How to Brainstorm and Organize Ideas for Black History Month
Trying to get ideas for Black History Month? Or maybe you have so many ideas and wondering where to start or how to narrow it down. Well…I’m so glad you’re here because I have a fun, quick way to brainstorm and organize all your ideas for Black History Month so you can start planning out all the details as quickly as possible.
I know you want this celebration to be something special and FUN for your students or children. But it’s not always easy to know where to start especially if this is your first time putting on a Black History Month Celebration.
The best place to start is to brainstorm as many ideas as you possible can. Get it all down on paper. I mean every idea you have, big or small. It doesn’t matter because maybe this year you might decide to do ONE big thing. Then every year after that, you can continue to add on special activities and projects to make it even more memorable.
It’s time to start brainstorming. Grab tons of sticky notes and something to write with and let’s get started!
Let me introduce you to my Sticky Note Slap It Method.
Step 1: Brainstorm one idea per sticky note.
Did you grab those sticky notes? It’s time to start writing down all your ideas. But you only can put one idea per sticky note. You don’t have to put them in any sort of order right now. Just get all those ideas down. Then, SLAP THOSE STICKY NOTES on a wall, desk, whiteboard, or poster board.
Step 2: Choose the categories you want to use to organize your sticky notes.
I always encourage educators to organize them based on our Black History All-Star Celebration Roadmap™ or the Black History All-Star Planning Roadmap™.
If you are unfamiliar with our Roadmaps, watch my free video series called “How to Pull Off the Most Memorable Black History Month Celebration” and learn more about it.
But to get you started in choosing categories, you could have a vision, planning, activities, volunteers etc. type categories. However you want to categorize it is up to you. Think about which categories are going to set you up for success and make planning so much easier.
Step 3: Place your sticky notes into a category.
The final step to my Sticky Note Slap It Method is to place all your sticky notes into a category. Now, sometimes your ideas for Black History Month might fit into more than one category. That’s okay. This has happened to me plenty of times. If this happens, choose the category you feel fits the best.
Once you have all your sticky notes in a category, it’s time to start thinking about how you want to plan out the details. Making to-do lists is a great option. I’ve also heard educators say they like to map out what they need to get done on a calendar. Or maybe BATCHING is your favorite way to get things done.
Let me know in the comments which method of planning you like to use from the picture above.
Are you a…
1. To Do List Kind of Person
2. Calendar Mapping type
3. Batching King or Queen
