Blog Post 6- Using Pinterest for Teaching and Learning

            Pinterest is a tool that I already use, for recreation and for professional development. I use Pinterest in many different ways, but for my third grade classroom, I can specifically use Pinterest for lesson plan ideas, for collecting tools that I can use in thematic units and to find resources for my classroom environment and for classroom management.

            The first way I would use Pinterest for my third grade classroom is to use it as a tool to do lesson plans. In the past, I have used Pinterest to supplement my lesson plans with handouts or creative activities. There are so many activities and handouts that are available on Pinterest in almost any subject you cannot imagine. For example, I am currently teaching my third graders about contractions. For Language Arts, we keep an interactive notebook for foldables and notes on any topic we are currently discussing. Because I could not think of a creative foldable to make about contractions for our interactive notebook, I logged into Pinterest to help me find ideas and ways to help my students learn about contractions. I was also able to look up printable worksheets for contractions to reinforce what we learned as homework.

            Another way I will use Pinterest in my third grade classroom is to collect tools for thematic units that take place in my classroom. Since it is currently September, I recently logged into Pinterest to find materials and activities to build my Johnny Appleseed thematic unit. I was able to find math activities, reading passages and craft ideas that all relate to Johnny Appleseed.

            One last way that I can use Pinterest for my third grade classroom is to find classroom environment resources, like poster ideas and ideas for classroom management. I used Pinterest a lot in the summer before school started to look up ideas for posters about different subjects and mostly to find ideas and examples of various anchor charts. I hoped to use anchor charts in each subject and so far this school year has been off to a good start. I also looked up ideas for classroom management and organization. I think it is very important to have an organized classroom and one that runs efficiently, so I was pleased when I found so many good examples and tools that I can use in my classroom.

            Pinterest is a great tool that I already use in my classroom and one that I use recreationally too. I enjoy looking up crafts, home décor and humor, in addition to the variety of educational resources!