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Lately I have been seeing lots of posts on Facebook by my teacher friends, raving about the great finds for educators on Pinterest. It seems to be "the next big thing" fueled by easy access, practical application, and that elusive touch of addictive quality that makes good ideas take off in the digital world.
So what exactly is (click for website) "Pinterest" and why would you use it as a resource for teaching?
Read what
Eric Sheninger
Principal at New Milford High School had this to say on his (click for website)Edutopia Blog:
"After hearing about all the hoopla surrounding Pinterest, I decided to check it out and
see if it had any value to me as an educator. Up until this point I
really didn't have a clue as to what it was all about except that it was
a social media tool that functioned like an electronic bulletin board.
After requesting an invite, I was all set to go a day later and began
to create my first pin board. The tutorial video that you are directed
to upon signing up was short, to the point, and made it incredibly
simple to dive in and start creating. I dragged the "pin it"
bookmarklet into Google Chrome and off I went.
I quickly became fascinated with the idea of "pinning" together all
of my professional interests. As I began to piece together resources on Personal Learning Networks (PLNs),
I lost track of time and ended staying up well past my bedtime. The
point here was that I was engaged. My excitement carried over to the
next day as I created another board on Web 2.0 Tools. This
led me to begin to brainstorm many ways in which educators could
utilize this resource to enhance teaching and learning."
EdWorldSarah (click for website) recommended the following on her Education World Community Blog:
"The key is to follow others who actively use Pinterest to collect great
classroom and education related resources and ideas. Who you follow
really matters because it directly influences the quality of the content
you see when you visit Pinterest. It's great to follow friends and
people who you respect, but you also need to make sure you are following
some power pinners who will make the whole experience even better.
We've put together a five of five must-follow Pinterest users to help
you get in the pinning groove. Ready?
(click for websites)
Amanda
Plum
Boards: Classroom Behavior Ideas, Classroom Decor,
Teaching Math, etc.
>
Why We Love Her: Amanda’s pins aren’t just bright,
colorful and exciting (they are!), but she also annotates them with why
she’s pinning them or a little description that gets us thinking too.
Her Pinterest pins could make for a really exciting and engaging
classroom.
Rachel Friedwich
Boards: Substitute Teaching Ideas, Character Teaching
Ideas, Anchor Chart Ideas, etc
Why We Love Her: With 65 boards and more than 2,000
pins, Rachel is a highly organized pinner whose work really digs deep
into the possibilities of Pinterest. There’s so many great ideas held
within her boards that we can’t help but wait excitedly for what comes
next from her.
Charity
Preston
Boards: Character Building, Bullying Resources, Leap Year, etc
Why We Love Her: It’s no secret that we think Charity
Preston is a rock star in the online educator’s realm. She blogs for us
here on the Education World Community and also runs the
Primary
Grades group. On Pinterest, she has more than 4,000 pins on 61
boards covering everything from special days (National Punctuation Day,
anyone?) to Classroom Freebies. Her pins are thoughtful, useful and
well-selected. She’s totally got her finger on the pulse of everything
education.
Melissa
Alonzo-Dillard
Boards: Dr. Seuss, Classroom Themes, Smartboard, etc
Why We Love Her: Melissa has pinned a lot (nearly
7,000 pins!) and has curated an amazing collection of ideas that are
well organized on more than 80 boards. It’s easy to dig through and find
dozens of fabulous ideas from her pins. And her Dr. Seuss content?
Love.
Rockabye Butterfly
Boards: Human Body Study, Sensory Activities for Kids,
Math Play, etc
Why We Love Her: Rockabye Butterfly is a homeschooling
mom who has created a fabulous Pinterest collection covering the gamut
from the core subjects to specialized interests (Space!). Her pins are
perfect for any educator of early childhood, preschool and primary kids.
And we especially love that she keeps track of the pins she actually
does in real life too -- pretty cool to know she’s really doing the
projects offline.
Do you have Pinterest links, tips or ideas to share?
Comment here to let everyone in on the action!
