Bulletin Boards

Back to school is coming soon. What better time to talk about bulletin boards in your speech room. I've never been one to change bulletin boards throughout the year, so choosing something that lasts the year (or several years) is very important. Though I spend most of my time pushing into classrooms, I'm still fortunate enough to have a speech room and bulletin boards. Let's start with some ideas for decorating your bulletin board and then I will share some items I include.

Decorating Elements

I do not have an eye for decor at all. What has worked for me includes the following staples.

Thick wrapping paper for the background.
Bulletin board border for the edges.
Thick heavy or wired ribbon to add some dimension to the top.

SLP Bulletin Board Elements

I am lucky to have a bulletin board over my desk; however, even when I didn't, the side of my filing cabinet or wall contained some go-to SLP items. Here are my suggested items.

Showcase your favorite school SLP quotes!

• Be a mover and a shaker not a whiner and complainer!
• Blessed are those who are flexible for they shall not break!

Display your credentials.
Include speech and educationally relevant norms.
Post checklists for workload tasks.
Keep handy the school calendar.
Ensure important contact information for those you reach out to most is available.
Save room for any student gifted artwork or notes!

Speech Room Bulletin Board Elements

My bulletin board in the main area of my room always contains somewhat functional decor. Here are my suggested ideas.

Post I CAN statements with common core links for each area of speech and language. You can find my current targets within my Modern Rustic Speech Room Decor pack. I also have the same posters with different decor within my Back to Speech pack.

Secure therapy materials using utility hooks (I have a nice metal edge around my bulletin board) or heavy duty tacks for hanging tasks cards on rings.

Make the bulletin board interactive. In my former speech room, I hung a pocket chart with monthly thematic words. Once a month, students would get a chance to choose words to use in a sentence and attempt to find words with secret stickers hidden on the back. This predictable game was a favorite in my therapy room and made good use of a large bulletin board!

Display speech room rules, behavior charts, brag tags, or student goal tags/cards.

Ensure important visuals are in clear view for your students. I recently made my Essential Visuals into signs which would be perfect for this purpose.

There is still a little bit of summer left for me. Before you know it, I will be back looking at my boards. Luckily I left up most of my elements from last year! What are your favorite items to include on your bulletin boards?