pinterest and lesson planning

I think it is safe to say that almost all art teachers are using Pinterest or at the very least they have heard of it.

I admit, I was reluctant to join.

I was a StumbleUpon fan and couldn't bare to think of leaving them.

My Pinterest account is now in full swing while I deactivated StumbleUpon after months of neglect.

There are serious benefits to using Pinterest.

Organization.

Lesson plan ideas.

Creativity at your fingertips.

But if you aren't watching your bank account decrease by doing the multitudes of crafts you've pinned...like I am...how might an art teacher utilize this resource other than the obvious ways?

I came up with one idea.

Nothing genius or anything, but it sure helps get the internet into your hands.

It is only a matter of time before my district or yours shuts down access to Pinterest in our classrooms.

Maybe you have found yourself --like me-- hopping on there during a plan period to make sure you are making your teacher sample correctly.

Don't get me wrong, I don't pin while I am work, but I do get on there occasionally to help me plan.

This year though I decided to take a preemptive strike at my lesson planning.

I printed off all 10 pages of art lesson pins from my art board. (see printing instructions below!)

Grabbed some scissors, baggies, a sharpie, and my new lesson plan book.

I wrote out a label on each baggie for all the grade levels that I teach.

Then I started to cut out all the pins.

I wasn't too worried about organizing the pins while I was cutting them out.

It was nice to reflect on all the pins and get excited for the coming year.

I did my best to keep blog names attached to the pins in case I need to look something up.

Then I took my rather large stack of pins and started to sort them into grade levels.

I didn't put all pins where their original blogger had noted the age level. 

Instead I followed my own scope and sequence to make sure each grade was doing related subject-matter.

I realize not all pins will get used this year, but it was a perfect way to get the pins into my hands.

Get some double-sided tape and start organizing your lesson plan book.

The tape makes it easy to move the projects around.

Obviously I haven't written much yet anything, but that is to come.

I can never plan too far in advance because something will always throw my schedule off.

Keep all your pins clipped to your lesson plan book.

Super easy to browse through them and add whatever you wish to your lesson plan schedule.
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I've heard that quite a few of you ran into problems with printing. So here is a step-by-step photo tutorial.

I use Google Chrome--if you don't..you should...it is a million times better than any other browser.
First go to the board you want to print.

You MUST scroll to the bottom of that board or your printer won't recognize all the pages you want to print.
Right-click on your mouse and some options should pop-up. Click Print.

This dialog box should pop-up.
Change your printer settings so you get color prints.
Also make sure you put it on LANDSCAPE.
I realized after the fact that when you use portrait it will cut off the projects on the far right.
 I believe using landscape will solve that issue.
That's it! Hope it works for you!!