Thursday, February 5, 2015

Pinning for PLNs

Week 5: Social Networks & PLNs (Professional Learning Networks)

This week I was asked to explore one to two social networks I can use for my PLN.  I was excited that I could actually use Pinterest as a part of my homework.  It is nice to see all my pins are going to pay off as a grade ;).

I use Pinterest daily.  Every time I have an idea, I use my Pinterest App.  It is seriously my go to tool for lesson plans, diy projects, fitness motivation, etc.   
I love using my diigo for bookmarking but I am more of a visual person.  For example, I needed to pull games for first grade math fluency.  I went straight to Pinterest.  I found an abundance of lessons, games, anchor charts and materials.  I did not need to look any further!

I have found many great pinners I love to check out for educational purpose.  Here are some great Pinners to follow:

To get started on your Pinterest, check out A Quick Guide for Pinterest.   To start growing your network on Pinterest, check out a Pinterest Board that ironically is called: Reasons to Use Pinterest for Education.

  • Pinterest Positives:
    1. I was blown away by the random followers that have followed me.  
    2. I have saved so much time by seeing all the creative projects to borrow and steal, instead of reinventing the wheel.
    3. I can plan a whole wedding, house, and classroom! (Who knew I could do that in 2015?)
    4. I did not realize until now that my pinning has paid off for growing professionally as an educator.  Each time I pin or follow someone board,  I am increasing my PLN.
On a closing note, I saw that teachers can use Pinterest for inspiration boards for students to create individually.  Has anyone seen one of these complete?

Has anyone else tried Ning?  I am dedicating part of my weekend to explore more!  I was a bit intimidated by it! :)

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5 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 7, 2015 at 6:42 PM

    I have also heard of students creating their own boards individually! It sounds like such a neat idea. I haven't seen it done in my school, but I think it would be something interesting to try. Although, I think Pinterest my be blocked in our schools. It would be something I would need to look into. I think having students create a Pinterest board during the first few weeks of school would be a great "get to know you activity." The students would love it, too! I have had so many students talk about Pinteresting. Besides being able to use Pinterest with the students, I also love how much it can help grow my PLN. There are so many inspirational teachers out there, and it is wonderful to see what they are doing in their classrooms. You can then take that back to your classroom. It is such an easy tool to use.

    I was so intimidated by Ning. I signed up for it on Thursday, but I am waiting for my approval. I did not know the process was that intense for the Ning, but from the things I could look at without being signed in, there were so many options. I also plan on spending some time this weekend trying to navigate my way around it. Good luck with your exploring!

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  2. UnknownFebruary 8, 2015 at 10:13 AM

    Thanks for sharing such great resources. Your descriptions of how much you utilize Pinterest was one of the reasons I chose to try it out this week. I, too, am a visual learner and love how how easy it is to pin something that catches your eye, then come back to it later. Spending a little time on Pinterest, seeing the innovative things people are doing in their classrooms, I felt so grateful that people are willing to share their ideas so that other educators don't have to reinvent the wheel. It sounds like you are a Pinterest pro- I will definitely be checking out your boards.

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  3. MelanieFebruary 8, 2015 at 6:16 PM

    Ashley,

    I am, too, addicted to Pinterest. I'm pretty sure if I want to look something up I head over to Pinterest before Google because I know on Pinterest my search will come up with visuals which is SO much easier for me to find what I'm looking for.

    I love the idea of using Pinterest with students to create their own boards. The only downside, Pinterest doesn't have the same search features other search engines have. I can't tell you how many times I've been scrolling through Pinterest and I see something that just makes you think 'why on earth would anyone pin that?!', if we could only get a school version on Pinterest, like what SchoolTube is for YouTube.

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  4. Michelle TaylorFebruary 8, 2015 at 6:56 PM

    I am so happy to hear of other Pinteresters (not sure that is actually a word!) I am also surprised to hear that there are people who aren't using Pinterest! Did you all know that you can "share" a board? For instance, at school - each grade level can share a board and all the teachers can look on it for lessons, ideas, etc. and also see what the other teachers are pinning.
    I also had problems with Ning. I still haven't been accepted and I swear I saw that it costs. I am glad to see that I am not the only one who had issues.

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  5. Dr. Diana DellFebruary 21, 2015 at 4:29 PM

    Ashley,

    Your Pinterest board is impressive. I am sure you have grown as a teacher with each pin. Isn't it amazing that more than 600 teachers, most strangers, are getting great ideas by viewing your hand-selected collection of resources?

    Many teachers view the the Web as a digital filing cabinet in the cloud, and Pinterest does that very well. As I am sure you have discovered, other social media sites allow for more than the sharing of resources and ideas. They allow connection and conversation with professional peers and as a networked educator you understand how valuable that is.

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