When You Don't Have Bulletin Boards--Fake 'Em!

I love my classroom for lots and lots of reasons. It is huge, it has a bathroom, I have an awesome amount of cubby space for my library. I could go on and on. However, my biggest complaint is that my classroom lacks easily usable wall space. I have two small bulletin boards at the front of the room, and that's it! The rest of the walls are ugly, white, and cinder block.

I'm pretty convinced that the people who decided to create classrooms with these walls and without any bulletin boards thought to themselves, "Let's make teachers crazy by giving them rock solid walls that everything falls off of once the AC turns off for the night and the South Florida humidity kicks in!" I was that teacher going crazy--putting up displays, student work, or anchor charts, only to find it on the floor in the morning when I returned. I'd stick it back up just to fall off again that night. Pause, rewind, repeat. For 3 years in a row. IN.SANE.

But this year, I decided to beat the system and create displays that actually stay put! It adds functionality to my room since I can finally hang my anchor charts without them toppling down hours later and it makes my room look a whole heck of a lot better!

Check it out below:

Interested in doing this in your room? Here's the steps below.

 Only tape the top of the paper at this point, you want the bottom unattached at this point. Don't worry too much about taping the paper up perfectly. You will be perfecting it later.

Use painters tape--this stuff sticks the best but comes off easily! I did this while the paper was still taped to the wall. I literally pulled the bottom of the paper up from the the bottom, got underneath with my tape in hand, and placed the tape along the perimeter (using the paper as a guide). Anywhere you tape is where you will be hot gluing, so make sure you put it in all places you think need to be glued tightly.

Also, notice the strips of tape on the inside of the perimeter. I knew that I was going to add clothespins for hanging my anchor charts in that area, so I wanted to add some hot glue there for reinforcement

 I start by hot gluing on top of the the top edge. Then I slowly work my way down the sides, a little at a time and making sure the paper is flat as I go. (Don't forget about any tape inside the perimeter!) Once the top and sides are glued, I glue the bottom edge.

 This part is easy, but make sure you are careful hot gluing the borders down--it is a pain to try to pull the borders off of the butcher paper if you make any mistakes!

I glued clothespins at the top of the bulletin so that I can easily add and remove work from the wall. Since it is cinder block behind the 'bulletin' I can't actually staple anything to them. In my 'after' picture up top, I actually have clothespins hidden behind the bunting so that I can hang anchor charts, you just can't see them! I suppose you could also add command hooks, but you'd have to make sure that the paper is hot glued down anywhere you planned to use them.

And voila! In 5 steps you can have faux bulletin boards, too!