Storage Tips for Posters and Gameboards
Posted by Amy Erickson on 11 Feb 2009 | Posted in: Grade 1, Organization and Supplies, The Mailbox
I have a confession to make: I’m a bit of a packrat. That was especially true when I was teaching. I had tons of store-bought teaching supplies as well as a closet full of cardboard tubes, cotton balls, craft sticks, and other miscellaneous items that I had collected over the years. The trick with being a packrat is figuring out how to store things so you remember them at opportune times. Have you ever finished teaching a unit only to discover a week or so later that you had overlooked a perfect poster or game to go with it? If so, you know exactly what I mean about figuring out the best storage options.
As the managing editor of The Mailbox® magazine, grade 1, I hear from many of our readers about how they store the pull-out posters and gameboards from the magazine. Some teachers organize them by subject area. Some prefer to keep all their posters in one place and all their gameboards in another place. I’d love to know what works best for you.
Currently, I feature either two posters or two gameboards on the pull-out centerfold in each issue. First-grade teachers, how would you feel about having one side a poster and one side a gameboard? The posters and gameboards have been so well received, I wonder if you’d like one of each in every issue. Let me know what you think.
And please don’t forget to share your tips for storing The Mailbox magazine posters and gameboards. As a packrat, I always enjoy hearing great organization ideas!
| Find this poster in the February/March 2009 issue of The Mailbox magazine, grade 1! | |
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 Look what’s coming in the April/May issue of The Mailbox magazine, grade 1! |
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How does everyone store large posters and bulletin board graphics? I want to keep them flat, not roll them up to store in tubes. Right now I just have a stack that is hard to look through.
I like the idea of having a game and poster in each issue, but I think it is easier if they are separate pages. It is too tricky to figure out where to store something when each side covers two different subject areas. I really enjoyed the plant poster in one of the recent mailbox issues. I put it up on my “organisms” bulletin board and the kids used it as a reference when writing in their science notebooks.
The same goes with the pages of the mailbox. I would love it if they were single sided so I could rip them out of the magazine to laminate and not worry about losing the contents of the other side. It would make it really easy for organization too. All you would have to do is file the pages according to the skill or content area.
I collect the large sturdy boxes that large construction paper and tagboard comes in. They are the perfect size for posters. Each one is labeled with its own category; animals, math, habitats, etc. They store neatly in our cupboards and keep materials flat and protected.
I prefer the poster and game board on separate pages.
I love the posters and gameboards. I think that storage would be easier if the front and back side related to the same theme or skill. It is hard to choose where to file them when you love both but the subjects are not related. We do not have free lamination so I love the idea of the notebook with page protectors! I also love Teacher’s Helper and I tear out those sheets and file them in my folders as soon as the issue arrives!
I like to store my games in order of the school year. I put them in a large filing box. For each month, I can see what games to set out for the kids based on the skills we have that month or the seasons. When the month is over, I put those games in the back of the filing box and pull out the new ones. It helps change things around for the kids.
And hey! We third grade teachers still use games/centers. I love the idea of a poster on one side and a game on the other!
I have several 3-D items, books, or art projects for each season that won’t fit into a file. I use cardboard boxes that copy paper comes in and label the boxes by month. I have a row of cabinets with room on top to keep the boxes. When a new month is approaching, I can pull a box and have things I need at hand.
I store my posters and gameboards in a 3 ring binder. I laminate them and buy the top loading sheet protectors. I then either copy the write up or cut it out and put it on the outside of the sheet protector. I then can page through my binder and find what I am looking for with ease!
As a preschool teacher, l am always looking for ideas on how to keeps things neat, organized and easy to find.I recently came across this idea on how to organize the small pieces to the feltboard stories used during circle time.
The suggestion was to purchase or use old plastic VHS video cases. The small felt pieces fit nicely inside, closes tightly and you can label the spine and cover,place on a shelf for easy access and storage.
I have started to place most of my popular feltboard stories that are used regularly and it’s working wonderfully.
Since I’m home schooling four children, and have subscribed to the Mailbox from the beginning, I’m still trying to figure out how to organize all of these great resources that I have. The kids LOVE the gameboards, and the posters are great for introducing new concepts as well as reinforcing what we have already done. Having always wented to be a teacher, I am so thankful that we are able to have our own classroom where we can hang our posters and do our bulletin board. I have filed my Mailbox Mags and Teacher’s Helpers by month and grade, which makes it very easy to find seasonal things. I have also downloaded all of the index pages to my computer so that it is easy to search through them for themes. As I am teaching PS, 1st, 3rd and 5th this year, doing things that apply to all four doesn’t happen very often, but we have been able to slightly modify many things to cover multiple levels. For example, a few math games are played with addition and subtraction for one child but multiplication and division for the other. Spelling games are easy, we just use more than one list. Whenever we can, we use our gameboards with others in our home school group and one on one time with dad is extra reinforcing when he uses the gameboards and activities with one of the kids. We keep striving to improve our organization so that we can keep using more and more of the fabulous resources that we get from The Mailbox!
I use paperboard portfolio carriers from the craft store to store and carry my bulliten board supplies. This keeps them flat, and the portfolios are inexpensive enough that I can organize that way and write a list of the contents on the outside.
I am still trying to figure out how best to organize. I love the games and posters in the magazine. I would prefer games and posters to be on separate pages. It would be much easier to use and organize by subject. Sometimes it’s hard to decide if I want to use the game or poster since you can’t use both at the same time. I’d love to hear about some more organizationla tips.
I laminate my posters for durability. Than I use left over wrapping paper tubes and roll the poster inside to protect it. you can write on the tube to say what posters or subject is inside. This is a great idea and works with all size posters. You will also be surprized at how many posters fit inside a roll.
You can store your rolls in a store purchased rubbermade tote designed for wrapping paper.
I am a packrat too with file cabinets and storage bins full of lesson plan ideas that are clearly marked for themes and academic categories. I would prefer gameboards and posters back-to-back as it would conserve space, but the theme of each would relate to each other. I have access to a laminator which would preserve them better.
I would love to have both a poster page and a gameboard page in each magazine. My kids love your games at Center Time. I really like your posters; they come in handy as teaching aids for whole class discussions. I’ve started collecting them and I’ll have a variety when I teach something new or just to change decor to make the kids ask questions. They love something new in the room.
Suzi,
I teach preschool 3s, 4s, and 5s. I’m fortunate enough to have an extra bedroom for my “office”…crafts, clothes, and school supplies. I’ve put most of my school supplies into see-through Rubbermaid tubs of different sizes. I put things that have similar uses in a tub and then label what’s inside on the outside of the tub. It’s been very helpful. I have my tubs on shelving from Home Depot or Lowes…and it even looks organized!
I love the gameboards and posters. I organize them by skills in three ring binders. Sections that I have titled in one binder is patterning, shapes, same/different, measurement, and color matching. In another binder I store all gameboards and posters that relate to nursery rhymes and fairytales. Most of the centerfolds fit nicely into sheet protectors so I can thumb through the binder and see exactly what I need. On the spine of the binders I label Mailbox Mag. Centers. I also have binders like this for your recipes from the magazines.
I like to organize everything on a big Excel spreadsheet. I keep my posters and bulletin board sets in the poster storage boxes that Trend Enterprises makes and label each box with a sharpie marker: box 1, box 2, etc. I try to put things that would be used most of the year in one box, things used in the fall in another box, things used in the winter in another box, and things used in the spring in another box. Then there is a box for miscellaneous items that can be pulled out at various times. I store these boxes in my basement.
Whenever I get new materials I add them to my spreadsheet. I put the type (poster, bulletin board materials, cut-outs, etc) the subject, any special notes as to the curriculum area this covers, and the box number it can be found in.
I also have a similar style spreadsheet that covers my Mailbox magazines. Each time I get a new issue I go through with post-its and mark anything that catches my interest. I then add the idea, issue #, and page # to my spreadsheet under whichever subject it relates to.
Whenever it is time to plan a new lesson, I use the Find option to look through my Excel spreadsheets for posters, worksheets, ideas, etc that correspond with a particular curriculum area.
To those who are computer challenged, Excel is not complicated at all to learn. I never had formal training, I just taught myself. But you can always find classes at computer stores or local colleges on learning how to use spreadsheets. Some school districts offer classes through their IT department. Spreadsheets are the key to keeping me organized.
I’m a first year teacher of twos and threes, and I need organization tips big time!!