If you know me, you know I'm a HUGE supporter of social media in education.
Yes, there are things about it that are not awesome, but just with everything else in life, it's about how that "unawesomeness" (yup I made that a word) is handled. I firmly believe in teaching how to use social media appropriately. I firmly believe in modeling appropriate ways to use social media. I firmly believe in logical consequences. I firmly believe in parent participation.
All that in mind, I'm here to talk about Instagram. I have a professional Instagram account and a window in my classroom that is decorated like Instagram. The window shows pictures of students doing interesting projects in technology. It also shows my professional Instagram handle. The kids (all ages) enjoy coming in and seeing if they made the Instagram window. This interest in their own pictures extended on my real Instagram because yes, there are pictures of them on my Instagram.
*disclaimers* I do not post pictures of students who's parents did not sign the media release. I do not post pictures of students who are not comfortable. If I catch a funny picture of a student, I ask their permission before posting. I monitor who follows and likes my pictures CLOSELY. If someone follows or likes my images and there is no indication they are a parent or an educator, they are blocked...for the safety of the children.
Knowing that my audience was growing and it was growing with students, I decided to take the opportunity to do more than just post their pictures. I took a queue from Your School Rocks...So Tell People authors Ryan McLane and Eric Lowe. I started posting pictures with inspirational messages and life skills. I try not to write much in the description. Knowing how I scroll through Instagram, double tapping cute pictures, not reading much, I keep that in mind with the kids.
Ultimately, one day, I'd like the kids to interact and write back. But for now, when someone likes a post, I feel like the door of communication is opening. I feel like maybe they know that despite keeping a structured classroom with high expectations (which they CLEARLY do not always love), I do care and I do value what they feel is important.
Another style of image that I tried using was a picture of an upcoming lesson. I thought that this was an AMAZING idea! Can I just say #fail. Not realizing that 1) not all of my students follow me so they don't all see what I post, put a bit of a damper on the idea and 2) I teach every grade level different so the kiddos didn't really know who the picture was directed. I tried that once and haven't done it again. I would like to tweak it and revisit that idea, but for now, not so much.
The most fun posts, are the silly ones though. I will at times, post random pictures to try to make the kids laugh or remind them of something good. The last one was an alarm clock on a 3 day weekend and I reminded them that they didn't have to be at school! What kid doesn't love that reminder?
I also make sure to have specific #hashtags for different types of posts. It's a way for me to stay organized and keep track of how many posts I make a week of a different style. I don't want the kids to get overwhelmed or irritated with what I post. My goal isn't to be what they ALWAYS see. My goal is to be a positive example of social media and life skills when they do see my posts.
If you'd like to check out my professional Instagram, you can find me @EBGtech. It's also just to the right of this post.
What do you think? Would you use Instagram to teach, communicate, reach your students?
Erin,
ReplyDeleteGreat post and thanks for the Your School Rocks shout out. From reading this, I like what you are doing with Instagram. Here is one thing I would add. You mention that you keep the caption/description of your Instagram posts short. I agree this is an effective practice. What I would offer you, when appropriate, is to use a long description for impact. Let me give you an example.
We were having multiple situations in which kids were being mean to each other (text message and social media). Yes the guy who wrote the book on why social media is a positive in schools deals with these things.
I included the following visual the next morning on our Instagram account: "If you wouldn't say it to someone's face, with an adult present, then DO NOT say it on social media." I then included a long caption, not scolding them, but trying to motivate them to make better choices. It was BY FAR one of the most liked posts, and talked about posts around school.
When you have a captured audience, don't be afraid to take advantage of it every once in awhile.
You are doing great things Erin.
Thanks,
Ryan