As the school year approaches with what seems to be expedited time, I’ve been at the school completing the necessary odds and ends to be ready when the school year begins. I’m the first to admit that I’m not a huge crafty/cutesy person, but I do like the look and feel of having practical bulletin boards ready to go for the year. I have two in my office that I’d like to share with you:
This bulletin board I like to think of as my inspiration. I’ve always been a lover of quotes because they say so much in so few words. They bring perspective, motivation, and clarity. I chose some of my favorite quotes that I felt related to literacy, education, and positive attitude for my office bulletin board. Since they will be impossible to see in this picture, I’m going to copy and paste them below.
The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.
Education is the most powerful weapon with which we can use to change the world.
Be Positive, Patient, and Persistent
Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and you feel a little as if you have lost a friend.
Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 20.
I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.
The only thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision…
Reading is a gift. It’s something you can do almost anytime and anywhere. It can be a tremendous way to learn, relax, and even escape.
I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.
To be outstanding – get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
What we see often is only a fractional part of what it really is.
The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.
We kill all the caterpillars and complain there are no butterflies.
Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.
We must all make a choice between what is right and what is easy.
A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.
It’s not about being the best. It’s about being better than you were yesterday.
Logic will get you from A to Z. Imagination will get you everywhere.
Our children need to be taught how to think, not what to think.
The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do.
If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done.
Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.
Everyone is a reader; some just haven’t found their favorite book yet.
Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.
My other bulletin board is much more practical. It includes the schedules to the three professional development classes I’m teaching throughout the year, the dates and times of our Middle School Literacy Leadership Team meetings, and my coaching schedule by week. I feel it’s important whenever you have a job “outside of the norm” so to speak to be public and transparent about where you are and what you’re doing. Open communication about your job responsibilities and the work you’re doing just makes everyone that you’re working with respect what you’re doing a lot more. I’ve worked with people in roles other than teaching but still within our school where people weren’t sure what they were doing with their day and why. With the literacy coach position being a relatively new position to our middle school, creating that open dialogue and being clear with what my job responsibilities are and are not will only help keep lines of communication open.
