Update: Year One with Whiteboard Tables

I have gotten tons of emails asking for an update on my tables, that I painted at the beginning of the school year. Check out my original post here!

I was out on medical leave (due to a broken leg) from November to April and when I returned my tables looked horrible. I literally bought all different cleaning products to try and clean the tables. I even tried the Expo spray and NOTHING worked!!

So I decided to try one last thing.... Magic Erasers! Yes... Mr. Clean came to my recuse. On the last day of school, my students used a little Dawn soap, a splash of water, a magic eraser, and some elbow grease. My kids really enjoyed cleaning.  Here are the tables later in the day, as we were playing Minute-It-To-Win-It.  THEY ARE BEAUTIFULLY WHITE!!!

Painting Tables with White Board Paint

Working at a 1:1 school, I realized my kiddos still needed a place to work out their problems. Trying to be a paperless or being more realistic, a paper lite classroom, my students needed a workspace that wasn't scratch paper. (That was driving me crazy... having scratch paper everywhere!)

One of my fellow teaching partners painted her tables with whiteboard and I decided to follow suit and create a tutorial!

Step 1: Ask permission! My tables were from circa 1972 and my wonderful principal was on board!

Step 2: Supplies needed:

• Rust-oleum Dry Erase paint (I used 3 boxes for 5 tables and my U-shaped table) 
• sand paper (60 or 80 grit) 
•  A dense foam roll and roller 
• paint tray 
• paint sticks
• painter's tape (I used the blue stuff) 
• painter's plastic (I painted the tables in my classroom and I didn't want any drips on my new carpet!)

Step 3:  I then sanded all the tabletops and then removed the dust with water and a lint free cloth.

Step 4: To prevent drips, I used the blue painter's tape around the edges of the tables.

Step 5: It is really important to do all the prep work before you mix the paint. You only have an one-hour window to paint once can A and can B are mixed.  Paint one thin coat on all the tables.

Step 6: I convinced my wonderful boyfriend that he wanted to help me paint my tables. We applied three thin coats on each table and used 2 boxes of the paint. We then came back the next day and used one more box and painted on two more coats.  You have to wait 3 days before you can use Expo markers on the tables.

Here are the tables in action!