Create a Teacher Vision Board

 

I was perusing the internet recently and rediscovered vision boards. Vision boards are spaces that you fill with pictures, magazine clippings and other accessories to showcase your life goals and dreams. They are meant to be personal and uplifting reminders of your hopes for the future and provide a constant visual cue to keep you focused on your goals.

The start of a new school year always fills me with hope and excitement. I feel like anything is possible and I start writing down dreams and goals for the year. Unfortunately, those pieces of paper seem to get lost and I tend to lose focus on some of those goals once the school year starts in earnest. I have every intention of fulfilling my self-made promises but time starts slipping through my fingers in the often beautiful but challenging day-to-day teacher life. I needed to create something that would be a daily visual reminder of my teaching goals.

The only logical conclusion? I needed a teacher vision board! Not just any size vision board, though. I needed one that I would see every day - a constant reminder of all that I hope to accomplish over the year. So what's a teacher to do? Place it on the cover of her teacher binder, of course!

Here's how to create one for yourself:

I usually read magazine subscriptions digitally so I ran down to my local library and picked up some out-of-date magazines for sale near the front. Cost: 25 cents each. Woo! Once I got back home, I rounded up scissors, a glue stick, a piece of 8.5x11 cardstock and an upbeat playlist to jam to while I created my teacher vision board.

This step is obviously very personal. My focus for this board was on the new school year, so I selected images that related to my professional hopes and dreams. I cut out words, titles and pictures that fit with my growth goals. The beauty of vision boards is that each one is perfectly unique.

 

After cutting out all the words and images I began arranging them on the piece of paper. It took me about 30 minutes to organize everything. Then I grabbed the glue stick and carefully glued everything down.

Ta Da! I love my new binder cover! It's meaningful and will impact the decisions I make this year as I'm constantly reminded of my initial priorities. I'm excited to see where the new school year takes me as I strive to follow my vision for an engaging, student-centered year!

If you create your own teacher vision board, share a picture with me! Use the hashtag #teachervisionboard on social media or send a picture to theteachersprep@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you create!