Using Instagram in the Classroom!

These days students (and parents) are all about social media. One way to get families connected and engaged is by connecting them to your classroom social media accounts. Many teachers use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media outlets to not only engage families, but to connect to other classrooms as well. 

In my own classroom, we have used Instagram to connect to our families, learn about digital citizenship, and as a controlled way to let my students practice their social media skills. 

**Let's be honest, even my 7-and-8-year old students have phones, tablets, and laptops and are active on different social media accounts. I receive follower requests on Instagram daily from students in my school!** 

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! (or at least teach them how to use it responsibly)

Here are some things I have done in my own classroom with our classroom Instagram. 

PERMISSION

As with anything that can be made public, you want to make sure that your students have permission to be in photos or videos. JCPS has their own photo/video release form that is sent home each year, but I also created my own form for our class instagram account. If the form is not returned, students can not be included in posting on the account. 

EXPECTATIONS

Before we ever start posting, I set the expectations for my students. We have a two week digital citizenship boot camp where we talk about what it means to leave digital footprints, how to post, what to post, commenting, cyber bullying, and more. My students each have to graduate from boot camp before they are allowed to be our "Instagrammer of the Day". 

I also set my expectations for what they can/cannot do when they are the chosen Instagrammer. They have a limited amount of posts (so they need to think about what is important that day), all posts must be teacher approved, and there are guidelines for when they can post throughout the day. 

PUTTING IT INTO ACTION

I typically choose students that I know are responsible and who will do a good job to set the example for others. We create a class schedule so that students know when their turn will be (and so they aren't constantly asking me when it's their turn!). The chosen student for the day gets to wear the coveted "Instagrammer" tag. The tag also has suggestions on the back for how they can begin the writing to go along with their post. This is great for my students because they are so young and often need sentence starters. It may not be necessary for older students. 

If you are working with older students, who have their own accounts, the class account can be used for other academic purposes. Some ideas might be:

1. Showcase Student Work

Snap pictures of students’ artwork and other special projects

2. Feature a Student of the Week

Invite students to alternate taking over your classroom Instagram account and sharing photos from their daily lives. Then have the featured student talk about his or her daily routine and artistic vision with the class.

3. Capture Field Trip Memories

Invite a student volunteer to take photos on your field trips or during class parties for your class Instagram account. Parents can follow the action through your Instagram story or Instagram live.

4. Imagine How a Historical Figure Would Use Instagram

Have student browse historical photos and create a bulletin board or poster display showing Abraham Lincoln’s or Buzz Aldrin’s Instagram feed. (i.e. wax museum)

5. Imagine What a Favorite Character Would Post

Challenge students to find or create photos that would appear in Harry Potter’s or Katniss Everdeen’s Instagram. Students can caption or write a story for their photo.

6. Share Reading Recommendations

Post a picture or share a video review of a book you love! Invite students to snap photos of their favorite books with a description of why they love it in the caption. You and your students can browse the photos to get more inspiration on what to read, and even develop your own hashtag.

7. Review Content

Use the classroom Instagram account to post pictures of content, math problems, etc. and have students respond. 

8. School-wide School Pride

Instagram doesn’t have to be kept within just one classroom. Hold a photo contest throughout the year that challenges students to show their school pride. From group events to individual efforts, students can submit photos to you via email or text to be posted to Instagram showing how they represent and celebrate their school. At the end of the year, a select group of teachers will judge the top three photos to be included in the school yearbook. Spotlight in school-wide meetings. 

Happy Instagramming!