Some people might be sick of seeing it....some can't get enough of it....I'm kind of in the middle.
Yet....you wouldn't think so after reading this post.
You might think I'm chevron-obsessed.
I would call it chevron-inspired.
In my house, there are just a few small chevron details....a rug in my kitchen, a set of coasters in my living room, a decorative plaque on my guest room wall. Nothing overwhelming, just a few pops of chevron throughout the house.
And then....there's my classroom.
Three boards in my classroom....see, it's not ALL chevron....there are zebra stripes and polka dots, too. I love myself some black and white patterns!
The problem started when I decided that my bulletin boards needed some TLC. Sure, they had fadeless paper on them (an amazing invention for borderline-OCD teachers like me who despise putting up that large bulletin board paper....cutting the right size, making sure it's not stapled on crooked, making sure that there aren't any "bubbles" in the paper...I could go on).
So while they weren't faded and I didn't *need* to change them, a few things were really bugging me about them and they were looking a little sad.
Plus....I just wanted a change.
Exhibit A: This one had been "patched up" over the past couple years....it had some food stains on it from being near the microwave table (we have lunch in our classrooms at my school) and rips from a few students being overzealous with "helping" take down things for me.
Exhibit B: This one had been used so much that there were TONS of staple/push pin holes in it and I really wanted to change out the purple....plus I was kind of done with the fish-theme that I had years ago (if you can't tell-- the borders had fish all over them).
So after making my objective frames last year, I decided that when I changed the boards I would go with a polka dot/zebra stripe theme.
Until I saw tons of ideas on teacher blogs about using chevron in the classroom.
So that completed my trifecta of patterns that you see above!
I bought some chevron fabric at JoAnn's a couple weeks ago when it was on sale and I had a coupon....but when I put it on this bulletin board I started to realize it was a little hypnotic.
Not exactly the best thing for a classroom full of energetic kids.
My solution....came from Target.
I really think that statement applies so many times in life, couldn't it?
My solution came from Target.
I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but I wanted something that would cover most of the chevron, that came in black, and that I could keep up (or replace easily) from year to year.
Target had this plastic table cover that fit the all of those requirements!
I measured and cut a piece from the plastic that left a thick border of chevron peeking from behind it.
Hypnotic problem solved!
Just to "test it out", I started putting up a few things on the board that I would want up for the beginning of the year. Since this is going to be my "reading" board, I put up a literary elements wipe off chart, and some of the genre posters that I found here on Teachers Pay Teachers.
On the other half, I'm going to create something that I can use as I go through the units in our new ELA curriculum, Reading Street. If anyone uses this and wants to share ideas with me, I'd love to share what I come up with, too!
The other large bulletin board in my classroom (the formerly patched-up blue one above)
got a little chevron-love as well.
Target to the rescue again!
Have you noticed how adorable Target's line of wrapping paper is?
I literally bought 11 rolls there the other day (mostly for home, but a few came to school with me).
And even better-- it's like three bucks a roll.
WAY cheaper than buying the fadeless paper.
(sorry fadeless-paper company, but I think we may have just broken up)
So you can't really tell from this far shot what the patterns look like, so here's a close up:
And because I had lots of extra black plastic table cover left, I created a section of black (with my zebra stripes border) in the middle of the board for something I'm working on....I'll write a post about it once it's done. :)
I am also changing my Star of the Week board from the same one I've had up for years (it was looking a little worn out) and more Target wrapping paper and zebra stripes border came together to become the blank slate for a soon-to-be revamped display for my Star of the Week!
So you can probably tell that my classroom "colors" are different shades of blue or green with accents of black and white. The same day that I bought the black & white chevron fabric from JoAnn's, I couldn't resist getting a little more chevron fabric in a different color.
This was transformed into (thanks to my mom's sensational sewing-skills) new pillow covers for four throw pillows that once used to be on my couch and love seat at home, and are now part of my reading corner in the classroom.
I have a lot more changes and updates to blog about soon....and probably a few more trips to Target!
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