Instagram, Facebook Pages and Groups, and Twitter

 Being a bit of an introvert, social media is both wonderful and not necessary for me personally. I dabbled with Twitter a few years ago but my heart wasn't in it so my experience has been almost exclusively on Facebook.. It is a wonderful way to keep up with family and friends both near and far. Lately I have mostly used Facebook to show off my baby boy although even that has been spotty. Professionally, I follow pages related to my grad school studies and the LMS used by my district when the global pandemic made online learning necessary for everyone.

Facebook

I see the biggest advantage to using Facebook in education to be sharing information with parents/guardians. While it is necessary to be careful about what is shared, it is a great place to share information about what is going on at school. In fact, at the beginning of this school year I tried to remember how parents used to get information about school supplies and back-to-school events. I think it could also be a way to remind students of important information, the problem is that Facebook is seen as archaic to most young people, hello boomer. It does have its place but not likely with students. With hope for the future I have set up a page called The Ply-brarian where I can start collecting and sharing information library/media center related. 

As I browsed established library pages I found great ideas to implement when I have a library of my own. One elementary uses their page to post video announcements presented by students and share images of students enjoying makerspace. This school had a summer reading BINGO challenge and the district has a Bookmobile that makes books available around town during the summer. I saw a high school that posts library events and promoted a book of the week. Showcasing new books was common on all the pages I visited.

Twitter

Now on to Twitter, as I mentioned before I had a brief experiment with Twitter about 5 years ago. I like that the character limitations in Twitter require that you get straight to the point. While I love a good story - I am studying to be a librarian - this season of life has me ready for the Cliff's Notes version of anything. While wandering around I most enjoyed @jimlerman and @kathyschrock. It is not a shocking realization to me that I am excited about the brevity of Twitter, then am drawn most to the profile that piques my interest and then sends me to a platform without post limits.

A few of tweets that caught my interest from @jimlerman: 



And from @kathyschrock:



I think that Twitter would be a great place for establishing and maintaining buy-in with students while also being accessible to parents/guardians. I could also see this being a useful tool in a high school classroom for ongoing interactions with all members of the class. I do not think middle school and younger students would engage in meaningful interactions but that may just require practice and guidance.

Instagram

Instagram is probably my new favorite. After viewing a Prezi on Instagram in the classroom and reading a blog on 10 Ways to Use Instagram in the Classroom I hope to be able some of the tips in coming units of study and passing on some of the ideas to my colleagues. In my district we are cautioned about the use of social media with students but the idea to imagine how a historical figure would use Instagram immediately upgraded my go-to illustrated timeline to a whole new, more interesting, level. My shiny new Instagram account, @theplybrarian, can be found at https://www.instagram.com/p/CT-4RJ7soCz/?utm_medium=share_sheet 

How do you use social media in the classroom? Do you have any tried and true social media centered activities for the classroom? Share tips and tricks in the comments. 


Instagram Ideas blog post: https://www.weareteachers.com/10-surprising-ways-to-use-instagram-in-the-classroom-2/ 

Prezi on how to use Instagram in the classroom: http://prezi.com/fvbrbbznr7ee/using-instagram-in-the-classroom/

Comments

  1. Jennifer RundioNovember 2, 2021 at 6:39 PM

    I just recently read about using Instagram as a tool in the library too! Twitter and Facebook I've noticed get most used to connect with parents. Instagram would be fun for older students to be able to follow and keep up with library activities, reading incentive updates, and new book releases.

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  2. KurshaNovember 26, 2021 at 5:08 PM

    I love using Instagram! I am probably a little like you. A little introvert...and I only post my kids on Facebook and not much library stuff but I do follow the Library pages and groups. They share some valuable information and ideas. I just go in their and leave...I don't really post a lot to my Facebook Page. I do manage our library's Facebook Page and have to remind myself to post on there because I have a few parents that follow. I like the "to the point" of Twitter and Instagram. I have a library Instagram page where all of my feed is around the library and reading, book reviews and ideas.

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