Picture Perfect: Make Your Own Motivational Posters
By Jim Moulton
7/18/08
OK, I admit it. I have been known to leaf through the catalogs that live in the seat pockets on airplanes. I never find anything I have to have, but I always look at the motivational posters -- in part because I see a lot of these in the schools I visit.
You know the ones I mean: These posters have an image of an eagle soaring, a team of climbers reaching a snowy mountaintop, or rowers carving through the still waters of a river at dawn. The images are above some simple text that states an eternal truth. For instance, one poster shows a tousle-headed young boy looking out at a lake as the title below reminds us all to "Do It Now." The text beneath the title states, "When you are done living, you'll be remembered for the lives you touch and not for the meetings you attend."
What I have also noticed is that these posters are not cheap. In fact, though I may be a tad on the frugal side, I have to say they are pretty costly. And one more thing -- the images may be romantic, but they are always of places I have never been, and they feature people I will never meet.
All of which is why I love BigHugeLabs.com. Imagine being able to make your own motivational posters using your own images and your own words. What if the poster intended to encourage extraordinary effort on the part of your third graders featured, rather than some anonymous mountain climber or unnamed racehorse, a candid image of your very own student Hector -- tongue stuck out, pencil gripped, brow furrowed, intensely focused on the job at hand -- with the title "Effort Makes the Difference" and the text "Come on! Try as hard as Hector!" Your student. Your words. Your motivator. Now, that is a poster.
But imagine that Hector is not a student who traditionally puts out this kind of effort. I have to believe he will be motivated if you capture an image of him working hard, put him on a poster, and use that image to inspire others. It's a reversal of the old self-fulfilling prophecy: Tell a person he's lazy and never works hard, and that's what you'll get.
Once you have created the poster, you can easily save it. If you want it made into a real poster -- big, laminated, and so on -- BigHugeLabs.com would be glad to sell that to you. But for the classroom, you can simply download your handiwork as a JPEG file and print it locally.
Plus, it is not just for motivation. What about using the site to make safety posters for the chemistry lab or advertisements for the spring play? What about sports posters or funny posters? And what about, on the personal side, using it to make a poster for someone you care about who is celebrating a significant event?
I will always remember the time -- it was in Alabama, I believe -- I showed this Web site to a group of educators. Within twenty-eight minutes, one of the teachers had gone to her room, taken a picture of her reading chair, uploaded the image to her laptop, made the poster at BigHugeLabs.com (with the title "Welcome to Mrs. Hughes's Grade Four!" and the words "We're going to have a great year!"), saved the finished poster to her laptop, uploaded the poster to her Wal-Mart account, and ordered enough 4 x 6 prints (at twelve cents apiece) to be able to mail them to her students as postcards with a personal note on the back. And, yes, she picked them up at the store on her way home that night!
This tool is only one of about thirty you will find on the site, all of them free and all highly empowering. You can make trading cards, badges, albums for pocket-sized photos, and more. All you need is a digital camera, the Internet, and some motivation. Come on! Work as hard as Hector, and let me know what you make!
And if you've already used BigHugeLabs.com or other sites like it, let me know, and share recommendations of similar online tools.
Language Arts
Submitted by Lindsey Williams (not verified) on September 27, 2008 - 07:00.
Hello! I just wanted to say thanks for the wonderful posting! I think personal motivational posters are a wonderful idea for any age! I teach middle school students, and they do not seem motivated by anything that does not directly involve them personally. Hopefully, if they have a hand in creating their own personal movtivations, they will be much more apt to do their best!
Motivation Posters--what a great Web site!
Submitted by Dornescia (not verified) on August 5, 2008 - 17:35.
This website is awesome! As a teacher, I strive to keep my students motivated. This is another way to motivate as well as reward my students. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful website.
Motivational Posters
Submitted by Jessica Johnson (not verified) on August 2, 2008 - 08:07.
This is such a great idea! I work in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and have recently attended a great conference. At this conference, I took a course on the FISH philosophy created by the workers in the Fish market. I cannot remember exactly which market, in which state, but I think it might be Seattle. They have four great philosophies to live by while at work! I love the idea of making your own posters, because it is important to motivate people every day. What I was excited about doing is taking the philosophies the fish market workers described and putting them onto a poster for the teachers! We do need to keep the children motivated, but posting inspirational posters in the workrooms, teacher lounges, and mail room, we could brighten a teacher’s day too!
Thanks So Much
Submitted by Joanne Stuart (not verified) on July 26, 2008 - 06:15.
Thanks so much for this great article and the web site connection. I have ideas spinning in my head already. I know this will come to great use. Anytime we can integrate the children's work or photos into the messages we deliver, learning sticks. I love it.
Great Idea
Submitted by J. Carreira (not verified) on July 25, 2008 - 15:34.
I absolutely loved the website. Not only is this a great site to make yourself posters, it is also really nice to make someone else a poster of their classroom. I am always looking for little gifts to give my teacher friends and this is awesome!!
Awesome Article
Submitted by Kun Ye (not verified) on July 24, 2008 - 18:09.
The website is absolutely spectacular! I will definitely use this website to create creative and motivational posters in my science classroom. And I will definitely make different unique safety lab posters. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas.
Motivational Posters
Submitted by Marsha Claus (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 19:33.
What a terrific idea! Thank you so much for sharing this information. I have my own sayings the students are used to. This way, I can print them, post them, mail them, etc. and help the kids get the points I want them to receive.
Thanks for the website!
Awesome Web Site
Submitted by Charlie (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 17:12.
This is an awesome web site that I plan to share with my colleagues and friends. Our Open House is not until about the 5th week of school; I plan on taking pictures of each student, make a poster JPEG, and then making a Powerpoint out of each poster. That way I can run the slide show as a loop for my parents.
Great blog and great ideas... thanks.
Posters
Submitted by Joelle (not verified) on July 31, 2008 - 08:52.
I love the idea of using the posters in a PowerPoint presentation to show at Open House! That is a fantastic idea! I teach third grade and have a student of the week. I also had the thought that students can hang their posters up the week they are featured as VIP. Thanks for the neat ideas!
I Absolutely Love This Idea
Submitted by Amy Pyle (not verified) on July 23, 2008 - 15:40.
I absolutely love this idea! I am always trying to think of new ways to motivate my students. I really think personalized posters would mean so much to them. I am dying to try it this year! I also checked out the website and saw many other ways I could try using pictures in the classroom. This experience reminded me of another way my school mentioned of using pictures of students to help them with learning. We talked about taking pictues of the students doing the Tucker Signs that we they see kids they know doing them, so it would be a great reference when they learn them (also a great reference for teachers who are learning them:)). I may bring this idea up again as it could be a very powerful tool. Thank you for your awesome idea and triggering my thoughts!
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