More and more teachers, administrators, specialists, interventionists and other partners in education are finding, pinning/re-pinning, and creating boards to save links, ideas and resources on Pinterest for not only classroom use but for school-wide collaboration and sharing. I was recently asked to help facilitate a learning/sharing session regarding Pinterest with my own colleagues, and found it necessary to create a step-by-step tutorial with need-to-know info just in case our district server tried to block our activity. Several teachers found it helpful after they got home and were able to surf the web without filter/blocker issues. Are you new to Pinterest? If so, I'd encourage you to try it out for a bit. You can deactivate your account at any time.
1) Open your internet browser and click on the link below:
If you're at work, you're likely to be blocked via your server's filtering program. Some allow you to enter teacher or district credentials that unblock the site for you. If you're able to reach Pinterest, continue on.
2) Click on red "Join Pinterest" button
3) You can link your Pinterest membership to your Facebook or Twitter accounts, OR you can sign up using your email address. If you plan on creating boards and pinning/re-pinning for professional use and collaboration only, I'd suggest you use your district email address. If you're not concerned about colleagues/friends/family/strangers finding your boards on Pinterest, use your personal/home email address. Please be aware that almost all activity on Pinterest is ~public~. Click on your choice and fill in your account information.
4) You'll be asked to follow 5 boards. Select "education" and scroll through, selecting several to follow. Be aware: just about anything on the internet can be pinned, mis-pinned, or added to a board whose creator doesn't keep it sorted. You can always "unfollow" a person or board at a later time, so just select five for today's practice. Hit "next"
5) Create your first board by scrolling down to "Something Else." Click on it, and then create a title for your board. Try "Bulletin Boards."
6) You'll now see a screen full of pins! These are from the pinners you chose to follow. Before you scroll through the images, go to the top of the screen. Find the Add+, About and your name links. Select "About" and scroll down to "Pin It Button." Follow the directions on the screen. Once your "Pin It" button is added to your bookmarks bar you'll be able to pin most images you find (and you want to save) on the web.
7) You can create pins from sites, links, and images you find on the web by using the "Pin It" button in your bookmark bar, AND/OR you can re-pin others' sites, links, and images you find on their boards by choosing the "re-pin" button.
8) You can find other boards or "pinners" (other people on Pinterest) by searching for them. Once you find an individual, you'll have the opportunity to 1) follow him/her or 2) select boards created by that person to follow. If you decide to follow a person, you will end up seeing all of the pins they add to every one of their boards. It's better to select a person's individual boards that you'd like to follow to keep things manageable.
9) Pinners will be notified that you are following them and/or their boards and when you re-pin (you make a copy of their image to save it to one of YOUR boards) photos or links from their boards. You will also be notified when someone starts to follow you or the boards you've created, or have re-pinned links from your boards.
10) In the Search box at the upper left of the Pinterest page, type in "bulletin boards" and click "search."
11) Results will appear on the next screen. You can search pins, boards, or pinners using the links beneath the search box.
12) If you find a link/pin you want to save, you can "repin" it and save it to the boards you've created. You can also simply "like" a pin. Want to share your thoughts about a pin? Add a comment (but remember, everyone who has repinned the image will see your comment in the dialogue box).
13) As you repin an image, a copy of it will appear on your screen with a scroll bar that lists your boards beneath it. Select "bulletin boards" and if you want to add details about the pin, or a note to yourself, type it into the text box below. Your comment or label can be seen by anyone who repins the image from your board.
14) If you encounter the "sorry, we've experienced problems repinning from this site" message, it's probably because of a district web filter. In tomorrow's screenshot tutorial, I'll show you how the teachers in my district have been able to get around that particular glitch. You shouldn't have problems pinning when you're at home.
15) You can create additional boards at any time: as you pin from the web (your prompt/boards box allows you to scroll to or create a board), as you repin from another board, or you can follow the links beneath your name at the top of the screen to see your boards, pins, likes, or adjust your settings.
16) Now: open up a new window in your web browser. Head to Google, and search for images of bulletin boards.
17) Select an image, go to its original web page, and scroll down until you find the image you were looking for.
18) Click your "Pin It" button in your bookmark bar. Your screen will change, and will show possibly multiple images from the web site. Move your cursor over the image you want to "pin." A "pin it" prompt will appear. Click it!
19) A "Create Pin" window will appear with the image, your board selection menu, and a text box. Select your "bulletin boards" board, either leave the text/info as it is in the text box or change the caption. Click "Pin It."
20) If the pin is successfully saved, the window will let you know!
21) There is now an option on Pinterest to have "secret" boards. These boards cannot be seen or repinned from by other members. Only 3 "secret" boards are allowed at this time. All other boards are visible to all Pinterest members.
Tips:
As you create boards, be specific: Videos for School, Kindergarten Math, Speech Interventions, Cute Cupcakes, etc.
As you pin, make sure you save images to the correct board so they're easy to find later.
And....
When you re-pin from another person's board, you might end up just saving the image, but not the actual link or source of the image. Visiting the original source and pinning what you want from there instead of re-pinning it from a board helps immensely, which is what I'll show you how to do in tomorrow's post!
If you're anything like me, you'll be a Pinterest Addict in no time!
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