5 Pinterest Collaborative Boards: Teaching & Education


I must confess that I am now an official Pinterest addict and I have spent more than an hour of my waking day to devote to building content of my awesome Pinterest teacher boards since its inception in November. The great news is that I'm now opening them up for collaboration!
 
What are Pinterest Collaborative Boards? They are actually boards on Pinterest that allow other pinners to pin content on the board. Yes, it's that plain and simple! I believe that I have great colleagues who are also Pinterest users (like YOU!) who would want to share pins centered around teaching and special education. Collaborative boards on Pinterest are a great way to share your information to other teachers and networkers, while also generating great back links to your blog or website.
 
My Pinterest boards are now open, please leave a comment on the latest post and I will certainly add you. Let's start sharing!
 
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#1. Books and Reading Resources. This is all about the written word. Please leave me a comment on the most recent pin if you are interested in sharing your books and everything about books on this board.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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#2 Great Ideas From Teachers. Need ideas for the kiddos? Get authentic teacher-made classroom resources, fun kid-friendly games, craftivities and more from our amazing teachers. If you want to share your awesome classroom pins, please leave me a comment on the most recent pin! We currently have 75 teachers collaborating on this board, join us!





 
#3 Social Media and Technology in Education. For social media savvy teachers, this board is for you! Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google + tips and tricks to make all of them grow and glow...follow this board! Let me know if you want to be a pinner to this board by leaving a comment on the most recent pin.
 
 
 
 
 
 

#4 100+ Education Quotes. Get your education quotes from the most political edreform sayings to the most inspirational wisdom laden and famous proverbs from this board! Same process, share your pins by leaving a comment on the most recent pin and I will add you as a collaborator.
#5 National Board Certification and Teacherpreneurship. When the going gets tough, what do you do? Here are some resources that you might need if you are going through the process of National Board Certification or are just looking for teaching standards and best practices for effective teacher leaders. If you have something to share about NBC or Teacherpreneurship, please leave a comment on the most recent post.









HAPPY PINNING!
 
 

Instagram in the Classroom


This is what I truly love about summer vacations, it allows us teachers to catch up with technology tools and learn how to integrate them in the classroom. I just joined Instagram last week after a friend of mine encouraged me to try it out and post my vacation photos there. You guessed it right! I was uploading, was trying different kinds of editing tools to enhance my photos, and learning all of these cool features in just a matter of minutes. I immediately saw the artistic use of Instagram, and knowing that many of my middle school students are using this app on their phones my ideas on how to use this in the classroom went wild!

Here's my proof, click on this widget: Instagram

How can we incorporate Instagram in the classroom? Education Rethink suggests Ten Ideas for using Instagram in the Classroom.

1. Digital Storytelling: I started doing Show and Tell awhile ago, after Tom suggested that it could be a powerful way for students to share their stories. I'm going to do that this year. However, I'm also going to give students the option of taking pictures from their neighborhood. They can tell their story visually, annotating it through their comments on each picture.
 
2. Grammar Practice: Photography can be a great place to practice grammatical structures. It can be something as simple as writing a functional text (I had been walking down the street when I saw . . .) Or it could be a way to practice, sequentially, the grammatical structure using their world as the context.

3. Photojournalism: Similar to digital storytelling, this would allow students to explore issues in their world through a visual medium. I want them to engage in citizen journalism. Whether it's a school sporting event or an immigration sweep, a classroom community service activity or a local election, students can use the mobile devices to express their social voice.

4. Photo Prompts: Last year, I found photographs and created writing prompts. Sometimes, they were geared toward poetry or narrative while other times they were persuasive or informational. I will encourage students to develop their own photo prompts using Instagram.
 
5. Metaphors: I will give students concepts from any of the subject areas and ask students to find a metaphor that fits the concept. They will use Instagram to find the metaphor and then describe it in the comments section.

6. Photos for Blogs: This is pretty simple, but I want students to start adding their own photographs to some of their blog posts. There's something powerful about looking at a post and realizing that the photograph and the writing both originated from the same author.

7. Find the Context: I want my students to document math that they see in their world. I'm thinking Instagram can be a great place to document things like linear relationships, data, fractions, etc.
 
8. Ethnographic Study: I've done this before in social studies in writing. I'm thinking it might work as a blended activity of writing and pictures. I'd love to see them take photographs of the spaces they inhabit and then analyze the cultural, political, social and economic elements that define the space.
 
9. Sharing Art: I love to sketch. I love to doodle. And yet, I've rarely posted my drawings to Instagram. I'm wondering what it would look like to blend the art of photography with pencil and paper or with painting.

10.Just Let Them Take Pictures: I'm thinking of letting kids take pictures for the sake of taking pictures. Let a few of them fall in love with photography. Let them find the beauty in their world and share it with others and then see what kind of conversations occur afterward.

Can you add some more ideas in this list?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Angelina, could you e-mail me? Wanted to send you a quick question: rossh@getvoip.com

LK said...

HI Maria, I love your products and blog. I am a long-time special ed teacher in CA.
joining your Pinterest board now! Laura
Read-Write-Create

Mary Parnell said...

Great ways to incorporate Instagram in the classroom. Anyway to encourage creativity is always a plus in my book!

Unknown said...

Hi,

I'd like to start by saying that your blog looks great. My name is Martin and I'm a teacher from Canada. I just started a new website called Resources4teaching where educators can buy and sell lessons and educational resources. We are new and are looking for people to join and put up their materials for sale on our website. We are having an iPad draw for the first 100 Vendors who join and upload at least 1 lesson /resource for sale on our website. There are absolutely no fees to join and you earn royalties of 70%. You can visit us at: http://www.resources4teaching.com

If you know any other teachers who might be interested in this Website, please forward this to them and if you have any questions, feel free to message me.

Have a great day

Unknown said...

I cannot even tell you how much I enjoy this idea! I have professors of mine tell me all the time how the classroom is not a place for social media, and I just love how you use Instagram to prove them all wrong! I never would have thought of this idea!

Group Exercise said...

I *love* the ideas about ethnographic study---that is such an excellent way to get kids to get students to document the world, and then interpret it. Bravo!

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Alison Whiteley said...

Maria,
I was wondering if I could join your National Board Certification & Teacherpreneurship and Great Ideas from Teachers Pinterest Boards. Thanks
Alison Whiteley, NBCT '13

Toad-ally Exceptional Learners

Shaw Contract Group said...

Calling all teachers!
Pin your dream classroom and you could win school supplies!
To enter, create a DESIGN SCHOOLED board on Pinterest with #shawcontractgroup and #designschooled. Deadline is April 30, 2014. Visit shawcontractgroup.com for more information.

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Jess Gross said...

Maria, I love the idea of using Instagram in the classroom for educational purposes! Students these days are using all of these social media sites already, why not have them learn while they are doing it! Have you tried it in your classroom yet?

Unknown said...

A great and direct piece of information. Hats off to the author for gathering so specific and spot on information.
the applause in the comments do the justice. Great piece of information.

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Now a day most of people using instagram to post and share the information regarding business and personal things.
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Tony said...

Such awesome ideas!!

Unknown said...

Excellent tips. Really useful stuff .Never had an idea about this, will look for more of such informative posts from your side.. Good job...Keep it up
collaboration boards

WELCOME SY 2014-2015!

Teachers & parents tell me that this blog is like a "One-Stop-Shop", here's why ---

There are tons of lesson plans, printables, activity sheets and other resources that special education teachers can find in this blog! It's all for you to get the lil ones engaged in their seats and lovin' what they're doin'!

This blog is also our class portal to communicate information about our class, to archive course materials, to publish the course curriculum, syllabus, class rules, lessons, homework assignments, rubrics, and presentations. Yes, everything is in this blog for our students to review our lessons at home!

Parents love the transparency and the ability to access class materials in this blog. It's easy for parents to follow along as my students post their work. This holds true for their psychologists, social workers, general education teachers, and other special ed providers. This is another way for us to collaborate with the Multi-Disciplinary Team members of our students!

This class blog also serves as our students' e-portfolio. Our students collect the work they want to consider highlighting and then publish those that represent their best work. They then reflect on their work as they share them to their parents and teachers for positive comments and feedback. It's very easy for them to look back over their work and see the growth they've accomplished!

We invite you to please leave a message to our students. Beside the tiny envelope just after each entry is the comments link. Your positive feedback will surely encourage our students to do their best in school.

Thank you for visiting our class portal!