Blog Post #6 - Educator Uses for Pinterest

                Investigating and researching Pinterest this week opened my eyes to the world of sharing interests with people within my circle of friends, as well as, friends I have never met.   Until I read the articles about Pinterest, I had no idea why so many people consider it a world changer.  In the article, “What is Pinterest? A Database of Intentions?” Evan Sharp describes Pinterest as a kind of utility where people save and organize things for a later date, so that they can discover new things.  It’s the world’s largest set of objects that people care about.”  Educators are always looking for ways to create and sharpen their skills, as well as sharing their ideas with others. Pinterest is an agent for discovery because it helps people discover their interests or things they are passionate about.   Even though Pinterest could be considered social media, it seems more inspirational than social.    People who make a difference inspire others and many connections are built with inspirational people through the sharing and pinning process.

                Linda Darling Hammond, an education professor at Stanford University, conducted a survey among teachers in 2009 about their views on professional development.  Most of the teachers complained about attending workshops that had little to do with the well-being of the students.  However, they commented on the value of sharing ideas and indexing them in categories through the web by utilizing Pinterest.  Last year, education pins climbed from 500,000 to about 1.3 million last year. In another poll conducted by Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, it was reported that 38% of educators use Pinterest on a daily basis.  Teachers can find lesson plans, projects, motivational and inspirational charts, ideas for behavior, and strategies to engage the students for every subject. 

Our kinder department at Immanuel Christian School uses Pinterest for educational games in their “morning meetings.”  Both teachers have hanging charts with objects for counting, calendar, and story time that were discovered on Pinterest.   Sitting in the classrooms this week, I saw their ingenious ideas and the strategies implemented during carpet time.  They pinned a board from another teacher in South Carolina and copied her chart to a tee.  The charts are an interactive way to connect with the students and the process of receiving the inspiration from a fellow educator clear across the country is fascinating!

Our cafeteria entrepreneur, Mrs. McCardle, loves Pinterest.  She and her staff are amazing cooks who are always willing to try new recipes.   At the front of the cafeteria, Mrs. McCardle displays a huge whiteboard with pictures of recipes.  The students can vote for their favorite recipe and then she will have her staff cook it on Friday.  She prints off recipes that she likes from Pinterest boards and posts the picture for the students to vote for their favorite.  In my opinion, this is a wonderful example of caring for the well-being of the students.

Lastly, our drama teacher, Mrs. Zaragoza, peruses Pinterest looking for scenes, sets, costumes, and even acting tips.  If she finds a particular set or design she likes, she shares it with our art department and the students create the set for the school plays and musicals.  It is a wonderful way to select from a vast array of ideas from talented people and also share ideas among colleagues.  When her drama cast performed Alice and Wonderland last year, many of the ideas came from the drama department of a school in Waco, Texas.    In conclusion, the concept of web navigation through Pinterest has the ability to formulate connections between creative people across the globe, who may never meet face to face, but still form a special bond- one that makes a difference.