Pinterest

Pinterest is an online pin board, a virtual bulletin board that allows you to keep track of websites and ideas that interest you.  I first saw a link to this site from on of the teachers I am following on Twitter, and I instantly became intrigued.  You can explore Pinterest without signing up, look at others pages, or search for specific topics.  Instead of signing up to join, you sign up for an invitation to join.  I did just that through the site and three days later had not received an invitation.  After looking into it further I discovered that, for now, Pinterest is promoting itself through friends inviting friends to join.  I believe that this is to ensure that it is used by the general public and not by those looking to sell their products.  Digging into it more I discovered a Facebook page where you can request an invitation from someone who already has an account.  I tried this method and received an invitation in about 5 minutes.

I like Pinterest because I can organize my education links to blogs, lesson plans and professional readings into different pages with an accompanying picture.  I am a visual learner, so I sometimes find it hard to remember what the links in my favorites are connect to.  Sometimes it's a story, or a lesson or just a picture of a classroom set up that I like.  Pinterest has a picture for each link which can jog my memory as to its significance.  I can also create different pages for different subjects which, as an organizer, I really like.  I also appreciate that I can see a pinned site on another person's Pinterest board and immediate link it to my own page.  My only complaint is that in order to add it to your pinboard, Pinterest has to scan the site and find a picture it can connect to it.  This is not always the case so not all my links can go here.  This is not a tool that every teacher needs, but I find it a good way to organize most of my online resources.

If you are looking for more other ways to use Pinterest as an educator, check out this online post.