 28%
Classroom work and homework: 70%

What people say about teacher pay:
Should be based at least in part on student performance: 61%
Should not be based in any way on student performance: 37%

Percentage of population 25 and older with various educational levels, 2006: Less than high school degree: 14.3%
High school graduate: 32%
Some college: 17%
Associate's degree: 8.6%
Bachelor's degree: 18.9%
Advanced degree: 9.8%

Median yearly earnings of full-time workers 18 and older in 2005:
Less than high school degree: $21,943
High school diploma or equivalent: $30,587
Some college experience: $35,317
Bachelor's degree or higher: $55,188

Sources of public spending on schools, 2006: Federal: 9%
States: 46.6%
Local: 44.4%
Total spending: $521.1 billion

Spending per student, 2006: National average: $9,138
New York (highest): $14,884
Utah (lowest): $5,437

Total college enrollment in two-year and four-year schools:
1991: 14.4 million
2000: 15.3 million
2005: 17.5 million
2008: 18.3 million (x)

I like to find new open source software when I have extra time--if you are into open source apps, try Open Source Living for some new ideas... They have up-to-date Open Source Software projects--categorized and annotated... 

Today I found an easy to use animation program...  Downloading Pencil is super easy--you can have a quick animation up in just a few minutes.

Kudos for Michelle Rhee--the more I learn about this maverick, the more I like her...  She is making bold moves in Washington D.C.--moves whose ripples may potentially change public education across the country.  I hope she succeeds...  Read about her in "Fixing Washington D.C.'s School System" by Jeff Chu posted on fastcompany.com  and to learn a bit more about the way she's approaching Washington's broken education system--with a wing and a prayer, she may create the kind of reform that the education system desperately needs...  Rhee's priority number one?  Kids... She's closing schools, firing employees, creating big waves--but from an outsider's perspective, it makes sense!  She is one courageous player, and though she is a staunch supporter of No Child Left Behind (can't agree completely with her on this one--saving that blog entry for later), IMHO she is doing right by D.C.'s kids...  Keepin' an eye on what happens over the next few weeks...

Pay Dispute Continues as Classes Near D.C. Teachers Split Along Age Lines by By  Bill Turque--Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 14, 2008

The article updates the status of the debate over Chancellor's Rhee's proposal...
Not surprisingly, "The split in the teaching corps largely, but not exclusively, is occurring along generational lines, with younger teachers more willing to accept the risks and older ones often questioning the proposal."  Which makes sense on two fronts--as older teachers near retirement, job security is a plus--and old habits die hard...  So what's the big deal?  Rhee's plan allows teachers to make their own decision--if they want the big pay, their practice is going to be measured...
I hope that teachers get the opportunity to set an example for future districts to model after--if you're an expert teacher, feel the fear and go for it...  We'll see how it all plays out--can't wait!  this is exciting stuff... :)

It’s that time of year again: the time of year when teachers across America start sweating it, anxious because soon they will see how their students fared on last year’s state exams.  The time of year when teachers remember their students as standardized test scores… And the scores are coming in, whether we like them or not…  While I was thinking about this today, I remembered that the public school advocacy group Center on Education Policy released a new report earlier this summer,” Has Student Achievement Increased Since 2002?”  The report confirms achievement has increased, but this report fails to reference trends measured in the PISA or the PIRLS international tests--that both show a U.S. decline in every subject since they began testing in 2000.  What is really happening to education in America? 

It’s hard to get the facts straight; there are many scores to tabulate and variables to correlate—has No Child Left Behind helped to deliver a significant gain in student achievement, or the opposite, as some suggest--actually slowed student achievement since that law’s passage?  It’s difficult to speculate on such a complicated issue, but I’d like to weigh in…

IMHO I believe that teachers carry NCLB legislation like an albatross around their necks… They are busier than ever before.  Why?  Because they are trying to balance teaching-to-the-test and teaching to enrich students’ lives.  And add to that, teachers are also working to incorporate 21st century skills into their curricula. Teachers know that the curricula is not complete for 21st century learners, and the tests that states have spent years designing to measure sets of standards don’t even address many of the skills that will be needed when students move into the real landscape of our global world…

It’s time for bold moves in education… It's also time to look students in the eyes and acknowledge their patience… (That’s my lead in to a great video posted on Youtube and Classrooms 2.0  ;)  -where I first watched it…)

All right, I like to follow what Michael Wesch is doing--he is a really cool anthropology professor that created the famous The Machine is Us/ing Us video that has been seen like a bazillion times...  He has a relatively new video The anthropological introduction to Youtube, and I think it is pretty great.  My perspective of Youtube was totally shifted, and if you haven't seen it already--its a must see!   (The video was created for a lecture presented at the Library of Congress.)

Tropicana Middle? Minute Maid Elementary School?  Sounds like a joke, right? Two schools in New South Wales are being used as templates for private sponsorship, and if these cash-strapped schools scream success, who knows how far this trend will go… maybe there is a Coors High in our future…

The Australian’s article Schools turning blackboards into billboards highlights two schools. “What was once just the library at Cromer Public School in Sydney is now The Panasonic Learning Common, complete with distinctive signage and product placement.”

“Parents and school communities have welcomed the private investment as a way of giving students the best technology and learning resources otherwise not available. Opposition education spokesman Andrew Stoner said they must tread carefully as there was a danger of going too far.”

Ya think?  I’m not sure if I agree with private sponsorship in public schools or not, but it does seem progressive.  I mean, if I were a school district in need, would I really care if the high school  formerly named South Central became Chase Media Learning Center?  And it sounds like the private sector might be willing to ante up enough monies to make changing a media center, computer lab, or even a school's name palatable… 

5.Tolerance.org:  Tolerance.org makes my short list because I believe so strongly in tolerance education...  This site offers many free videos and lesson plans that can be easily incorporated into language arts or social studies classrooms.  There are resources for primary and secondary classrooms. 
4.Lulu:  Lulu makes my short list because I believe to give students authentic writing experiences, publication should be included.  Whether students publish their own writing, or I combine their work into one larger work, this is a great site to take their work to a final product. 
3.Pageflakes (or netvibes)  Okay, this is a relatively new RSS find for me...  I like the way that you can set up a feed for so many resources in one spot--visually organizing.  I create Document Based Questions periodically through the year, and this site could be used to collect documents--print and non-print for students to read and respond.  Some of the features that I like are the capability to view several websites on one desktop, the capability to list favorite links, the capability to post assignments, the capability to post text or pictures, and the capability to view video (i.e. through Youtube or another source). 
2.Wetpaint (or wikispaces)  I like Wetpaint for a wiki space because I like the different design options, and intuitively it works well for me--but any wiki site ranks high on my lists of must-haves in the classroom...  Students working collaboratively should be a priority.  All students should have experience working on a wiki... Wikis can be used to tap and build background knowledge, or to create an entire unit of instruction around--a 21st century learning tool to be sure!
1.  21classes.com My all time favorite.  I started on 21Publish.com, but then they created this site.  You can set up a classroom portal--a community of bloggers with privacy and no advertisements.  It is safe and provides teacher moderation... It is my number one pick for student blogging because it is teacher friendly--parents appreciate this!

So, there they are... The 5 most important sites, in my opinion, for September 2008!

Okay, so I checked out Scrapblog last night--really cool!  I think that there are some uses for this application in the classroom.  I've always wanted to do some kind of photo journal assignment, and this may be a way to create something like that.  I'm not sure exactly, but if students have access to photos and video, they could be very creative--I like the idea of using non-print text, and I have done some work with students making connection between print and non-print texts before... Specifically, students found artwork that connected to Gerda Weissman's story (Holocaust survivor).  Anyways, I think there is potential here--If nothing else, and end of the year or end of the semester presentation would be fun...