Printing on Post-Its... Everybody's Doin' It! Are You?

Are you printing on Post-Its? So, it's pretty much the greatest thing I've learned in the history of learning things.  I'm kinda obsessed with it... and it's not really the most practical obsession. Seriously, Post-Its, especially the super sticky, fun-colored ones that I like, are expensive!

But, seeing that I already spend a ton on stuff for my classroom, what's another drop in the bucket?! Especially for the hot pink ones... I'm a sucker for hot pink!!

Anyway, here's my latest printing-on-Post-Its endeavor...

So, last week I wrote about changing up my math block and mentioned how I am using a differentiated menu board for the students to use after small group or independent work.  I wanted to make a large version of the board to hang in the classroom because I knew that the kids would be far more likely to utilize that one, rather than get out their math journals and look at the one we taped onto the inside the cover.

Now, I'm always reluctant to print a poster version of something from Staples or the like, because they are expensive! And I knew that it would be likely that I'd be changing up the activities on the menu board when I get bored it's time for a change, so I didn't want to drop any cash only to have to do it again a month later. Enter my Post-Its....

First, I took the menu that I created in Publisher and saved it as a jpeg. Then, I opened the jpeg and re-sized it so that each box of the menu was approximately the size of a 3x3 Post-It note. Next, I made a bunch of copies of it and cropped each one so that I had a separate jpeg of each box of my menu. Then, using a template like one of these, I inserted each jpeg into one of the Post-It frames. I printed out a copy of this and it looked like this...

Then, I put a Post-It on top of each outline, reinserted the paper into my printer and hit print again. That will give you this...

Finally, I hand drew a grid onto poster board, cut it out and laminated it, and stuck each Post-It into its spot on the board.

Now I have a large menu hanging in my room and if I want to change out the activities it's just a matter of taking down an old Post-It and replacing it with a new one!

Are you printing on Post-Its? How do you use them?

Happy teaching!!