Sunday, June 16, 2013

Favorite Things #2: Pinterest

Here's to the second post in my Favorite Things series-- Pinterest!  



Pinterest is really one of my favorite resources as a teacher.  It's absolutely full of new ideas for lesson plans, organization, and stress and time management.  I'm borderline obsessed.  

I'll never forget when a favorite student approached me and said, "Umm, I saw your Pinterest boards.  There are people who have to go to rehab for Pinterest addiction.  Do you think you have a problem?"  Haha!  Probably.  I have boards dedicated to both main subject areas I teach, one for my new newspaper class, one for blogging, one for interactive notebooks, and one for general classroom ideas.  I also contribute to a few group boards dedicated to teaching.

a screen shot of part of one of my eight classroom-related boards:

I could probably write for days on this topic, so I'll limit myself.  Here are my Top 10 Favorite School-Related Pins that are tried-and-true in my room:

1. Black-Out Poetry, in which kids black out everything on a book page except the words they choose for their poem.  It's very visually appealing, and gets even the most anti-poetic kids writing beautifully.

2. Boggle for the SmartBoard-- I adapted this to an old-school bulletin board and used it for extra credit all year.  The kids LOVED it!

3. Remind101 (See my post on Remind101 here.)

4. After-School Routine Checklist, which I used this year and it made my life so much easier and more organized.

5. New-Student Welcome Kits:  I got so many new students mid-year this year, and these kits made it quick and easy for me to get them started.

6. SuperTeacherTools, a website which allows teachers to make class lists, random name generators, interactive games, seating chart makers, countdowns, etc.

7. What Teachers Make, an incredible video in response to that question, "So what do teachers make?"  Seriously-- teacher power.  Watch it.

8. This pin, which inspired my current (and favorite ever) classroom layout.

9. Turning Teacher Distress into Eustress.  This made my crazy-difficult last year a bit easier.

10. Visual Writing Prompts from Tumblr.  Too cool!

Stay tuned in a few weeks for another top 10-- the Top 10 Pins I'm Most Excited About for Next Year.



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