Crowd Sourcing the Best of Pinterest

So, I was not the most avid pinner, but I began to see the value in the many great ideas I saw on Pinterest. Then I noticed that Horace Mann (yes, a business, but a great friend of teachers and education) was going to have guest pinners.  I decided to try the best of both worlds and enter the contest with an idea to tap on the expertise on the most clever curators I know:  librarians.  Included below are the sites recommended to me and many more I have collected. Because you can't pin an entire site, I created this page to use to spotlight them; you can follow individual boards or pins that are included here. As a matter of fact, many people have some individualized boards that may not interest you, so you shouldn't necessarily follow all of someone's boards.

Although my board on the Horace Mann boards is entitled "Crowd-Sourced Librarian Favorites", the sites I've pinned there are not strictly for librarians; they are sites that can be beneficial to many! It is definitely a work in progress. When I started looking around Pinterest, I was amazed by the depth and quality of some of the resources.  I also believe you should, "go where your customers are", and if they might find a resource because of Pinterest, why not?

Further encouragement to finally post something and revive the blog came from this week's Indiana Computer Educators (ICE) annual conference.  I attended a presentation on Pinterest by Rob Tidrow from Richmond, IN Schools. Their district even has a Pinterest page, which I thought was a great idea; it includes anything from information new families or realtors could use, to science fair ideas, to how to ask a girl to the prom!

Great Pinterest Sites for Education & Tech in General

Horace Mann Boards
Crowd-Sourced Librarian Favorites Board (my board on Horace Mann)
WeTeach Boards
Edutopia Boards
INeLearning Boards (great site from my DOE)
Top Teacher Tips + Freebies (a collaborative board)
Laura Candler
Laura Candler's Shortcuts (she has many bds; this can help with navigation)
Erin Klein: Pinterest for Teachers
Karen Bolotin (KB Connected) Many boards, roughly in alphabetical order
Teachers on Pinterest (started by Pinterest, originally for elementary)
25 Best Educational Boards on Pinterest-Babble
10 Pinterest Boards Every Teacher Must Know About
Top 11 Educational Pinners (might be some duplicates here)
5 Popular Pinterest Boards for Teachers (From TeachThough, more subject based)
Edudemic (many technology based)
Discovery Education
Kentucky Academy of Technology Education
Melissa Alonzo-Dillard Amazing Boards for 1st Grade
Richmond Community Schools

Added 2014
Free Technology for Educators (Mel Kharbach)
Educational Infographics
Great Books for Teachers
Free iPad Apps for Teachers
Joint Board Curated by Dozens of NBCT's
Linda's Links to Literature: Great book lists
Indiana's Pinnovation Blog for February (hint: I'm February 2 on Winter Olympics)
Free Tutoring Resources, a Collaborative Board moderated by Adrianne Meldrum
Crowd-sourced page specifically for New Teachers

Library/Librarian Sites 

(But still great ideas that can apply to many others, of course)

Cheap and Cheerful Librarian Tips (Melissa Techman for SLJ)
Museum Inspirations for Library Programs-Spaces
School Library Journal
Velda Hunter: October Displays (there are other months too)
Kathy Kaldenberg
Daleville, IN Library
Nikki Robertson
Aunty Tech (Donna Baumbach)
Mrs. Malespina/South Orange MS
Library Ladies
Library Displays
Open Education Database (iLibrary)
Library Pinterest List: Naomi Bates' Blog
Southside HS Library, Elmira, NY Extensive School Library Site
Summer Reading Resources My previous page redone on pinterest
ISTE SIGMS Collaborative Board Special Interest Group-Media Specialists
Libraries, School & Research
Colette Eason's Library Board
Elementary School Library Ideas
Library Patch
Mary D'Eliso Some of her boards include Dewey #'s
Library Bulletin Board/Display Ideas
Discovery Education Denbrarian Boards
Young Hoosier Books State awards book example; this has all 3 categories, but some organizations divide      the age groups for Pinterest.
Joyce Valenza Article about Alida Hanson's Boards for Weston HS
Teen Programming in Libraries (a collaborative board)