Bulletin Boards of the 21st Century

Freshen your classroom bulletin boards with creative technology themes.

Technology has invaded the classroom, and your bulletin boards should reflect this expanding style of learning. Schools have embraced the internet, social media, and personal devices as essential learning tools for the classroom. Upgrade your bulletin boards with a 21st century presence that will inspire and stimulate your students. Here are some leading-edge ways to “cover” technology-themed bulletin boards this fall. 1. Replicate social media Students use technology to connect with each other and the world, and your bulletin boards can bring them together, too. Design a Facebook page in the form of a bulletin board. Have students change posts to reflect study units, events, or achievements. Model an Instagram page so your students can post selfies and list their interests. Tweet their book reviews on a Twitter bulletin board, or let your students tweet questions with post-it notes. Design a Snapchat space so your students can post their year-long goals in 31 characters or less. Don’t forget the “i”. Invent an “iPod” play list of sentence starters. Form an “iRead” bulletin board for books. Craft an “iLearn” board for topics of learning, or an “iHelp” board to assist students. 2. Host a contest Launch your school year with a bulletin board competition. Challenge teachers to design the most original display the first week before students arrive. The educators Ocean Lakes High School, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, held a design contest as part of the school’s “Passion for Learning Tour.” Teacher Julie Pocalyko created a technology-themed bulletin board, and her iPhone design featuring curriculum content and English strategies landed her first place. She titled it, “21st Century Learners: We Have An Ap For That.” 3. Channel the Internet Adopt your favorite internet themes and apply them to your bulletin boards. Invent a Google search with your students’ names. Craft a Yahoo News page with their artwork or extraordinary accomplishments. Rachel Lovely, a 5th grade teacher in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, constructed a Pinterest classroom exhibit inspired by her students’ hobbies. “My students loved engagement within the classroom and took much more ownership in creating their learning environment,” she said. “Having a Pinterest board that represented everyone’s interests was a great way to see our similarities and embrace our differences.” Invite today’s technology to be a part of your bulletin board design process and make connections with your students far beyond the computer.