8 Excellent ways to Use Instagram ...

It’s not just the students and teenagers that are Instagram addicted; it’s the teachers too! So instead of scrolling through your celebrity crush’s feed, we have gathered around some educational, legitimate ways you can use Instagram in the classroom. Sure, it’s vital to protect students’ privacy, particularly while using a public platform like Instagram.

If you’re interested in trying any of these ideas below, we suggest creating a classroom Instagram account that you set to “private” and thoughtfully vetting any potential followers. Finally, make sure to check your school’s tech policies before you begin.

Ways to Use Instagram in the Classroom

1- Pop Quiz

Host “Instagram quizzes” during class. Select team captains willing to use their Instagram account for their team. The teams must work together for answers to comment on a photo or multiple photos you post to Instagram with one of the following:

Ask a question about the photo and how it relates to what they’re studying; points rewarded for using concepts and key vocabulary discussed.

Expose just a piece of a picture like an extreme close-up and ask them to identify what it is and why you chose it.

As the admin on the Instagram account, you can hold all comments until the end of the class to make sure there is no cheating between teams

2- Showcase the work of your students

Take pictures of student’s artwork and other projects to share on your private Instagram account dedicated to families and school community

3- Feature the student of the week

Invite your students to alternate taking over your classroom account on Instagram and share pictures of their daily lives. Then have the student talk about his daily routine and personal vision with the class

4- Capture memories

Incite a volunteer from your students to be “archivist” and take pictures on your field trips or class parties for your classroom account on Instagram

5- Imagine How a Historical Figure or artist would use Instagram

Have your students browse Instagram account historical pictures and create a poster display or bulletin board showing Buzz Aldrin’s or Lincoln’s Instagram feed

6- Imagine What a Popular Character would post on Instagram

Challenge your students to find pictures that would appear in Katniss Everdeen or Harry potter’s Instagram

7- Share Book Recommendations & Discover some Ideas for Writing

Invite them to take pictures of their favorite books with a brief description of why they love it in the caption. Your followers then can browse the images to get inspired on what to read, and even create your own Hashtag. Tap an “inspiration Fairy” to capture ten photos that could work as a prompt for writing _ a for sale sign, an empty bird’s nest, or a broken doll, for instance.

8- Document student progress

Take pictures of students’ writing at the beginning and the end of the year. Post them on Instagram to show your students their progress and give them an end-of-year gift!