I wrote a previous post about the power of social media in the classroom where I challenged you to engage your patrons with a variety of social media platforms. I have had a couple of people asking me for ideas, so I wanted to share with you one easy way I've been using Instagram to increase library usage! Instagram is a photo-sharing social media website that allows you to tag users (with the @ symbol) and photos (with a # hashtag). It is VERY popular among the tween-ager set. Check out this article if you need more explanation of why teens prefer it over Facebook. The two questions I get most often are: How can you use Instagram instructionally? I use it to share interesting information with my followers, to post pictures of my reading, and to advertise for upcoming events. As of yet, I haven't used it for direct instruction - BUT - a teacher at my school has an Instagram scavenger hunt planned for an upcoming field trip. The students have a list of items to find, photograph, and post with an explanation. She made up her own hashtag, too! How awesome is that?! When do you post on Instagram? My school has a BYOD policy, so I post at all times of day. You may want to check out this article and see what times would work best for you based on your target audience. This means that I am indeed on my phone during class - just like my students! I model good digital citizenship by asking permission before I take their photographs. 99.99% of the time they say yes (and then immediately ask me to tag them!). Here are some samples of my recent posts with details on how I use Instagram to engage my patrons: 1. ShelfiesShare your #Shelfie (a selfie with a book)! I share what I am reading with the hashtag #spmsshelfie - this allows my patrons to get to know me and my family, forging that personal connection that is oh-so-important to quelling behavior issues. I have also found that I have a hard time keeping materials on the shelf if it's something I have recommended on Instagram. Make up your own hashtag for your school! 2. QuotesI love to post quotes - about reading, about life, about anything! In high school I had an ELA teacher who gave us an assignment each marking period. We had 100 quotes to choose from, and we had to select at least 15 to analyze each marking period, so 60 over the course of the year. It was a beastly assignment, but it really resonated with me. To this day I still love to look at famous quotes! 3. Advertising Special EventsPaper flyers are SO yesterday. Students don't read them, and if parents aren't checking backpacks, they aren't reading them either. Enter Instagram! I use it to advertise all my special events, like the monthly shelfie challenge, the book fair, and more! The kids see it online and word gets around fast. 4. Personal StuffThis one comes back to building relationships with the the students - I post personal (but school appropriate) pictures on Instagram to show them glimpses into who I am and what kind of stuff I enjoy. These sneak peeks can help me be known in a large student body, which is critical when I only see them every few weeks. Again, those personal relationships are critical, and they are what the kids will remember.
Will my students remember every picture I post on Instagram? No. But hopefully they will remember that their media specialist was cool, and she hooked them up with good books. It's all about developing them into life-long readers by any means necessary. How will YOU use social media in your classroom?
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About the AuthorHi! Welcome to my blog! My name is Christine Hurley. This is my 17th year of teaching - I've taught Kindergarten, 4th grade, elementary media, and now I am in my 6th year of teaching middle school media! Archives
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