With peers in Math, Science and English I developed a short unit on the impact to humanity from earthquakes. To check out our unit, click here! -> Humanity of Earthquakes.
Pinterest: A Beginner's Guide
Pinterest is a technology tool that allows users to save and categorize content as they choose. I like to call it an electronic hoarding website. Pinterest is an ideal tool for educators to search for and save ideas for teaching- including activities and resources for the classroom.
How to Use: 1. Sign up for a FREE account on pinterest.com. This includes using an email, Facebook or a Google account to set up. You’ll need to create a username and password. 2. Once you have a Pinterest account, you’re free to look up content using the search feature of the website. Also, just like any other social media, you can follow other people and topics that interest you. For example, I follow other secondary educators- such as the blogger Cult of Pedagogy- and topics such as Writing Prompts for English Language Arts. Both of these avenues give me opportunities to find “pins” with useful content for teaching. 3. When you want to start sharing your own ideas or strategies on Pinterest, there are features to share ideas from other websites- like edutopia.com- because most blogs have a “Pinterest” button in the Share options. Additionally, you can upload your own pictures (or blogs) as a way to infuse new ideas into Pinterest to give other educators the chance to use the resources you’ve created.
Ideally, Pinterest is a digitally symbiotic relationship between users. Person A finds ideas and shares so person B can see and use them too; then person B will do the same where Person A can benefit as well.
Reasons to LOVE Pinterest For myself, I use Pinterest as one of- if not THE- first avenues I go to in order to find resources to teach any given topic. I love the interface of Pinterest as it’s very user-friendly and intuitive and I can save everything that I find, all in one place. Lastly, and most importantly, the designers have also created an app for Pinterest, not just a traditional website, so that I can use Pinterest on the go and have my ideas near me at any time (as long as I have my phone with me- which I nearly always do).
Below you can find a YouTube video that I created where I walk viewers through how I use Pinterest as an educator.