bulletin boards & our staff lounge

Hi all! I'm back, coming at you from the end of our first day of school. It was a great day!

I wanted to share about our staff lounge that I've been working on - wanting to turn it into a relaxing place to hang out and have fun with teaching friends at lunch. The first thing I started with was a new bulletin board.

At our school, we use Responsive Classroom. One thing that all students are prompted to do each year is to think about and write down their Hopes and Dreams. So, as a staff, we did the same. Inspired by some art I saw in a yoga studio, I created the bulletin board below with our Hopes and Dreams:

The board is just some twine pinned up and the each staff member wrote their hopes and dreams on a white tag:

Here are some of the hopes and dreams our staff shared:

"That my team continues to grow and we become a strong, cohesive team. Also that my room becomes a strong community."

"My hopes and dreams for this year include making considerable gains with my students this year while maintaing a balance within my personal life for relationships, spiritual growth, leisure, and physical/mental health."

"My hope is to create a positive, collaborative environment where all enjoy coming to work each day."

and here's mine:

"I hope to empower teachers and staff as we collaborate towards authentic reading and writing lessons."

What's cool about this display is that in the winter, we will add on: Let Go and Look Ahead:

Blue Tag: Let go - Teachers will give themselves permission to let go of something from the fall

Green Tag: Look ahead - Teachers can set a goal for what's coming up

And then in the spring, we'll add on another tag, perhaps in reflection of the year.

A great display that grows throughout the year!

Another awesome part of our lounge is our Pinterest Board that Jennie put up last year. Stuff on it is funny stuff - our laminator is really broken, and then just some jokes that arise out of lunchtime conversation. I hope to continue to add to it throughout the year, and I hope our staff does as well!

And finally...

I've been obsessed with Buddha, and picked up this cheap little statue at TJ Maxx yesteday. Then, the quote that I always keep front and center in my mind so I can keep things positive.

Teaching is a lot of work, so taking time around noon to hang out with friends and gossip about The Bachelor and share about new recipes or catch up on personal lives really does improve the school culture.

Do you eat in your lounge? Did you help decorate it? Please share!