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The Teacher’s Academy is “On Board” with Pinterest!
- August 11, 2015
- Posted by: The Teachers Academy
- Category: All Blog Postings Educator Resources / News
Learn how you can use this social media phenomenon to shake up your class.
What is Pinterest?
There are few people out there unfamiliar with Pinterest, but for the uninitiated, Pinterest is an organizational website where users can store virtual information (referred to as “Pins”) by category. Pinterest, which started as a site to store images from all over the internet, evolved into a site where users search for ideas by topic and store them onto “boards”, so they can be easily accessed at a later date. Images are uploaded or linked from a site through a “Pin” button uploaded to the user’s favorite’s bar or through a website’s “Pin It” button. Pinterest is free, but it requires users to register in order to create pins and store information.
Pinterest Ideas Will Shake Up Your Curriculum
Pinterest allows users to save time when searching for educational topics, because users can search the vast database of Pinterest by subject or keywords.
Each day, over a million educational pins are posted covering just about every unit, lesson, or classroom management topic a teacher could hope for. Users will find entire units, single lessons, or printable materials on almost any topic. Need a hands-on activity to supplement your lesson on the phases of the moon? Pinterest has you covered with an activity where students use Oreos to show the shape of the moon through each of its phases. Your students will surely be excited, and your kinesthetic learners will have a meaningful learning experience.
Feeling uneasy about how to incorporate technology into your lessons? Check out pins on using QR codes to quickly assess student comprehension. Use this form of assessment in any lesson while you’re being formally observed, and you’re sure to score points in that integrating technology professional objective!
As September approaches, teachers are often looking for innovative ways to set up their classrooms or just spruce up a tired environment. Pinterest offers free downloads which will allow you to carry that mint chevron theme from your posters to your letterhead to your behavior management signs. If you are looking for creative ideas to implement your behavior management system, your biggest problem will be choosing just one idea. Not only are new ideas easy to find, many teachers offer detailed specifics and allow you to download their creations for free!
The best part is that most lessons and ideas have been created by teachers and found to be successful, so you can implement them with confidence. Because of Pinterest’s growing popularity, many educational organizations are getting in the game. Companies such as Scholastic or The Children’s Reading Foundation offer free ideas and lessons to use in the classroom. There are also many government sites such as NASA and The Library of Congress that provide free educational material on a desired topic. Topics can be used by teachers in early education through high school.
Pinterest is extremely user friendly. Users can access it on their computer or through a mobile app, which is how the majority of users access Pinterest.
Help! What are Boards and How do I Organize Them?
Pinterest users store information on a “board” of their creation so the information can be organized and easily accessed. Check out The Teacher’s Academy board to see what we mean!
When you log into your Pinterest account, you will see a “feed” based on the pinners and boards that you follow, as well as pins that Pinterest has selected for you according to your likes. You can scroll through the selected pins and select the “Pin It” button if there is something you want to save. Users then choose a board that they have named or create a new board to fit their need. Think of your Pinterest boards as virtual file folders. Instead of printing information for future use, you can “Pin” the information onto a board to be accessed when you need it. Because each pin is an image, users can quickly and easily scan for the information. Pinterest even gives you the option to create “secret boards” for information you don’t want to share publicly.
How do I decide who to follow?
Because there is so much information on Pinterest, people often become overwhelmed. To use Pinterest most efficiently, it is important to determine which users or boards to follow. Pinterest allows users to follow a person or to only follow individual boards. This saves time because you are only seeing the information in your feed that you want to see. Deciding who to follow takes a bit of trial and error. If you see a pin that interests you, check out the user’s entire board. You may choose to follow this user if you see a lot that interests you.
Many teachers have even found a way to earn additional income through Pinterest. Teachers set up a business account through Teachers Pay Teachers and charge money for self-created material. Materials include everything from entire units to individual lessons plans with printable worksheets. There is also behavior management material, organizational printables and items to decorate the classroom. If you are not interested in purchasing materials, you will also find many freebies on the Teachers Pay Teachers site.
The Teacher’s Academy Pinterest Boards
Have you checked out the Teacher’s Academy boards on Pinterest? We follow the most innovative teachers and educational companies which inspires us to try new ideas in the classroom! We have created boards for almost every subject and area of classroom management. We verify each pin to ensure that there is a viable link, relevant information, and free material. Follow us today on Pinterest so we can share that information with you!
Teachers, let us know how you use Pinterest in your classroom!
For more ideas on professional development in your state, check out our full catalog of our downloadable PD courses. The Teacher’s Academy is the best option for convenient affordable professional development.