Stop, drop and PIN!

Picture this: It's Saturday night and your lesson plans are due by Monday morning (if you're truly a teacher, you'll know this is really fictitious). So you open up your online planner and with intense excitement you minimize your screen and click on your bookmarked icon. You know the one...

After all, you just attended an amazing Math conference that had an hour long session dedicated strictly towards Pinning classroom ideas and networking with virtual teachers for some quick grabs! You head over to your Math classroom board to sift through your recent pins for a cute lesson that will engage your kids (keep them busy) and amaze your administrators (make them believe you're on top of your game) once the product is hanging on your bulletin board!
You cut and paste the "activity" in your planner and scroll your mouse over the SUBMIT button...but

WAIT!! STOP!! 

Step away from the button...

My friend, you are about to make a huge mistake. We are greatly privileged to be in one of the few professions where stealing is accepted rather than frowned upon. Yes, our livelyhood can easily be viewed as the practice by which plagerism (to a degree) isn't unlawful! Meaning yes, you are handed down creatively designed activities and sometimes at a rip off price ( thanks to heavenly sites such as Teacherpayteachers.com) but nevertheless they are pre-made and ready to implement! But you have forgotten the most critical component of planning...the goal!

Whether you're a freshman to teaching, still getting your sophomore/junior year credits up or cruising your super senior years, the following components are essential to your Pinterest success!

STOP!

1. Study your standards: Know them, what they mean and to what extent they must be taught. Utilize sites such as lead4ward to access, and download your grade level TEKS at a glance.

For example: K.2E states to generate a set of concrete models or draw a pictorial model that represents more than, less than or equal to a number (up to 20).

This lets you know that students (under no circumstance, even those advanced and gifted) should practice this skill beyond 20. The skill can be modified to be tougher (such as creating figuring out how much more or less or creating multiple numbers) but should not be pushed beyond 20.

DROP!

2. Facilitate an engaging mini-lesson! Remember YOU are the teacher, NOT Pinterest! Dr. Nicki Newton (author of "Guided Math in Action") says " you might teach the students a song"... (about more and less), you may "read a picture book, play a game or read a poem related to the topic". Get the Big Idea rolling and even create (as a class) a math anchor chart that students can reference later.

Utilize your curriculum and expertise as well as any additional curriculum resources. For example, you might consider displaying a dot card and have students place the same number of counters on their desk as is reflected in the dot card to emphasize " same" and discuss synonymous vocabulary such as "equal to". Next, you may ask them how to demonstrate more (greater than) and less (than) in relation to this amount and justify their answer. Discourse between you and the students as well as between students and their peers is critical at this stage.

PIN!

3. Now it's Pinterest time!! Pull out those manipulatives and search Pinterest for some activities that help drive the concept home! Don't be fooled though, utlitzing Pinterest activities take much thought in and of themselves. Should they be placed in a center? If so, when/how will I model how to use the center? What manipulative should I use? How will I differentiate the activity so users at different levels (novice, emergent, expert learners) can be challenged?

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that a thoughtful pre-assessment (whether formal or informal) is imperative prior to planning. Knowing where your kids are and what they need drive this entire process! 

Take away? Pinterest is never the engine...its the caboose! Pinterest isnt the goal, its a tool that helps us reach goals! Pinterest should always serve as the icing on the cake. It should never replace the cake or play the role of the much needed ingredients used to compose the cake. Pinterest can be a powerful tool, so don't let anyone take that away from you or discourage you from its use. But be an educated user of the tool, otherwise it will waste your kids time and leave you frustrated!

Happy planning!!