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Instagram in the Classroom


I've been an avid user of Instagram in my personal life but never thought of using the app for a graduate level class. I signed up for a new account (you can follow me @leah_eme6414) and it got me thinking about how Instagram could be used in the classroom as a teacher. Instagram can be a fun and safe social media tool for students if used properly. You probably want to create a separate, private classroom, account and only post class-related things for your students and their parents to see. Once you have your classroom account set up, you can get busy searching related hashtags and posting images right away. 

Showcase Student Work

Instagram is the perfect way to show off student work to make your students feel proud. Just like teachers often hang up excellent work in the classroom, you can snap a picture and share it to Instagram for your students and parents to see.

Find New Ideas

Many other teachers have Instagram accounts that you can follow to find new fun ideas. You can find bulletin board ideas, project ideas, and more. Just search some related hashtags such as #teachersofinstagram to get started.

Capture Memories

Share photos from classroom activities, parties, or field trips on your Instagram page. Parents will especially love to see what their kids are up to in the classroom. Students will get excited when they see pictures of themselves during their class memories.

Share Reading Recommendations

Snap photos of the books you're reading in class and encourage your students to share what they're reading at home. All of your students can then browse the photos and get inspiration for their next book.

Help Students

You can post homework and project reminders as well as picture-by-picture tutorials. Parents and students can use the comments section to ask questions when help is needed.

This isn't a comprehensive list of how Instagram can be used in the classroom, but it may be a good starting point. Can you think of other ways to use Instagram in the classroom or have you ever made an account for your class?

Comments

  1. JFoxxMay 21, 2020 at 7:05 AM

    Leah thank you so much for these wonderful ideas! I have had a personal Instagram for about a year now but it is my least used social media account, and I really never post to it. I follow some disc golf accounts and friends, but that is it, and it never occurred to me that I could be using it for class or any of the extracurricular clubs that I sponsor. These are really great ideas how I can build a better community in my classroom and showcase all of the wonderful things that my students are doing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LeahMay 21, 2020 at 1:37 PM

      I've never used Instagram for the classroom but have used Class Dojo which allows you to post photos to a feed for parents to see. The parents loved when I posted pictures of student work, field trips, or events in the classroom. Instagram is probably my most used social media platform because I love seeing and posting photos. What a great idea to use it for extracurricular clubs!

      Delete
  2. CourtneyMay 22, 2020 at 6:01 AM

    Hello Leah! What an excellent idea to showcase student's work for parents to see. I enjoyed this post, it opened up my eyes as to how the use of social media can in fact be used within the professional realm, not only personal. When I think of social media, my mind naturally gravitates toward the personal realm, however, you have listed some great ideas as to how a teacher can stay involved with the parents by posting what the student has learned in class. What a good point you bring up. The parents can now see their child's progress in the classroom instantly. Excellent idea. Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed the read! Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LeahMay 22, 2020 at 6:59 AM

      Thanks, Courtney! Parents always love seeing their children's work and what they're doing when they're not around. I think Instagram can be a great tool in the classroom.

      Delete
  3. KendylMay 25, 2020 at 10:04 AM

    Leah, I love these ideas you presented! It brings back memories of being a collegiate member of a sorority. Obviously, not extremely educational, but we were encouraged by chapter leadership to send in photos for the chapter Instagram account. They would highlight different members in their academic accomplishments, showcasing hidden talents, or just friends enjoying each other. It always made the members that were highlighted feel good in their accomplishment, even if it was something surface level.

    I imagine some of the ideas you share here would also be a great way to get some engagement for conference sessions ahead of time to better gauge learners if that information is not provided by organizers.

    ReplyDelete

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