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I will be teaching 6th and 7th grade science in the Fall. Can you experienced teachers help me with your advice on posters or other items that are a must have in your science room?
Mark McLean
[email protected]
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Hi Mark!
Congratulations!! I've found that the posters are much more for me than for
students. I had a poster that said: "tie your shoes, pack a good lunch and
realize that we're all in this together" which really helped me out on
rough days... in retrospect I wouldn't have that exact poster in my room
(students who don't have the ability to bring a good lunch might not have
felt good about those words), but something that helps motivate you or
reminds you it's okay when things are hard may be helpful!
I think making space for students' work or things about students is good. A
friend of mine had everyone dress in a white lab coat and took pictures
which she hung on the wall -- something that makes the space include your
students. I used to hang posters about the moon, stars, and other cool
space things. Some kids would look at them, but really I didn't feel like I
used the wall space well.
I hope that helps!
Sincerely,
Michelle
--
*STEM Educational Equity Consultant*
*PolarTREC Teacher 2011-2012, 2014-2015*
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Check out NASA's site and they have free downloadable posters! https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/5-8/index.html
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Check out NASA's site and they have free downloadable posters! https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/5-8/index.html
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Hi Mark--
i would agree with our colleagues about having students make posters. I had teams of students make lab safety posters rather than buying ones. They were more personalized to our lab.
Also -- check with a travel club to see if you can scrounge up some maps of the US and your state. Students can never have enough geography, and if you can get enough for each team to have one, you can do a lot of activities, in addition to wall mounts. USGS topological maps are available for free downloads, too. https://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/
Mary B.
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Hi Mark,
I change the posters that I have on my walls throughout the year depending on the content we are studying. You might start with something related to the first unit with which you will be studying. For example, my first unit of the year is lab safety so I display my lab safety rules. These actually stay up year round.
Another suggestion would be to display posters that your students have created. The posters could be part of an end of the unit assessment and highlight the unit that you just studied.
What do others display in their room to showcase student work?
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Thank you Ruth!
I appreciate your comments and I think I will follow suit with changing posters mindset as opposed to one set.
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I agree with you Ruth! Definitely display student work. Graphs they create during group work, sometimes we have created PSA posters about science safety, pollution, and whatever is related to the topic we are working on at that time.
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Hi Ruth,
I really like the idea of switching up the posters. This was something that I was concerned about before starting my first year teaching...how am I going to get all these posters on the wall, and will they all work together!? How did I never think of rotating through them by topic!!! & student posters...yes, yes, YES! Thank you!
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Hi Mark -
I primarily use posters to create a pleasant and relaxing classroom environment for students.
Think about how color in a space impacts you and keep that in-mind as you select materials to post.
As a Biology/Life Science teacher I select posters that bring in the beauty of earth's amazing biodiversity. I also add posters that bring in indigenous lifeways, such as wild rice harvesting. Additional posters might include history of science and diverse scientists. Also any posters that bring in the work of famous artists who created works related to your topic, or beautiful graphics of what you are teaching.
Detailed maps of land masses or ocean surfaces can be great teaching tools too.
Our state geological society produced a 3-D state geology map that my students really loved. You can also order sets of inexpensive 3-D goggles.
Other poster ideas - Class Rules, Lab Safety and NGSS.
Downloadable posters on NGSS are available at Project Neuron. https://neuron.illinois.edu/NGSS-posters
I second Ruth's comments that it is a good idea to rotate posters, connect them to units and change them up periodically.
It keeps the classroom interesting and students will notice the new posters or even one's you've just moved to a new spot.
I also agree with Ruth that setting aside a space to display student work is important too.
Think about keeping a special area/bulletin board for student work and rotate this out as work is completed during the year.
Let your creativity flow and fun decorating your classroom!
Dorothy
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Hello! I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed how you mentioned the importance of creating that pleasant and relaxing classroom environment for your students. This can totally be done with posters! I think that, sometimes, teachers shy away from using posters for fear that it makes the classroom too crowded. If done in a tasteful, visually pleasing way, the posters can act in a way which will enhance student learning.
I also really enjoyed your suggestion to rotate posters. They can relate to the subject matter you are covering. I had a teacher in elementary school who used this method and, in doing so, that teacher gained our attention because we were always excited for the new posters to go up. AS well as having posters, I agree that it is important to have space set aside to showcase student work. This not only brightens the classroom, but it allows for the students to gain a sense of owner ship in the classroom. As a soon-to-be new teacher, I really appreciated all the advice given in this post. Thank you!
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