Have you used Pinterest with your class yet?

You've got to check out an article my blog buddy, Brian of Mixminder, wrote!  Here's a link:

Five Reasons Teachers Should Use Pinterest

Go check out Brian and his wife, Yvonne's, TPT store by clicking on the picture below:

While it's true that many teachers are already using Pinterest to "file away" lessons we want to try in the future, how many of us have thought of its application in the classroom?  Brian gives an example of using it with a Dinosaur unit.

When I read this article, my wheels began spinning in my head, trying to think of how I could use it. Here are a few ideas that I thought of:

Ahead of time set up a Pinterest account for your class that is separate from your personal account.  Make the same number of boards as the number of students in your class + 1 for yourself to use as an example when you are modeling how to do it.  Instead of naming the boards with the name of your students, number each board so you don't have to redo them next year.  Assign each student a number,  preferably alphabetically.  Each board will be a collaborative board, but only you and one student will be collaborating on each board.  Although you won't be pinning to their boards, you need "veto power" to edit inappropriate pins.

PRIMARY TEACHERS:
*Students can pin your skill of the week.
  -Pin 5 pictures that begin with "ch".
  -Pin 5 pictures about weather
  -Pin 5 pictures that are geometric solid shapes.

For grading purposes, you can give them a goal such as pinning 5 pictures.  Students who pin more than 5 can earn extra credit.

To differentiate: Have your "spark plugs" find 3 pictures with "ch" at the beginning of the word and 3 pictures with "ch" at the end of the word.

INTERMEDIATE TEACHERS:
Pinterest can be a great tool for your next research project.  An important skill to incorporate in this lesson is judging quality sources.  There are so many sources on the internet, that students need to know how to judge the value of a source.  Remind them it's not who has the most pins that's important, it's having quality sources that will help them write their paper or do their research project. Stress quality over quantity.  Here's a rubric you can use:

Here's an example I made of what your class research could look like:

One of the glitches to setting up a class pinterest project with younger students is facebook or twitter.  In order to sign up for pinterest, you have to have a facebook or twitter account.  Students under 13 aren't allowed to have a facebook account.  One way around this is for the teacher to set up a class account on facebook and then join Pinterest using that account.  A classroom computer could be the designated "Pinterest" center.  Students would rotate to the computer to pin the skill of the week to their designated board.

Have you tried using Pinterest in your classroom yet?  If so, I'd love to hear how you used it.