The Pinterest Effect

One of my favorite apps ever is Pinterest. I love making boards. I love adding pictures. I love curating all my wonderful new ideas. (I have great intentions, but many of my great ideas never come to fruition.) 

Pinterest has provided ideas for my home, my hair, makeup, fashion and yes--school. But how are we using these wonderful ideas in our classrooms? Has the pressure of cute blogs with pretty font and chevron borders intimidated us into thinking our classrooms have to be Pinterest perfect? 

Currently, we are teaching in an era of Teachers Pay Teachers and Pinterest. Teachers are having more and more added to their plate with little taken off. RtI, tutoring, parent conferences, the pressure of adding to the class Facebook page, being professionally developed, meetings, PLCs, grades, making copies, etc. are all a very real part of a teacher's day. I hear many teachers say, "It's not the kids that burn me out; it is all the other stuff." 

So in a world where we feel there is less time, we often go to the quickest place to grab a good idea or lesson...

BUT

Not everything on Pinterest or TpT is good. Many cute ideas don't align with the state's standards or the district curriculum. Some is not grade level appropriate or to the rigor of the standards. As teachers we need to look at these ideas and lessons with a critical eye and ask ourselves some important questions.

Is this aligned to my standards?

Is the student task aligned to the standard's verb?

Is this something that could be done in an anchor chart or station?

How will this help bridge other learning?

Am I just doing this because it is cute or because my teammate gave it to me?

Now, don't get me wrong, there is great stuff out there. But as teachers, we are trained to design the most engaging effective lessons to teach our students. Time is precious, so make sure to choose ideas that will provide the biggest bang for your buck.