Well, I was wrong. Pinterest isn't really about all of that! Sure it does give you plenty of crafty ideas for decorating, cooking, baking, etc. But what I have learned in the past few weeks is that Pinterest is really an awesome source for learning and collaborating. Isn't this one of the best ways to learn? by collaborating? I think so.
In the words of Albert Einstein, "If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got." Pinterest can assist with this! If something isn't working you shouldn't keep slaving away trying to force it to work.
Lets say in a classroom you have a system for helping your students positively express their feelings but your students don't seem to be catching onto this method. Clearly you need a new system, not to tweak the one you have. On Pinterest you can type 'attitudes K-3' into the search bar and have endless related pins pop up to answer your questions. The best thing about this is that anyone can post on Pinterest! You now have ideas from parents, teachers, psychologists, camp counselors, etc.
I've heard that education isn't about reinventing the wheel. Education is about collaboration, negotiation, and communication. Pinterest can provide you with just that.
For my Pinterest Inquiry project my partner and I are exploring the idea of making ideas learned in the classroom come to life in the real world. I think this is such an important concept to sell to your students. Anything is much more believable when you think you will use it in your life. For example, students often struggle with the idea of learning about social studies. It's pretty easy to see how a student would find this subject useless. I firmly believe it is the teacher's main job to make school useful and relatable to real life. I know this is a big task, trust me. I've thought a lot about it. On the other side, I've committed myself to helping my students find joy and passion in school. I know they won't love everything I teach but I do hope they find something that changes their mind about learning. I believe the best way to do this is to make learning believable and realistic.
So here we go, Pinterest! Lets do it. I've started searching random topics in Pinterest to see what kinds of pins I can find. So far it has been going decently well but I am noticing that this topic is oddly specific and I will need to start broadening my search. I think the best way to do this will be to build off of the pins I have already pinned. It is pretty cool that most pins lead you to a link where the original product was found. Finding reliable sources with many different forms of media will be very helpful for this project.
Another source to tap into would be to follow other teachers on Pinterest. This website has a Twitter-like system in which you can follow other peoples boards. When I find a board that seems to be education focused I should follow them and see who else is pinning from that board. Pinterest makes it super easy to find a common interest among others.
Lastly, I should also tap into the school teachers I am working with this semester and other educators I have worked with in the past. I'm sure all of them have had very different classrooms and experiences. Using other people to give you ideas is also helpful, especially within education, because no classroom is the exact same and not one method always works for teaching.
In Literacy and Learning III class this semester we have been focusing on the idea of education not being a 'one size fits all' type of situation. All students are unique and vary in their interests in abilities. This is why I believe it is important to keep your classroom fresh. By fresh I mean fresh with ideas, plans, decorations, activities, tools, resources, etc. Pinterest is a way to look into ideas you currently use in your classroom and find a way to freshen them up. Keeping a classroom healthy and alive is so important to teaching because it creates an exciting atmosphere that promotes exploration and learning. There is no shame in taking advantage of what others have done to help you in your own classroom.
I can now say I understand Pinterest in a new way. Yes, it has many great tools to help you in your personal life but the deeper you dig the more resources you can find to help you in your professional life. In the case of a future teacher, I believe that Pinterest has the potential to bring so much to my career beyond my classroom design.
Hi Rachel. I like that you are finding new ways to use Pinterest. You're right it can be a beneficial way to collaborate and learn with others. I just had one question about your post. I am not entirely sure I understood what you were doing your inquiry project on. Could you elaborate more on what you are researching and what sorts of questions you are asking yourself throughout the inquiry project?
ReplyDelete