BOLD & BRIGHTS GIVEAWAY

I love, no I mean I really LOVE, putting my room together. I love the shopping for new items, awaiting their arrival, getting the decor, and then using it to make my room reflect what I want to share with my class for our year together.

I have a running list of stores and sites I love to go to get items for my classroom. I love getting the catalogs in the spring for the upcoming year. Just everything about it is fun.

I usually keep a theme in my room for a few years but I will add to/tweak/change some things within that theme each year. I may keep a bulletin board or two the same from year to year but I am always looking for new things to add to my room.

Last year when Maria and I merged our classroom we changed a few walls to reflect her tastes as well. Then through the course of the year things I had loved needed to change as well. So we changed nearly all of the walls throughout the year last year. I thought we were done and that this would be the first year that I would start a new year without the panic of putting up a new bulletin board, or two, or three, in the two work days that we get before the kids return.

I had signed up last year to be a blog ambassador for Creative Teaching Press. I figured it would be nice to get a few things now and then to use in my room. I am all about using the things I love and it is even better when the companies are willing to give me things to use rather than having to pay for them. I really thought that this program would involve sending me certificates or borders now and then. Nothing. Absolutely nothing prepared me for what I received. Creative Teaching Press sent me a welcome package with a certificate and t-shirt then sent me the entire Bold & Brights line that they introduced this year. Even better? They are going to give one of you the exact same thing! This line is something else. I filmed myself on Twitter when I opened the box, It took three videos due to the time-limit on Twitter. If you want to see everything you could win in this giveaway please watch the three videos below but forgive my recording errors.

 

There was no way I was going to use it all in our room though so they said to share the wealth with other teachers. This is exactly what I did. We have a number of new teachers in our district so I gave some of the borders, the calendar, job chart, and both birthday options, as well as many of the die cuts to others. I only asked that they share photos of how they used the items with me. Being the beginning of the year, that photo has not been done by many of the teachers as the year started. I will add their photos to this post as I get them. But I did want to share how I used some of the items they sent.

job chart bulletin board

We created a new job chart bulletin board in our room using the black and white polka dot border and the sticky notes die cuts. We used glitter letters from Michaels to add the job names to the sticky
notes and then created personalized buttons for each student using Melonheadz clipart. I love how it turned out!

Kindness bulletin board

This year we are really focusing on being kind and treating others with respect. We had some serious issues with this last year. We are a Wonder class this year and are participating in Dr. Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots public service project program in order to help our students become more aware of their actions and how they impact others (more on these programs in a later post). As bold stripe border along with the colorful spots border with letters I printed from the KG Fonts I got for free from Teachers Pay Teachers. I love how this board turned out as well. Don't you?
part of this focus, Maria and I decided to create a kindness board. I found one on Pinterest I liked and I used that as a jumping off point. We used the

My favorite by far though is the Reading Focus wall. We changed the fabric (it used to be the one that is now on the job chart) to this bright pink, we used the bold & bright striped & spotted pencil border from Creative Teaching Press along with the Bold & Bright 4" Cafe letters. I ADORE these letters! I love them so much I used them on the job chart bulletin board as well.

Reading Focus Wall

We have the two-sided welcome sign in our window next to the welcome chart that we used the 2"

Our classroom window

Cafe letter stickers to identify our room.

Not only did we change the bulletin boards I remade our Sub Binder with the Bold & Bright Paper. Don't you love it? As soon as I figure out how to make these editable files with the clip art I
will make it available for you FREE for following my blog.

I have been using the extra-large library pockets in place of file folders. They stack easily in the paper sorters and they are quick to identify when we need a particular form or page.


How do you prepare for the beginning of the school year? Do you redo your room, or parts of it each year? Share how you prepare in the comments below.

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