Instagram has become my favorite place (after Pinterest, of course!) to find new teaching ideas & inspiration. Here are my favorite posts from the past week. Be sure to click on each name in blue below and follow these awesome teachers!

I am the worst at remembering to take attendance on time. I have post it notes all over my desk & laptop but they only seem to help me every other day. Setting a reminder alarm is genius!

It never fails. I always get super forgetful about taking attendance this time of the year. Getting daily calls from the office to take attendance is just embarrassing! ? Thank goodness for multiple alarms. Set them up this week and they are working like a charm ? #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #iteachtoo

A photo posted by Learning in Wonderland (@learninginwonderland) on Apr 8, 2015 at 4:32pm PDT

I have a very messy bunch of kids this year and I feel like our floor only gets picked up if I personally invite each student to pick up each piece of paper one at a time. Can you tell I’m over this?! I am totally trying these table recycling bins this week.

Group recycling bins… such a great idea I gor from @rowdyinroom300 a long time ago! It really cuts down on the constant getting up to recycle and the mess around the room… love it!

A photo posted by Teacher by the Beach (@teacherbythebeach) on Apr 9, 2015 at 5:41am PDT

This is such a cool idea to freshen up a behavior plan at this time of year when the kids are starting to feel extra frisky!  And I now have a new shopping quest to find one of this spinning frames!

Spinning the Star Table Wheel is bringing out the best in my class ? details are on my blog now (link in comments) #iteachtoo #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #firstgrade

A photo posted by Polka Dots Please (@polka.dots.please) on Apr 8, 2015 at 5:56pm PDT

I don’t think being irritated by pencil problems ever goes away so sending pencil sharpening home with parent volunteers sounds amazing!

Beyond thankful for our Take Home Pencil Sharpening Posse this year! ✏️✏️ #flutteringthroughfirstgrade #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #igteachers

A photo posted by Fluttering Through First Grade (@fluttering1st) on Apr 8, 2015 at 8:38am PDT

I don’t know what it is about first graders but they love to tie knots. I had two little friends on Friday both tie their shoelaces together into the craziest knots I have ever seen. They were totally shocked that we couldn’t just pull them apart when the bell for recess rang and that they had to stay inside while their teacher struggled to free them! Well, now I’m ready to untangle any knots that come my way thanks to this great tip!

Beyond thankful for our Take Home Pencil Sharpening Posse this year! ✏️✏️ #flutteringthroughfirstgrade #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #igteachers

A photo posted by Fluttering Through First Grade (@fluttering1st) on Apr 8, 2015 at 8:38am PDT

And this one was a little too relatable for the week back at school after spring break!

My class today was OUT of control!! What is in the air??? #teachers #teacherproblems #teachersofig #teacherbloggers #iteachk #iteachtoo

A photo posted by Adventures In Kinder (@adventuresinkinder) on Apr 8, 2015 at 3:52pm PDT

Check back next week for more Instagram inspiration!

Image credit: Shutterstock/Yurlymaging

The post Instagram for Teachers: Insta-Teaching Posts of the Week appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

This school  year will be my 10th year teaching! Ten years blows my mind because I can still tell you the names of all the kids in the class I student taught. It’s strange realizing that you’re not the total newbie on campus anymore.

Reflecting on my 9 years of teaching leaves me with some complicated feelings. I’m proud of myself for hanging in there, amazed that I still haven’t figured out all the things that I thought I would surely know at this point, peaceful & calm about a new year starting (which is a definite improvement from Brand New Teacher Me’s summer stress levels), & excited to keep trying new ideas & to meet a new crew of cute kiddos!

I was so nervous about everything the summer before my first year began. I spent so much time in the library taking notes from copies of Young Children & The Reading Teacher. At home I used my slow dial up internet to stalk Kim Jordano, Nellie Edge, & Mrs. Flanagan at Little Giraffes. I’m so grateful to these amazing ladies who shared so much on their websites. This was the “Before Pinterest Era” and finding new teaching ideas was a very slow process compared to today. I can’t imagine planning without Pinterest now. It makes me feel like poor LC below just thinking about it!

I’ve been thinking about the advice I would have given to myself that summer and I want to share it with any readers who are getting ready this summer to teach their first class. Here it comes!

1. Set a reasonable time to leave school each day & stick to it!

There is always more work you could stay & do at school. It’s not going anywhere. Establishing boundaries for your personal life can help you manage stress & be well rested for the next day with your class.

#2 Get serious about germ prevention!

Make it as easy as possible for your students to frequently wash their hands. Check to see if they can reach the sink & pick up a stepping stool if they need a boost. The soap dispenser in my first classroom was completely out of reach of any 6 year old so for about 4 months they were just rinsing their hands with water until I noticed what was happening.  Gross memories!

#3 Ask to observe your more experienced colleagues teaching in their own classrooms.

I learned more from watching my grade level team members in action than in any professional development. I was lucky to join a strong & welcoming kindergarten team and these informal observations made a huge difference in my teaching.

#4 On Sunday, plan all of your after-school activities for the week & write them into your plan book.

Force yourself to get organized & schedule things like workouts, grocery shopping, meal prep, laundry, etc. Writing these  in my plan book helped me focus on doing things that would alleviate stress & just make my days go smoother. I have so many memories of coming home exhausted to find no clean clothes for the next morning let alone anything to eat for dinner. It’s simple but planning these more mundane things will help you when there is so much going on at school. It gives me a sense of being in control & on top of things which is reassuring when things at school get crazier.

#5 Stock an emergency drawer in your desk.

You will spend so much time in your classroom that it will start to feel like your second home. Keeping some essentials on hand at school will save you in all those little kerfuffles that can pop up. Here’s what I have stashed in mine: dental floss, hair ties, cough drops, deodorant, slippers, gloves, scarf, socks, flip flops, nail clippers, batteries, lip gloss, compact, extra birthday cards & thank you notes, gum, & snacks. I also keep an extra coat in my classroom for those days when the weather changes dramatically.

#6 Document ALL parent & administrator contact.

I have to be honest and admit that I still struggle with this one. It is a tedious job but an essential one. Get a simple notebook at one of the back to school sales coming up & keep it with your plan book. It doesn’t need to be fancy or complicated. Jot down the date, who you had contact with, & a few lines to remind you of the most important points. Angela Watson has a great freebie with a template you can use.

#7 Prep emergency sub plans now so you are ready for any unexpected illness during the year.

This is one of those things that you will be so grateful for during the year. Most likely, as a new teacher, you’re going to get sick. During my first year I ended up with all kinds of weird illnesses (highlights include slap cheek, double pink eye, & scarlet fever!) and there is nothing worse than trying to write sub plans while you are feeling so unwell. It’s so much nicer to send an email that directs your sub to your emergency plans and then go back to sleep!

#8 Practice some positive phrases to use in difficult situations with parents and/or administrators.

There will inevitably be some tense conversations during your first year of teaching and beyond. Do everything you can to stay calm, to listen more than you speak, & to show empathy for the person you are talking with. I used to feel like I had to have an instant answer or solution to share in these moments and I often felt like a failure because I didn’t know what to say when I was caught off guard. Now I try to respond by saying something like this, “Thank you for letting me know about this. I’ll think about it some more and get back to you soon.” This type of statement gives everyone time to simmer down and reflect on what the next steps should be. I also highly recommend downloading Aspire to Inspire’s wonderful freebie, “Dealing with Difficult Parents: Unexpected On-The-Job Training” It has a wealth of great tips!

#9 Do at least one thing with your class each week that reminds you of why you became a teacher in the first place.

I love to sing & play the piano so teaching my first graders to sing songs like The Rainbow Connection, Inch by Inch, & A You’re Adorable makes me smile & feel more connected to my class. I also love to get down on the floor with my kids to do art projects. We really enjoyed working on coloring in Jenny’s awesome math collaborative posters together this year. We also had a Frozen singalong during our last week of school. It was so much fun! During the year I always try to read some of my childhood favorites like Noisy Nora, Pinkerton, Pippi Longstocking, George & Martha, and Lyle Crocodile. Finding a way to share the things that truly put a smile on your face with your class will help you feel less stressed and more cheerful. There’s always a way to work these types of activities in & you will feel so much more energized to keep going throughout the year.

#10 Keep a journal for all of the hilarious & cute comments you will get from students.

You might think you’ll always remember these moments but they do start to blur pretty quickly. One of my favorite student stories is from an awesome little girl who was the talk of  our kindergarten all day because her pet dog had just, in her words, “laid puppies”. We heard names, vital statistics, every imaginable detail about these new pups. A few mothers got in touch with our little story teller’s mom after school because they were hoping to adopt puppies only to find out that not only were there no puppies there also wasn’t even a pet dog! Got to love her imagination! My journal has several pages for this one student alone & it always makes me smile to remember her that year. Reading your journal can also be really powerful when you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed out about teaching. It’s nice to have some reminders of the funny times right at your fingertips.

#11 Don’t drive yourself crazy with an elaborate classroom theme.

Your students will still learn and have a great year even if you don’t decorate your classroom with a fun theme. I love my classroom filled with rainbows & bumblebees but I’ve had 9 years to gradually make fun purchases & fancy things up.  I always joke that my classroom theme for my first few years was “school” followed by “learning” with maybe a dash of “tidiness”. Seriously though, save your money! It’s much more cost effective to check out garage sales, retiring teachers’ classrooms, Craig’s List, Ebay, etc for those fun classroom extras along the way.

#12 Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.

I love this quote! I know that it’s way too easy to get caught up in comparing your classroom to other classrooms you see at your campus or online and  that usually leads to feeling  inadequate about yourself as a teacher. This is something that I still struggle with at times & I think most teachers do to a certain extent. I’m trying to have this be my mantra though and hopefully you can remind yourself as well, especially as a first year teacher. I wish you luck in your first year of teaching! Be kind to yourself & remember to have fun with your students! Please feel free to comment or email me with any questions you have. I would love to try to help out!

image & font credits: Vorobyeva.Shutterstock.com, Woaiss/Shutterstock.com, Iravgustin/Shutterstock.com, Kimberly Geswein Fonts, Giphy.com

The post Back to School Advice & Tips for New Teachers appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

Ready to join me in some vicarious organization enabled by Pinterest?

Here are my favorite classroom organization finds shared by some very creative teachers. Click each picture to head on over to their blogs:

1. Sort construction paper into a filing box.

No more random crumpled edges & you can easily spot any colors you are running low on. So much better than my current system of shoving construction paper into drawers & keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll have enough of each color when I need it.

from Diane at teachwithme.com

2. Store math games in plastic bags & hang them on a towel rack.

I’m so doing this for my math workshop menu choices next year! I had a hard time keeping enough supplies out for multiple math games at a time without it looking like a small hurricane has blown through my classroom so this looks like a perfect solution.

from Arlee at Small Potatoes

3. Store base ten blocks in supply caddies.

I spent this entire school year thinking I didn’t own any of these blocks until afterschool on our very last day when I discovered my dusty class set of foam base ten blocks! So frustrating but at least I’ll be ready for next year. This idea is brilliant! When the kids clean up they get to sort ones, tens, & hundreds one more time.

from Sally at Elementary Matters

4. Label, label, label!

I had a really hard time choosing just one adorable & perfectly labeled picture from this gorgeous classroom. Seriously, you must click the photo below and give yourself some time to take it all in! Amazingly cute & functional! As my good friend Liz Lemon would say, “I want to go to there!”

from Mel D. at Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations

5. Then add more labels!

I don’t know how I’ve been living all this time without knowing that self adhesive chalkboard vinyl exists! So many fun possibilities starting with these fun teacher supply jars.

from the x-acto website

6. Color code your curriculum files by subject.

One of my big summer goals this year is to purge my files and hopefully eliminate one of my file cabinets. If I survive the file downsizing this will be my next project.

from Angela at Primarily Primary

7. Sort extra crayons by color.

Wouldn’t it be great if this eliminated some of the daily, “Where’s my (fill in any color here) crayon?” Maybe it was just the group of kiddos I had this year but missing crayons was quite a frequent (& dramatic) event. And I love anything that incorporates another rainbow into my classroom!

from Bethany at Ship Shape First Grade

8. Use plastic dishpans to store classroom library books.

I am a girl who loves her plastic containers a little too much so I thought I had seen all of the classroom storage options at this point. I am so happy to be wrong! These are amazing! I love that they are clear and wide to store odd sized books. This entire classroom is so beautiful & very organized. Click through to see more!

from Eloiseney

9. Store earbuds in a plastic bead box with numbered sections.

This year was my first year to have the kids bring in headphones to use and it was a hot mess! I had kids losing headphones left & right not to mention that some kids brought really big and really expensive ones to school which were hard to store & gave me some serious anxiety about anything happening to them. I’m hoping to encourage next year’s kids to just bring simple earbuds and then we are going to give this box storage a whirl.

from Brittany at Inspire.Love.Learn.

10. Store extra scrapbook & construction paper by color.

I love using scrapbook paper but I really hate how spendy it is. And I hate it even more when I see kids destroying the scraps or just dumping them once they are finished. This year I had a tub for kids to save the scraps in but having all colors in one tub made it time consuming to dig through when we needed more for a new project. I don’t know if I can fit something like this in my room space wise for next year but I’m going to try to make it work as Tim Gunn would say

from Rachel at I Love My Three Sons

11. Set up a check out station for your classroom library

I love how you could reuse this from one year to the next using class numbers rather than names. It might be a little ambitious for my first graders to manage at the start of the school year but I think by mid-year they will be up for the challenge. This is another photo that leads to an amazingly inspiring classroom tour so be sure to click through to see the rest of this room!

from I Love Labels

12. Label & separate each child’s crayons on the group supply caddy.

I always struggle with class supplies and I feel like I’ve tried everything from individual pencil boxes to store everything for each child to group supply baskets with no names on anything. I like this idea because it meets somewhere in the middle. I’m getting ready for my 10th year of teaching and I’m pretty sure I’ve used 9 different ways to organize the supplies. Maybe this will be the one to stick!

from Karen at Flamingo Fabulous in Second Grade

13. Store emergency sub plans in a well labeled container.

I’ve always done emergency sub plans in a binder but I like this idea even more- you could put read alouds & any other needed materials right in with the plans. This way it would definitely be easy to spot too!

from Melissa at Teach Bake Love

14. Gather copies & materials for the whole week in one spot.

I used some rainbow dividers from Lakeshore for this same type of storage but I could never fit everything I needed into  each day’s container. I love how roomy these bins are and that they stack to save on counter space. Especially since I have no free counter space at this point!

From Alison at Rockin’ and Lovin’ Learnin’

15. Store ipods in labeled caddies.

Since I’m busy organizing my imaginary classroom this evening I’m going to store my imaginary ipods in these cute containers. Fingers crossed I’ll have some real technology to store in the future!

From Molly at Lucky to Be in First!

16. Separate teaching resource books by topic.

I spend way too much time squinting at the teeny tiny titles on the spines of skinny teaching resource books trying to find stuff. This will save me so much time and hopefully eliminate eye strain too!

From Clutter-Free Classroom

17. Store puzzles in pencil pouches.

I am in favor of anything that means I can get rid of the severely abused cardboard boxes my rainy day puzzles live in! Such a great idea! I’m putting these pouches on my back to school shopping list.

From Kelly at The Navy Stripe

18. Sort prep materials for aides & volunteers in plastic drawers.

Somehow I think this system will work much better than my current system, especially because my current system is one giant pile of papers with post-its barely hanging on!

from Anna at Crazy for First Grade

 Doesn’t it all just make you want to head to the Container Store immediately?!

image credits: giphy, KG Fonts,  all other images belong to the linked blogger or website owner, please let me know if you would like your photo/link removed from this list

The post 18 Amazing Classroom Organization Tips & Tricks appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

I’m so excited to start these new boards! Please let me know if you would like to join any or all of them.  I would also be happy to add you to any of the boards mentioned in this post. You can check out all of my group board rules while you’re over there too.  Those rules will apply to these new boards with just a few differences as noted below so keep reading if you are interested.

*all grade levels welcome to pin

*no paid products

*pin teacher jokes, quotes, organization, management, technology, classroom design, communication, gift ideas, etc

*all grade levels welcome to pin

*no paid products

*only pin photos of decorated classroom doors &  bulletin boards

*all grade levels welcome to pin

*pin music, drama, visual arts, poetry, etc

*be sure to follow the board guidelines for pinning paid products in this post

*3rd, 4th, & 5th grade boards follow the same rules as those in this post

To join these collaborative boards please be sure to:

1. Follow me on pinterest so I can add you as a collaborator. Pinterest will not allow pinners to be added if they are not already following the creator of the board(s).

http://www.pinterest.com/happyteacher/

2. Leave me a comment with your pinterest link. Keep in mind that it can sometimes take up to 48 hours for pinterest to let me add someone to the boards so don’t worry if the invites don’t come through right away. Please let me know if you haven’t received an invite after 48 hours though & I will resend them.

Thank you so much for joining! Happy Pinning!

image credits: giphy, Creative Clips, Sing Smile & Learn, KG Fonts, Darcy Baldwin Fontography

The post New Pinterest Group Boards for Upper Grades & More! appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

Hi Teacher Friends! I’ve been getting a lot of great questions lately about the best ways to grow your TPT following on pinterest and thought I would share some of the things that have been working well for me lately. If you are new to pinterest you might want to start with some of my earlier posts that cover some pinterest basics. Otherwise get ready for my favorite pinterest secrets.

Are you ready to be like this awesome baby with such incredibly engaged followers? I hope so

1. Research & follow pinners who are NOT Teachers Pay Teachers sellers.

You probably are already following a bunch of TPT sellers, which is great! Keep doing that. It won’t be long though until you start seeing some of the same pins over and over in your feed. You need to find unique, high quality pins to surround your product pins with as well as to keep your feed engaging & interesting for your followers (& the future followers you are hoping to attract).

Following & repinning from pinners outside the TPT circle will help you find fresh and new pins that will stand out. Look for pinners in education-related fields like social workers, parents, speech therapists, day care workers, authors, child friendly celebrities, child friendly brands, artists, librarians, etc. Here are some great pinners to get you started:

Melissa & Doug Toys

PediaStaff

School Library Journal

Bernadette (Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas)

Rainy Day Mum

Candlewick Press

Debbie @ Country

2. Save time by highlighting the text you want to include in your pin description before clicking the pin it button.

I just learned about this tip over on Cute as a Fox and it is such a huge time saver. Your pins have a much better chance of turning up at the top of pinterest’s search results when the description has meaningful key words rather than just the title of the image “IMG 56” or even by just leaving the description blank. By highlighting the text from the website that is most relevant to the pin you get a head start on writing an effective product description.

  Click here for this simple tutorial on Cute as a Fox.

#3 Think about what a teacher would type into the search box on Pinterest and be sure to use those words in your pin description.

It does matter! Writing effective descriptions is an ongoing project for me. My pins with clear, teacher friendly details included are always repinned at a higher rate than my pins with descriptions like “cute idea” or even worse “:-)”. Here are some articles that I’ve found helpful in writing pin descriptions as well as in improving the product descriptions in my TPT store:

5-Step Formula for Writing Handmade Product Descriptions That Sell

How to Write Product Descriptions That Sell, Boost SEO Efforts

5 Tips to Better Product Descriptions

7 Simple Steps to Writing Product Descriptions That Sell

#4 Research on Pin Groupie to find group boards you are interested in joining.

Instead of blindly searching for group boards on pinterest,  visit Pin Groupie and you’ll end up with a list of potential group boards almost immediately. Be sure to choose the education or kids category to filter your results. Then reach out to each board’s host to ask about joining. If there is no contact information in the board’s description look at the collaborator list and the icon the farthest to the left is the board’s creator. Then you can search for a blog or facebook page to get in touch with them.

Even if the board is not adding new pinners you should still follow it so you can study what successful pins (& boards) look like. Keep in mind that at some point most group boards end up having to stop adding new pinners because it just becomes too time consuming to manage.

It can be a total bummer to not be added but try to remind yourself that it really isn’t anything personal. I have been lucky to be added to many of the group boards I have reached out to board hosts about but I have also not been added to even more boards that I would have loved  to join. Remember, there will always be another board to join and you can always start your own group boards as well!

#5 Pins with an aspect ratio of 2:3 get 60% more repins than very tall images.

Super long pins and teeny tiny pins can both be annoying to your followers and are my personal pet peeve. That’s just one of the things you can do to optimize your images for pinterest. Click the image below to see a great infographic from Curalate with 7 more characteristics of highly repinnable images.

#6 If you have a product pin with zero repins and zero likes, delete it and create a more engaging promotional pin for that product.

This one can sting but it does make a big difference. As you get better at creating highly repinnable images you might come to find that the pins you started out with are not doing you any good.  In my case I found that some of my earliest pins were actually really embarrassing too! Refreshing these pins brought them to a new audience and to new buyers!

Looking for more Pinterest tips to promote your Teachers Pay Teachers products? Click below:

 If you are interested in joining any of my collaborative boards click below:

image credits as noted or gify

image credits for title: creative clips, sonya de hart, kg fonts

The post 6 Pinterest Secrets Every Teachers Pay Teachers Seller Needs to Know appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

I have so much fun with pinterest and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to pin to my collaborative boards. The more awesome pins we share the more followers we gain to the boards, which means more sales for everyone! Keep reading to join more group boards!

I’m excited to announce that I am adding some more collaborative boards and I would love to add you as a pinner! These new boards will be for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, & second grade.

I’m updating the rules for my current seasonal boards at this time as well so please take a moment to check them out. The same rules will apply to each of my collaborative boards. I appreciate your help in keeping the boards an enjoyable place for teachers to visit!

Happy Teacher’s Collaborative Board Rules

1. Surround your product pin with related free pins. Try to have at least 5 but, ideally, more related pins. This strategy helps the boards but it also helps your sales. You want teachers to stop and look at your pins but when all of the pins are product after product they start to blend together. Make your product stand out by showing teachers related resources. Examples of related pins are quotes, bulletin boards, videos, books, art projects, games, teaching tips, teacher jokes, organizational tips, food ideas, free products, etc.

2. You may pin up to 3 different products each day ONLY if you have pinned 5 or more related pins for each individual product.

3. Do not pin products that do not relate to the board’s topic. I hate dropping people from the boards but intentionally pinning a  holiday resource to every seasonal board at one time is spamming. It creates a huge amount of work for me to go in and delete, for example, Halloween resources that have been pinned to every single board.

4. Do not pin identical pins to multiple boards or to the same board within 48 hours. This includes pinning multiple preview pages for the exact same product in a row. Please try to mix it up and give the boards variety. Try creating different versions of pins for the same product and then rotating which one to pin each day.

5. Try to avoid pinning only product covers. Use images from inside your product or photos of your resources in action. When possible try to pin colorful images rather than black & white ones.

6. Do not pin anything involving adult humor, fitness, politics, etc. Please stay on topic and keep things child friendly.

7. Do not pin super long pins or super tiny pins. This includes product covers & thumbnails from the TPT website. Pin clear, medium sized images. Upload your own images directly to Pinterest instead of using the pin it link on your TPT product pages.

8. Do not pin ads for other collaborative boards or for sales other than the TPT site wide sales each quarter.

9. Feel free to pin educational pins even if you don’t have a product to promote. My goal is for the majority of each board to be made up of helpful, interesting, & free ideas for teachers.

10. Enjoy pinning!

If you’ve made it this far and you would still like to pin on my collaborative boards please be sure to:

1. Follow me on pinterest so I can add you as a collaborator. Pinterest will not allow pinners to be added if they are not already following the creator of the board(s).

http://www.pinterest.com/happyteacher/

2. Leave me a comment with your pinterest link on this post. Keep in mind that it can sometimes take up to 48 hours for pinterest to let me add someone to the boards so don’t worry if the invites don’t come through right away. Please let me know if you haven’t received an invite after 48 hours though & I will resend them. Sometimes Pinterest is feeling moody so please feel free to let me know & I will try to add you again.

Thank you so much for visiting my website and for your interest in my boards. I’m excited to pin with you!

Here are the links to my seasonal boards:

For more pinterest tips for TPT sellers check out these posts:

The post Collaborative Pinterest Boards appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

Do a Quick Board Review Before You Pin

Open the board you are planning to pin to right before you click pin it. What are the most recent pins? How will your pin fit in? Are you repinning a popular pin that has already been featured that day? You don’t have to scroll back forever to check on this but sometimes in the top 3 rows of a board I’ve seen a great pin that relates to my product that has already been pinned. Checking first means you can be sure your related pins are fresh and unique rather than repetitive and annoying.

Double Check Board Rules

Quickly review the rules for the board you are planning to pin to before you click the pin it button. Scan for any big no-no’s to avoid. Each board is different and will have a different ratio of paid to free pins expected as well as things like the size of pins allowed, product covers, number of total pins per pinner each day, etc. Finding a way that works for you to organize collaborative board rules makes this step way easier! I know this isn’t the most exciting tip but it’s an important one.

Start Your Own Boards to Gain Your Own Following

Start your own boards for each product or product line you create.  Fill these boards exclusively with non-paid pins that complement your product as well as a variety of highly repinnable pins featuring your own product. Filling these boards can be done in a few minutes a day and should be fun for you!

To find great related pins do a search on pinterest for related terms. Do a simple google image search as well. Only pin items from google image search if you are able to follow the link to the original blog post or website featuring the image. Then be sure to pin from that source instead of from the google image search result page. Otherwise your pin will lead your followers to a dead-end rather than to the inspiring source material.

Creating your own boards that are 95% not products is without a doubt the quickest way to gain followers.

How to Use Your New Boards to Promote Your Products on Collaborative Boards

Open a tab with your chosen product promo pin. Open another tab with your board full of related pins. Then open up tabs for each related pin you plan to use from your board. If you need more related pins do a quick search on pinterest and open tabs for each pin you plan to repin. The more related pins, the better!

Now open a tab with the collaborative board you plan to pin to (see the top of this post for more on this). Look at the pins you have open in tabs and think about where your product pin would best stand out. Think about size, color, placement on the board, etc. Check out my spring board below to see a product pin surrounded by related free pins.

You’re ready to pin! Pin from each tab in the order you have already planned. Close each tab after clicking pin it. Then go back to admire your well curated contribution to the board!

Learn from the Examples of Successful Pinners

Here are a few of my favorite people on pinterest. Watch their feeds to see how they pair their products with engaging related pins to keep their followers happily repinning!

Keep Your Eye on Successful Collaborative Boards

Watch some of the most successful collaborative boards and try to pin your products in a way that would fit in on these super boards. Keeping these types of boards in mind will lift the level of your pinning. Here are a few of my favorite boards to watch:

Kindergarten Klub

Kinder Land

For more pinterest tips check out these posts:

image credit: gify, all other images belong to the pinners featured or happyteacherhappykids.com

The post Simple Ways to Pin Politely & Effectively to Collaborative Pinterest Boards appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

Getting my taxes ready last week made one thing crystal clear to me- I have a clip art addiction! Since I started selling on TPT last year my clip art shopping has gotten a little crazy. I keep thinking this year I’ll stick to a budget but I think I know I’m just kidding myself!

There are so many amazing clip artists on TPT and I wanted to share some of my favorites. My list of favorites got way too long so this post will have some sequels coming later! Here is my first batch of favorites in no particular order:

Our Monitos

This store is an automatic buy for me. I get a notification of a new item and it goes straight into my cart! I love everything but two of my favorite sets are these ones:

PoppyDreamz Digital Art

Gabi is an amazing artist and is so helpful! I couldn’t find clip art for a Diwali project I was working on and she helped me out with these beautiful designs:

And I used this fun set so much making holidays around the world activities for my class in December:

Christine O’Brien

Christine is another super helpful & friendly clip artist who has helped me when I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. Here are two of her gorgeous sets that were just what I needed:

Julie Phillipps

I love Julie’s unique style, especially her kids and ninjas!

Apples ‘n’ Acorns

I love that everything in this shop comes with black line & color images. And there are so many unique twists to all of the tried and true teaching topics for primary grade teachers.

Ramona Majdis

I just found Ramona’s store a few weeks ago and I now have her whole store on my wish list!

Epiphanous Owl

This is a brand new shop I stumbled upon over the weekend and I got so excited! Check out this super cute free bunny set:

This is definitely a store to follow!

Check back again soon for more of my favorite people to buy clip art from! I am so glad that there are so many wonderful artists who share their work with us so we can create cute teaching resources so much easier!

The post My Favorite TPT Clip Art Sellers appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

If so, I’m glad you are here! Check out the ideas below to learn how to successfully pin your products without giving yourself an ulcer.

#1 Marketing on Pinterest is not the same as pinning for fun in your personal life. Treat it like part of your job.

You need to prepare to keep organized records, frequently check & follow board rules, & research to find high quality related pins to surround your promotional pins. If you are not willing to do some work then don’t join collaborative boards. I’ve heard people complain about being asked to find these types of pins saying that they just want to pin their own products. They are missing the point- if you’re not willing to put in some time and help maintain the quality of the boards you join those boards will lose followers and you will not increase your sales. You’ll be wasting your time on Pinterest (and annoying a lot of other people while you are at it)

#2 Pinning your products on unrelated boards is not worth it.

Valentine’s Day clip art? Don’t pin it on a back to school board. Halloween making words activity? Don’t pin it on a Christmas board. End of the year memory book? Don’t pin it on a Thanksgiving board. Those are all real examples of pins I’ve had to go through and delete from the collaborative boards that I host.

#3 Avoid those itty bitty, blurry, black & white pins.

Don’t add to Grumpy Cat’s misery- avoid pinning the tiny thumbnails from your TPT product page. Read more here or here or here for more tips on creating high quality pins.

#4 Super long pins should be rare.

And those long pins with every thumbnail for your product crammed in? It’s like a page from Where’s Waldo but no one knows what Waldo looks like. Not a great way to get people interested in your product. Be thoughtful and strategic about longer pins.

#5 Surround your promotional pin with high quality and related free pins.

I can’t stop looking at these beautifully curated boards!

Check out this post for some examples of this strategy. I think this is even more important on collaborative boards than on your personal boards. Your family & friends will most likely have more patience with your random pinning than potential customers will. Contributing visually dynamic and meaningful pins to collaborative boards is the best way to gain followers. More followers on collaborative boards will lead to more sales for everyone.

#6 Try not to be too upset if you get removed from boards if you were not following the rules.

Marketing on Pinterest has a learning curve and you’ll probably make mistakes along the way. It’s a bummer to be taken off of popular boards but it doesn’t mean that you can’t ask to rejoin again later, being sure to follow all of the rules. There will always be more boards to join so don’t beat yourself up about any mistakes. Remember, you can always start your own collaborative boards too.

#7 Never pin the same product to any collaborative board without waiting at least 24 hours.

I’ve said this one before but it is so important. The collaborative boards that are the most helpful have the most followers. Those followers are almost all following the same group of collaborative boards that you are pinning to. You are not reaching a different group of customers by pinning to a different board in the next 5 minutes. Followers will leave when their feeds become full of the same product covers and nothing else.

Pinterest can be an awesome tool for your TPT store and still be a fun place to do “important research” (waste time at all hours!)

By the way, if you’re a K-2 TPT seller, blogger, or both and you’d like to join my collaborative boards just leave me a comment below & I’ll be glad to add you! Happy pinning!

all image credits click here , here, here, here, here, here, here, here

Check out the amazing Erica Bohrer’s blog for lots of incredible tips for selling on TPT!

The post Make the Most of Collaborative Pinterest Boards for TPT Sellers appeared first on Happy Teacher, Happy Kids.

Pinterest used to be fun!

Luckily you can promote your products and still make Pinterest a happy place for you & your followers again in no time. Read on to find out how to be a happy pinner again!

#1 Remember why you starting pinning in the first place & make it enjoyable!

Be the fun teacher to follow on Pinterest!

The overwhelming majority of your pins should not be products. They should be useful, beautiful ideas that you would have pinned before you started selling on Teachers Pay Teachers. Try to keep yourself in your followers’ shoes. Absolutely no one is interested in a wall of product covers. I promise that you will not be missing any sales by holding yourself back from overpinning product covers. Remember how you felt when you first learned about Pinterest and how exciting everything seemed? It was entertaining and relaxing and those are the feelings you want to inspire in your followers.

#2 Surround your promotional pins with related, attractive, free, & useful pins.

When you are ready to pin to promote a product or blog post take the time to find high quality related pins. Your goal is to keep your followers in a state of relaxed pinterest browsing. Your promotional pin should be a good fit for the related pins you choose and should keep your followers in the pin zone not make them feel like they are browsing the Sunday newspaper ads.

Start out with lots of cute related pins or in this case lots of cute baby pandas…

and then slide your promotional pin or panda right in the mix

Check out my Christmas board below to see one of my promotional pins surrounded by related high quality pins:

#3 Don’t pin tiny images!

Only use big, clear, colorful images. Never use the pin it button on the left hand side on your product page. Your pin will look awful and be so tiny that no one will click on it let alone get an idea of what your product is and why they should purchase it.

Say no to ugly pins!

Instead install the Pin It button to your browser’s tool bar and use that instead. After you click pin it, be sure to select the biggest image from the choices you are offered. This is usually 350 x 350 and will give you a much bigger image. Even better,  upload your own image directly to Pinterest. You can edit your pin to direct your newly uploaded image to a specific post on your blog or a specific product page in your TPT store.

#4 Be savvy with collaborative boards & pin carefully

Collaborative boards can be overwhelming at first. Start by checking out the TPT forums to find boards to join. Only ask to join relevant boards to what you are trying to market. You can also research boards on Pinterest and email their hosts to see if they are adding pinners. Be friendly and polite and you will end up with lots of board invitations.

Let me join your board!

Be sure to follow the rules for each particular board you join. Never pin the same image to multiple collaborative boards within 24 hours. Many, many people are following the same collaborative boards and your pins will become a wall of spam that, at best,  people tune out. Worst case- you become the person other users are blocking or dropping from collaborative boards. Don’t be that person.

Pinterest can be an amazing way to drive traffic to your Teachers Pay Teachers store. Love your followers and they will love you back. What is your best Pinterest tip? Share in the comments below.

click here for all image credits

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