Sept. 17, 7:35 a.m.
From Clevell Koon
To Elson Liu
Elson,
Thank you for getting back to me about the current status of unblocking Pinterest.
Who do we contact at “Teaching & Learning” to explain how important Pinterst IS and HAS been to our lesson development in the arts.
I am very disappointed and confused that Facebook is seen as a more valuable educational tool compared to Pinterest.
Thank you,
Clevell
Editor’s Note: Several of the following emails may seem out of place, but they follow the same topic.
Sept. 21, 1:43
From Cheri Steckel
To Carlos Lopez
cc: Hal Heard, Kimberly Villarosa
Hi Carlos,
I’d like to advocate and ask for your consideration to unblock Pinterest. There are other social media sites that are unblocked (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and Pinterest is used by some teachers as an educational resource. Specifically, I’ve heard from our AP Art teacher, another art teacher, and our Yearbook teacher about accessing Pinterest. I will forward you the emails I have pertaining to this.
Thank you,
Cheri
Sept. 21, 1:44
From Cheri Steckel
To Carlos Lopez
cc Hal Heard, Kimberly Villarosa
Forwarded message from Clevell Koon; sent to Cheri Steckel and Ted Younglas on Sept. 17
Hi Cheri & Ted,
I wanted to ask you for help in getting Pinterest unblocked.
I have sent in numerous requests using the unblock link request form Cheri sent out in an odd’s & ends email.
I just received a reply that “Teaching & Learning” wants the site to remain blocked.
We have used Pinterest to find ideas, examples and inspiration for over the past year. All summer long Keli and I have been planning researching and pinning videos, articles, lessons, and images to support our classes, especially our new Art Survey class.
Several times a day I am frustrated that I can not access Pinterest to share “something” I previously saved.
The National Art Education Association has a lecture at this year’s convention:
Technology
Online Connections: Pinterest and Authentic Learning Communities
Christine Belton
Experience and discuss online High School Ceramics and Sculpture Pinterest Learning Communities. Teaching students practices that tap into problem-solving skills calls for innovation communication and creativity. Best Practice Lecture
Hilton Hotel/Quarterdeck B/Riverside Building
www.arteducators.org/conv15/Friday,_March_27.pdf
Any way you can assist us in helping get Pinterest unblocked would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Clevell
Sept. 21, 2:38 p.m.
From Carlos Lopez
To Cheri Steckel
Kay,
What do you think?
Sept. 21, 10:10 p.m.
From Cheri Steckel
To Carlos Lopez
Hi Carlos,
I think you may have mistakenly sent this back to me instead of Kay. I did the exact same thing this morning!
Take care,
Cheri
Sept. 22, 6:33 a.m.
From Carlos Lopez
To Kay Elaster
What is your thinking about this.
Sent from iPhone
Editor’s Note: No reply in provided emails
Sept. 29, 11:09 a.m.
From Scott Burek, Principal, East Middle School
To Anthony Ruela
Anthony,
My LME and Art teacher use Pinterest for recipes, crafts, lesson plan ideas, etc. The district currently has it blocked. I asked Andy Morris if it is possible to unblock the site for specific teachers and he said it was a decision by the Teaching and Learning committee. Any chance of getting the site ok’ed for specific purposes/staff? Who would I have to ask?
Thanks,
Scott
Sept. 29, 11:16 a.m.
From Anthony Ruela
To Scott Burek
I don’t think so. We had the discussion already and were told no. The stance is that teachers can access Pinterest at home for planning purposes. Does she use it in class?
Anthony Ruela
Sept. 29, 11:17 a.m.
From Anthony Ruela
To: Kay Elaster
We are still holding a firm no on this, correct? That has been the stance I have been maintaining.
Anthony Ruela
Sept. 29, 11:33 a.m.
From Scott Burek
To Anthony Ruela
I am not sure about the use in class, perhaps for demonstration and example purposes.
Sept. 29, 10:01 p.m.
From Kay Elaster
To: Elson Liu
Elson,
What is your opinion about Pinterest?
Kay Elaster
Sept. 30, 9:08 a.m.
From Elson Liu
To Kay Elaster
Hi Kay,
Like most technologies, Pinterest can be used for a lot of different purposes. Teachers and students can use Pinterest in educational ways, and also in frivolous ways. I don’t doubt that many teachers are using Pinterest for legitimate reasons and in appropriate instructional ways. I also don’t doubt that students and some teachers may use Pinterest in less useful ways.
If it helps, here’s a reasonably reliable 34d party review (Common Sense Media) of Pinterest: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/pinterest
Contrast that with Tumblr, for example:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/tumblr
If you’re looking for a reason to allow Pinterest but continue blocking something like Tumblr, Tumblr explicitly allows for pornography and other adult content while Pinterest does not.
Hope this helps,
…..Elson….
Sept. 30, 11:04 a.m.
From Kay Elaster
To Elson Liu
I’m concerned that these “lessons” are not aligned to standards. How does it align to what is being taught in the curriculum? Those are my concerns.
Kay Elaster
Sept. 30, 11:19 a.m.
From Elson Liu
To Kay Elaster
Hi Kay,
Pinterest is really more of a general purpose tool. It’s somewhere between just being a resource (like a YouTube video about chemistry) to a full-blown “Learning Management System” (like a Moodle course that includes the chemistry video). It’s an organizational website that can be used to collect and organize resources for a lesson plan, but isn’t specifically designed for that. My wife uses it to organize her ideas for crochet projects, Unicef uses it to publicize specific donation items they need, Buick uses it to market test design ideas, Petfinders uses it to showcase animals in need of adoption, etc.
So you are correct – there is no way in Pinterest to align a lesson plan to any standards or benchmarks – it’s not designed for that. But as a general purpose tool, it can be used in educationally appropriate ways. It can also be used in frivolous ways.
From a technology perspective, I don’t care one way or the other. I do believe it should be a Teaching & Learning decision. We don’t have to make every possible tool available, but we also don’t have to block a tool just because it can be used in non-educational ways.
Let me know,
…..Elson…..
Sept. 30, 11:20 a.m.
From Kay Elaster
To Elson Liu
Thanks! Remember, you are in Teaching and Learning. You keep trying to seperate [sic]. LOLOL!
Oct. 2, 8:23 a.m.
From Michelle Hayden, math teacher, West Middle School
To Elson Liu, Clint Smiley, Anthony Ruela, Barbara Frasier
Hello,
Barb Frasier, our media specialist at West, informed me that a decision was made to block teachers from using Pinterest. I am a math teacher and use Interactive Notebooks for my Advanced Algebra I and seventh grade math classes. Pinterest is an essential component for creating the lessons that go with these notebooks. Not having access to the site at school means that I must do all my planning from home, while all supplies needed to create any activities are at school. To say that blocking this site puts me at a disadvantage is an understatement.
Great teachers use Pinterest to create engaging lessons that students truly benefit from. Please consider unblocking this site.
Michelle Hayden
Editor’s note: Ruela is forwarding the Michelle Hayden request in the following email.
Oct. 2, 12:19 p.m.
From Anthony Ruela
To Kay Elaster
FYI –
Oct. 2, 12:20 p.m.
From Anthony Ruela
To Clint Smiley
You think Michelle can explain what it means for Pinterest to be essential to lesson creation?
Oct. 2, 4:07 p.m.
From Clint Smiley
To Anthony Ruela
AR
You saw the picture that I sent to your cell phone to illustrate the use of Pinterest by Michelle Hayden in Math.
I hope that this gives you enough evidence to request an “unblock” from Elson. If not, please call me to discuss.
Yours in proper proof for Pinterest procurement,
Clint
Oct. 2, 10:27 p.m.
From Anthony Ruela
To Clint Smiley
I did see it. I think it would be helpful if a teacher or two would come to the BO to demonstrate for T&L how it is essential. I do not think that single picture will work.
Anthony Ruela
Oct. 4, 7:35 p.m.
From Clint Smiley
To Anthony Ruella
AR
Could I be the person to explain in order to save time and energy?
Please advise.
Clint
Oct. 4, 11:28 p.m.
From Anthony Ruela
To Clint Smiley
Sure. I would suggest you reach out to her
Anthony Ruella
Oct. 5, 7:35 a.m.
From Clint Smiley
To Anthony Ruela
AR
Her being who? Hayden?
Clint
Editor’s Note: No reply in provided emails
Oct. 5, 8:15 a.m.
From Clint Smiley
To Anthony Ruela
AR
I’m bringing some stuff to the BO at 10:30 a.m.
Clint
Sept. 8, 5:05 p.m.
From Elson Liu
To Kay Elaster, Anthony Ruela
As you may recall, we’ve updated the District’s web filter this fall and asked for input on what to allow/block. (link included)
Originally, you had indicated that we should block social media, but Community Relations asked that we keep Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google Plus open because they use those services. Other social media platforms are blocked.
We’ve received a request from a teacher at Salem to open up Pinterest. Let me know if you think we should unblock it. The teacher’s rationale is below:
“Oh my gosh there are a million reasons why it is important!!!!!”
“At a time when social media has broken down geographic barriers across countless professions, teachers have turned to places like Pinterest in droves, and not because they’re particularly prone to distraction. For thousands of teachers, Pinterest has become an important venue for professional development—a place to find creative lesson plans, classroom decorations, and teaching tips. Pinterest isn’t likely to supplant traditional, in-person forms of professional development anytime soon, nor would most teachers necessarily want it to. But its growing popularity as a source of lesson plans and other classroom ideas reflects a longtime void in the way America has historically gone about training and re-educating its teachers: For many, that training can simply be too rigid and inefficient.
“Pinterest is my way of organizing my lesson plans! I have boards for all the classes I teach. Within those boards are pins and ideas that link to educational websites or other tutorial resources. Art teachers/Visual teachers do not use a textbook, so many of our ideas come from collaboration. Pinterest has allowed art teachers to collaborate with teachers around the world. Not having access to this while during my planning hour or other times throughout the day would be detrimental to my organization of ideas. While I understand the need to block social media sites…pinterest (while yes it can be social) is more of an idea organization system. It is less about being social and more about collaborating.
“I also often let my HSE (human services exploration) students use my computer to look at ideas through pinterest. Those students are responsible for teaching an art lesson to students with special needs.
“Thanks for helping! Let me know if you need something else.”
Sept. 8, 5:16 p.m.
From Kay Elaster
To Elson Liu
cc Anthony Ruela
To me if they want to use Pintrest, [sic] they can access that website outside of school. Anthony?
Sept. 8, 7:17 p.m.
From Anthony Ruela
To Elson Liu
Cc Kay Elaster
While I am biased to think that Pinterest contributes to a climate of cutesy projects substituting for rigorous, standards based interdisciplinary projects, I must admit that this is more of an assumption as I have not spent much time on the site. In talking with my wife and 16 yr old who are familiar with all forms of social media, they feel like there is no reason to block Pinterest if we are allowing Twitter.
Sept. 9, 2:06 p.m.
From Elson Liu
To Anthony Ruela
cc Kay Elaster
Hi Kay,
Let me know which way to go.
Thanks,
…..Elson…..
Sept. 9, 2:06 p.m.
From Elson Liu
To Anthony Ruela
cc Kay Elaster
FYI, had another request for Pinterest from the PCEP yearbook, “we use this both as a teacher and students for inspirational ideas”
Sept. 9, 2:21 p.m.
From Anthony Ruela (iPhone)
Ok, that made me laugh out loud…
Sept. 11, 11:50 a.m.
From Elson Liu
To Clevell Koon
Hi Clevell,
You submitted a request to unblock Pinterest? The Teaching & Learning Dept asked us to block social networking services except for the ones used by Community Relations – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google Plus.
Having said that, we’re received another request to unblock Pinterest and forwarded it on to T&L for review. I’ll let you know what they end up deciding.
…..Elson…..
Sept. 16, 12:33 p.m.
From Elson Liu
To (not clear)
Hi folks,
Just a reminder of a couple of pending requests to unblock specific resources for the District’s web filter:
Pinterest.com (multiple requests from different staff) - categorized as social media
DeviantArt – categorized as social media
One teacher’s rationale for Pinterest:
(repeat of earlier appeal)
The teacher’s rationale for DeviantArt:
I’ve been using Deviant art for years now and I’m quite taken back the recent change to its on-campus inaccessibility. The site’s name alone is quite misleading as it is a well-organized, purposeful, and informative place for art of all types. I’ve used it often as an educational tool to show students the artwork of professionals, friends and even my own artwork. Many of my students have a Deviant art account and this is one way for them to share their artwork with me. My students and I have explored countless tutorials which echo the teachings of my drawing classes. From perspective drawing and how-to-draw portraits, to shading techniques, and inspirational backgrounds, Deviant Art it is a safe and overwhelmingly motivating venue where artists learn from one another. The site showcases various art media from photographers to digital art, drawings, paintings, fashion, film, poetry and more.
While the main purpose of Deviant Art is for the visual sharing of idea, it surely CAN be used as a social networking site, for it allows students to both write and receive critiques from fellow artists. This amazing venue fits perfectly into the state Michigan’s Art Benchmarks seen below:
Analyze: Analyze, describe, and evaluate works or art.
-
I can evaluate and respond to a piece of artwork, then discuss the artist’s intention while using art vocabulary.
-
I can evaluate the quality and success of my personal artwork.
-
I can see how my personal experiences influence the creative process while I create my art
It allows students to build their own website and an online portfolio, where they can feel empowered to exhibit their own artwork for free (see state benchmark below). I intend to continue to encourage my students to take advantage of this free opportunity.
Perform: Apply skills and knowledge to perform in the arts.
-
I can exhibit, present, and publish quality works of art.
It Introduces students to different types of art from countless countries around the world while simultaneously giving them a glimpse into each countries [sic] culture, style, and history.
Analyze In Content: Understand, analyze, and describe the arts in their historical, social, and cultural contexts.
-
I can observe and describe artwork as it links with history and culture.
-
I can describe the uses and functions of art in different cultures, time periods, and places.
-
I can explore and make connections between art, history, and culture over time.
-
I can use art history to inspire my art making.
For these reasons, and many more, I hope you’ll reconsider making Deviant Art accessible to me and others wanting to pursue all that the site offers.
Thanks for you your consideration,
(name redacted)
Please let me know what to tell these folks.
…..Elson…..
Sept. 16, 1:44 p.m.
From Kay Elaster
To Elson Liu
cc Anthony Ruela
Elson,
Based on that particular feedback about Pinterest, I would say no. Teachers should be planning ahead of their daily lessons and not running to Pinterest between courses to plan lessons.
I have no problem with Deviant Art.
Kay Elaster
Sept. 16, 3:18 p.m.
From Elson Liu
To Clevell Koon
Hi Clevell,
I just received a note from Teaching & Learning this afternoon that they would like Pinterest to remain blocked.
I’m sorry for the bad news.
…..Elson…..
This is the thread of emails from Teaching & Learning and Technology that involve Pinterest and DeviantArt. These emails were recieved through the FOIA request. If you have not read the article yet, click the link below.
