Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Beginning of the Year Theme - BE YOURSELF

I have been thinking all summer about my beginning of the year theme and how I would introduce myself to this year's student body. Historically, I have chosen a picture book to read to every classroom. I choose the book after an extensive search for something that has a profound message.

This year, I saw some quotes on Pinterest that peeked my interest. Then, I saw a graphic on www.mycollegesandcareers.com that looked really interesting to me.
The final theme decision:  "BE" Yourself!

First, I created small signs with a whole bunch of words to go along with BE - to describe qualities the students should strive for.  For example: BE - unique, smart, different, responsible, respectful, honest, trustworthy, etc. I used fun free fonts I downloaded (see my July 24th post - Fun Free Fonts). I printed many of the words on patterned cardstock that I found at the Dollar Store. I laminated all of them. See the pictures below.




Next, I created small signs with quotes that focused on the word BE. I downloaded free colorful frames and backgrounds from www.teacherspayteachers.com and printed out the signs on white cardstock. I laminated all of them. See below.



Third, I purchased the book: The Boy Who Grew Flowers by Jennifer Wojtowicz and Steve Adams from Amazon. This will be the book I read to every student in the school during my introductory lessons.

Finally, I will be hanging up all the words and quotes in the hallway by my office. Check back for a picture of the finished product!
Now, for my beginning of the school year gift to you! If you click the pictures below, you can download a .pdf file with the words and the signs for you to print out at home. Happy Printing!
                                         



69 comments:

  1. Love this Susan! I can't wait to see a picture of the finished product!!

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    1. Thanks! I will be hanging it up this week and will post pictures thereafter!

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    2. We have the 3 B's (Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe)in our school, we call it the Raider Code. Now we will add "Be Yourself". Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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    3. Faye - that sounds fantastic!

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    4. THIS IS SOOOOOO AMAZING!!!!! Thank you for saving me so much time be sharing your creativity! I can not wait to create this as a back to school bulletin board in our 6th grade hallway!

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  2. Thanks SO much, Susan! This was a lifesaver for us when we found ourselves completely out of time with two empty bulletin boards on the last teacher day before kids come back to school. We have gotten SO many compliments on it, and have been bragging about how much school counselors share with each other. I'm going to post a link on School Counseling by Heart! Thanks for your wonderful generosity!

    Rebecca

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    1. You are very welcome! I have been so busy trying to get my office ready that I won't be hanging up my work of "BE YOURSELF" art on the wall outside my office until this week! I look forward to seeing a picture of yours!

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  3. AwEsOmE!!! This is such a wonderful display idea. Thank you for sharing, Susan!

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  4. Thanks for sharing this, I agree with Rebecca, can't wait to get to work on this idea. I woke up in a panic today because I need to put bulletin board together still! You saved me! Thanks!

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    1. Glad to help! I will be climbing up a ladder this week to hang each piece...

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  5. Susan, I LOVE this idea and will totally be using it for my next bulletin board. What size font did you use for those of us who may want to add some more descriptors? I am wanting to add our school mascot of "panther" as a choice! :-)

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    1. Annie - I used varying sized fonts. For most, I kept enlarging the font until the word fit across the entire sheet of paper (landscape). I set my margins at .5 all the way around. Hope this helps!

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  6. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing. Anyway to repost signs? It states they are damaged files when I attempt to print out.

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    1. I'm not sure why that has happened to you...I just opened up both files/documents and printed without any trouble.

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  7. Susan, I can't thank you enough for this post & printables!!! This will be my next bulletin board.

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  8. Love this! Thank you for sharing your positive energy!

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  9. These are BEautiful! Thanks for the freebie . . . downloaded it for a new year's resolution board. I also appreciate being on your blog roll!

    Barbara
    The Corner On Character

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  10. Thank you for the downloads! Otherwise I would have been at my computer all night. You are Great!

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  11. I love this idea! I would also like to create this in Spanish. Would you happen to have a version other than PDF that you could send me so that I could translate the words?

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  12. Thank you for sharing your wonderful work!

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  13. This is the greatest, now I must translate words into my language, Hopi.

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  14. Love them! Thank you for the freebies! I am going to have this on my classroom door for the end of the year!

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  15. Such a simple but wonderful and inspiring idea! As this school year comes to an end, I am already thinking/planning about ways we can better encourage and instill good character in our students. It's been a challenge like never before these last nine months :( Hopefully, we can start next year on the right foot, thanks to your idea! I think it will make a wonderful bulletin board for the whole school, both staff and students! Thank you for sharing!

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  16. Just found this via Pinterest (of course). Love it. Printing them out so they will be ready for the fall! Thank you!!

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  17. Good evening, is there a way to transfer these to Word document?

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  18. Thank you so much! I've been trying to come up with a bulletin board idea that can last longer than the first month of school. This is perfect. I can't thank you enough for the free words and signs. You just made my life so much easier:)

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  19. Thank you so much! I saw this on Pinterest, and was going to attempt to recreate it. I knew I would never be able to make it look as great and creative as your version. But then I saw that you posted the words and posters, and it totally made my day! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  20. Absolutely love this!! thanks for sharing your ideas. Worked on it and it's up on my board....thanks, thanks, thanks

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  21. What a teacher-friendly and generous post! Thanks for the freebees, Susan.

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  22. Hi, I just wanted to say thank you SO SO much, not only for the creative idea but for doing all the prep work for us!! It made life so much easier to have all the words and signs ready to go (which gave me more time to focus on all the other things to do for back to school)! I really appreciate it and love your blog!! Good luck with the new school year!

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  23. I tied this theme to my lesson on respect, what it is, what it looks like and what it feels like. After that discussion, I had the kids tell me what they should BE to create a respect learning environment. They came up with tons of great signs to post and loved seeing them all on the bulletin board.

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  24. This is awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing!! I counsel high school kids and they absolutley LOOVVEEE the board!!

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  25. Wow! You are a saint and a very generous person! Thank you am using this with my Girl Scouts!

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  26. just printed all of this. So excited to add some positive energy and color to my walls! Thank you for making it so easy

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  27. Hi - Just found your site via a post on facebook on your BE themed words & signs. I've been exploring and finding lots of positive ideas I can use in my school libraries. We - staff and students alike - can sure need all the positive support we can get & give each other. Thank you so much!

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  28. These are SO great. Thank you for sharing them and making them available for free.

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  29. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I saw your pin earlier this summer and was excited to get working on it for my social work office bulletin board....I am so excited and thankful that you provided the printouts...thank you thank you!!!!:)

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  30. Thank you! Excited to use this for the opening of school on Monday! Wonderful idea!

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  31. THANK YOU for these files, Susan! I'm actually planning a version of this bulletin board for my classroom because I loved it so much. I'm going to have my kids give me ideas for some of the words, but your files will be a great starting point to have up on the first day and inspire them!

    - Emily
    dramainthemiddle.wordpress.com

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  32. I am having trouble printing these from this site. Are they located in another place? Any suggestions? Thanks

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    1. I don't know why you'd have trouble printing. In order to print, all you need to do is click on the words "SIGNS" and "WORDS" at the end of the post!

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  33. Thank you for sharing!!

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  34. I absolutely love this board!! I would really like to put this u in my classroom. Would be be able to send me a link to there i can print this awesomeness please and thank you.
    :)

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    1. In order to print, all you need to do is click on the words "SIGNS" and "WORDS" at the end of the post!

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  35. Awesome board! I can't seem to find where and how you download the words for the BE Board.Can someone help me pretty please? Thank you!!

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    1. In order to print, all you need to do is click on the words "SIGNS" and "WORDS" at the end of the post

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  36. Also, thanks for sharing this. I used this on my door when I was in the classroom, and I am using it again for a bulletin board as a middle school counselor. I appreciate you allowing us to "steal."

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  37. Perfect! I am a high school counselor and as all of us never have enough time! Thanks for sharing!

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  38. Thank you for sharing! I know what I'm doing next year now. Any way you could send them to me in a format I can use and adjust the size (word)? Now I know what my board will be next year. Thanks again for sharing!!

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  39. you are so generous to share this with all. thankyouthankyou!! in the craziness that is preparing for the school year, this is greatly appreciated.

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  40. Where are the words 'signs' and 'words'-- I can't seem to locate them?

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  41. You saved me a ton of time! Thank you!

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  42. Thank you SO much for sharing all of these words and positive poster. I feel like I have the best bulletin board in the world because of your sharing. I put the positive posters across the front of the room with all my 90 students' pictures in between them. The BE board in in the front, too. THANK YOU! Oh ... I teach 6th and 7th graders. :) THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  43. I'm not sure where my first post went, but I just have to tell you thank you! I teach middle school language arts, and this Be Board and the positive signs are SO perfect for my room. Thank you so much for sharing EVERYTHING!

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  44. I love these ideas! However, I am having trouble printing them. H keeps saying 'page not found"

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    1. Try using Google Chrome to as your browser to open and print. The file is still active. Click on the above "Signs" and "Words" to ge to the files.

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    2. Thank you so much for sharing these words and signs. I printed them on colorful card stock paper and can't wait to complete this "BE" bulletin board. Your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated.

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  45. Thank you so much for sharing the words and signs. I used colorful card stock to print them on and can't wait to complete my "BE" bulletin board. Your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated.

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  46. I absolutely love this! Thank you for sharing!

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  47. Thank you for sharing! We were able to use all of the resources you provided, and the general idea to add a few extra words specific to our church and Sunday School setting. You made this so easy for the rest of us! Thank you thank you thank you! And thanks for loving kids and encouraging them to be themselves.

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  48. As an adolescent substance abuse RN in a treatment facility this is perfect for the bulletin board outside of my office!! Thanks for sharing :)

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  49. I came across your blog while looking for some motivation for my bulletin board, as much for my students as myself. I printed your words on some bright paper and it turned out beautiful! Thank you for capturing exactly what I was looking for and for sharing it with all of us!

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  50. Thank you!!! I've been wanting to make a board like this for several years. You did all of the work for me! Thanks for sharing!

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  51. Thank you for sharing! I love this! :)

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  52. THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!!! Thank you for sharing I will be proudly hanging this in our 6th grade hallway for a back to school bulletin board.

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  53. Thank you ever so much for sharing! You are amazing!!! It is exactly what I was looking for, you saved me hours of work and it will look amazing on the bulletin board outside the class. Thank you

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  54. Thank you so much for sharing. I knew I would not be able to recreate like it was in pictures. But you just rock! So creative. Thank you

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