Pinterest for Math Teachers

The folks over at Texas Region 4 invited me to speak at their math conference. When I offered to speak about Pinterest for Math Teachers, they were as excited as I was!

Here’s a quick outline in case you didn’t make it to Houston. You can also download the slides here.

What is Pinterest?

It’s (yet another) social media site. Like Instagram, it requires an image to post. Like Facebook, you can comment, like and share things publicly and privately.

“So why do we need another social media site?” you ask.

Pinterest has slightly different searching and browsing capabilities. And the images are way different that those on Instagram.

Most of my Instagram posts are of my kids or random math things I find. They’re all photos I take with my iPhone. Most of my Pinterest posts (or pins, as they’re called) are images linked to articles or other online resources.

Which means I can use Pinterest to search for great math resources. And I would NEVER use Instagram for such a thing.

And neither Facebook nor Twitter support the search or categorization that Pinterest does.

What can a math teacher find on Pinterest?

In addition to wedding dresses and fabulous lipstick, there are bazillions of math learning and teaching resources on Pinterest. Everything from free worksheets and activities to math jokes and apps.

I use it when I’m in need of a supplemental activity and have minimal time to dream something up.

You can find so much as a math teacher on Pinterest, in fact, that they set up a whole dedicated Pinterest Math Teachers board. It’s curated by 29 of the country’s most active math teachers on Pinterest!

How does Pinterest work?

I went through lots of details on how it works in my presentation. But I got all the information from others. Here are two pretty good articles on getting started from Real Simple and Oh for the Love of Science. And anything on the Pinterest blog would be helpful too!

If you’re already Pinterest savvy, you here’s a nifty resource for .

Can I use it for stuff other than math?

Of course! Collect beautiful images, fun quotes and pictures of your favorite things. Put together a wish list for yourself or a gift shopping list for others. Collect things to do or see on your next vacation.

And if you’re an education blogger, you should pin all your posts there. Consider Ahalogy to help with this – they need more great education content!

In fact, Ahalogy’s Susan Wenner Jackson suggested these places for more information on doing business with Pinterest (and if you’re a blogger, you’re doing business!):