Hands up who spends way too much time on Pinterest? (Definitely us!) It’s the perfect place for planner-loving teachers since it’s full of great tips, ideas, and inspiration for planner spreads, classrooms and teacher organisation. We love spending time on Pinterest and seeing all the creative ideas other educators come up with. That’s why Pinterest is great - it’s not just mindless scrolling (like some other apps which we also love), there’s so much you can gain from a Pinterest session! So here are a few ways you can use Pinterest as a teacher – plus, did you know we have our own Pinterest with lots and lots of boards? Find it here and give us a follow!
Planner inspiration
We love switching up the theme of our planner each month to reflect how we’re feeling, the season, what we’re into…even just a new colour scheme. But sometimes, you can get stuck for ideas, and Pinterest is great for that. Well, we also have our TPTC Postbox and our Plan with Me Packs which are also great ways to get you inspired to create new themes in your planner. But back to Pinterest – it is full of beautiful themed planner spreads so you can find lots of ideas to suit your aesthetic. We have a board full of planner theme ideas, as well as some doodle guides so you can create some cute little doodles to suit your theme.
Tuff tray ideas
If you’ve got a tuff tray area in your classroom, it’s great to regularly switch up the activities to encourage independent, open-ended learning through play. But teachers have a lot on their plate, and regularly coming up with new ideas for the tuff trays can get tricky! It’s a fun way to show your creativity but if you want to get the ideas flowing for a new tuff tray activity, Pinterest is a great place for inspiration. You can search for ‘tuff tray’ plus something you already have in your classroom so you can make the most of what you’ve got without spending money. Like ‘tuff tray dinosaurs’ if you have a lot of dino toys, or ‘tuff tray playdough’ if that’s what you’ve got access to.
Classroom decorating
Pinterest is pretty renowned for being the go-to place for interiors and decoration inspiration, and that’s true for schools too! Pinterest is a great place to go to get some classroom décor inspiration, whether you’re starting a new school year with a new classroom you need to decorate, or you want some ideas for a new classroom display you’re working on. We have a whole board of classroom inspiration, featuring our display packs – we love setting up the displays for our photoshoot days!
Fun videos & quotes
Gone are the old days where Pinterest was images-only…it’s full of videos now! If you need a little comic relief in your day, there are lots of fun teacher memes to find (can we recommend our own?). There are also funny quotes and lots of relatable content about the realities of teaching…good for when you’re feeling a little overwhelmed and need to know you’re not alone.
Maths activities
We’ve found that Pinterest is a great place to look for practical maths activities that are a little bit different, and a great way to engage your students. Just search for your topic and ‘activities’. We searched for ‘4 times table activities’ and found lots of practical, engaging ways to practice, like making a times table fortune taller, a times tables game with playing cards, DIY times table wheels, and times table colour by numbers. These are great for things like morning activities or filler activities, or if your students aren’t engaging with your current maths topic and you want to get them excited about it. We are big supporters of teachers supporting other teachers by sharing ideas – we don’t always have to reinvent the wheel! Don’t be afraid to search for maths activities and try something new you find.
We’d love to see you over on Pinterest! You can find us here.
