Secondary Smorgasbord: How I Use Pinterest to Plan

I'll admit it. I was late to jump on the I-Love-Pinterest train. Friends everywhere were touting the glories of a new site called Pinterest, and asked if I had joined yet.  NO!  I guess it's like anything new for me. My first reactive, "NO" is peppered with dubious caution.  I'll just wait in the wings to see if it all blows up. Worst case scenario: I might actually like it!

Eventually, I succumbed to the allure and signed up, still kicking and screaming the whole way (silently, of course- I didn't want to look like a Pinterest sissy).

OK, now what? I'm here. What do I do with it? I had no idea what to pin, where to find the pins, and more importantly, what did I do with the pins when I found them, and what the heck are boards? Worse yet, what if I break Pinterest because I don''t know what I am doing!!?!! Mild hysteria sets in, but I shake it off.

In the interest of full disclosure, as far as technology goes, I know enough to be a danger to my computer, my phone, and my iPad, on any given day. I almost broke my blog... TWICE! Thank goodness for the Genius Bar at my friendly Apple Store!

I fumbled around for probably longer than I should have, but I finally got the hang of it.  I learned how to create boards and  move them around! I could add, edit, and delete pins- the power was going to my head! I learned how to invite others to pin on my collaborative boards. (Why do all the work myself? It takes a village...) And you know what? It started to get fun!

I'll spare you the gazillion baby-steps it took to arrive at my currently-evolved Pinterest state of mind. Instead, I'll share my new favorite way that I use Pinterest for planning.

I used to pin things to subject boards, and had to hunt around for that pin I knew I had somewhere... I looked at those boards as my general resource room, where I could dump information and ideas that might be useful later- a very cluttered way to manage information.  Fairly recently, I had another Pinterest epiphany: Instead of pinning without a specific purpose, I should create boards that are unit-based!

Simple, right?

As an example: I'm currently building a Personal Finance board for a unit I'm creating.  I've been finding a ton of great information that supports my unit activities- things like YouTube videos that show kids basic concepts (how to write a check, for example) that they can view whenever they need a reminder, or new information that doesn't necessarily need to be a classroom-teacher-led lesson, but works great in a center.  My favorite one is all about how much you can afford to pay for a car.  I've also included some extra things for students who might want to know more about, say... taxes?  (You never know who the next budding tax attorney might be!) It's like having my own library without the bookshelves and clutter!

While my epiphanies may not be in the earth-shattering category for some of you (sagely nodding in the background and thinking, yes, I've been doing this for years...), that's OK. We all learn at different rates. And, I'm betting you probably didn't waste your time kicking and screaming the whole way!

I am happy to report that, as of this writing, I have not broken Pinterest (yet)!

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