Exploring Pinterest Boards

My first impression of blogs—many years ago—was that they were probably uninteresting journals of daily activities such as what I ate for lunch. Even though I was not interested in those blogs I was even less impressed with the unkind comments I saw on some blogs.

Well, those blogs may not have interested me, but I certainly have found many that do. Educators do know how to use blogs to reflect, to curate, and to share. I follow many outstanding blogs and I encourage my teacher education students to do the same.

When I first noticed that Pinterest was becoming a popular social media site my reaction was pretty much the same. (You'd think I would learn!) Although I thought Pinterest would probably be an interesting site for pursuing hobbies and other interests, it did not occur to me that it would become a popular and very useful place for educators to curate content and to share ideas for teaching and learning.

• Edudemic can help you explore:
• Dozens of Ways Teachers Can Use Pinterest (http://www.edudemic.com/2012/11/ways-teachers-can-use-pinterest/),
• The 20 Best Pinterest Boards About Education Technology (http://www.edudemic.com/2012/10/pinterest-education-technology/), and
• their own Edudemic community on Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/edudemic/).
• Science educator Steve Spangler shares ideas for How Teachers and Educators Can Use Pinterest as a Resource In and Out of the Classroom (http://www.stevespangler.com/education-today/how-teachers-and-educators-can-use-pinterest-as-a-resource-in-and-out-of-the-classroom/).
•  Laura Devaney of eSchool News recommends pinners and boards worth noting in Five follow-worthy ed-tech Pinterest boards (http://www.eschoolnews.com/2013/08/20/five-follow-worthy-ed-tech-pinterest-boards/2/).
• Be sure to check out Teachers on Pinterest at (http://pinterest.com/teachers/).

Still curious about Pinterest, but don't know what to explore? Try some of these ideas. (Some are education-related, some not.)

• http://pinterest.com/all/diy_crafts/
• http://pinterest.com/all/food_drink/
• http://pinterest.com/all/home_decor/
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=sports
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=cars
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=recipes
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=teaching
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=cleveland%20browns
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=malone%20university
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=photography
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=jan%20karon
• http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=shakespeare

What was my biggest surprise on Pinterest this summer? It's a great place to find education bloggers! See for yourself: http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=education%20bloggers,


Photos used with permission of Jo Schiffbauer