Launched in 2010, Pinterest (the social media website that allows users to create ‘boards’ and then pin content to those boards in order to save them) has been taking the education world by storm. With Pinterest, users can share their boards, comment on different items, or search other people’s boards to find more content that interests them enough to re-pin it themselves. For those of your already familiar with the idea, a quick search with either the keywords ‘teacher’ or ‘classroom’ yield almost a thousand boards worth of content. From cute photographs of gradebooks, to cutouts to decorate the classroom for the holidays, to teachers sharing stories about their own experiences, Pinterest has it all. Teachers all over the world are using Pinterest en masse to share their favorite things with each other, so let’s take advantage of that!

Here’s some ways teachers can turn Pinterest from a fun pastime into a fantastic educational tool.

Resource Collecting

Teachers are already posting classroom materials on boards in Pinterest, so if you’re looking for new tricks to make your classroom more efficient, you should search for keywords like Lesson Plans or Classroom Organization. You can even find printable activities! It’s also worth noting that many pins will also link to websites that can provide even more material. Here’s an example:

As you search, you’ll see that boards exist for almost any subject a teacher could want, which may get overwhelming. However, you can organize that information as you go. Pinterest allows you to separate the content you find into separate boards, which can then be organized into different subjects or grades!

Resource Sharing

If your students have access to Pinterest, you can also use Pinterest boards to share materials with them. Pinterest is a great way to find inspiring quotes, send suggested reading materials, and provide an easy-to-reach location for important materials such as printables or assignment templates.

If your fellow teachers have Pinterest, you can visit each other’s boards and share resources and tools, too!

Collaborative Space

Pinterest allows multiple users to pin onto the same board. Using this, boards can become spaces for student groups to share resources and research for projects, allowing every student easy access. Simply name the board in a way that suggests the content the board should contain, and pin a PDF or photograph with instructions.

Pinterest can also be a space where students can come together as a whole class. One strong example is from a high school’s journalism class, where Pinterest was used to share stories and story ideas, useful graphics, and create a space where students could write commentary on the board’s contents. Below, you can see a sample board where students working on a Civil War history project shared maps, photos, and helpful websites for research.

Sharing Student Work

Pinterest can also provide a place to share student work! Students can submit all sorts of projects (art pieces, written work, and more) as a pin to the classroom board, and other students can engage with that work to provide constructive criticism. Then, the board can be retooled into a display case for the classroom’s best work, creating an easy place to share the class’s progress to parents or administrators.

Speaking of parents, there is one note teachers should know before beginning: Pinterest’s website rules require users under the age of 13 to have parental involvement in their accounts. This, too, can be used to your advantage: if a parent has access to their student’s Pinterest, then you have increased access to them! You can use it as a way to communicate school events with flyers, share classroom reports and requests, and even get them involved in projects like family trees or field trips.

So, teachers: When you’re busy pinning cute holiday pictures and inspiring quotes to your boards, take a minute and check out some of the Educational boards. You may find that they become a useful medium for you to take your classroom in a whole new direction when your students return in January!