3 Facts for High School Teachers About Connecting, Sharing Ideas on Instagram
Teens love Instagram, but the social network can also be a great resource for high school teachers.
"It can be very challenging to get outside of your classroom during a really busy school day, so this is a way for me to connect with educators from all over," says Jenna Copper, an English teacher at Wilmington Area High School in Pennsylvania and @doc_cop on Instagram.
She has also used Instagram to discover teaching ideas and opportunities for her students.
Ashley Million Bible, an English teacher at Greeneville High School in Tennessee, finds the educator community on Instagram helpful too.
There can be a lot of negativity that follows the profession and within the field, she says, but on Instagram she's found positive educators that make her a more positive teacher.
But navigating Instagram can be trickier than other social networks. Here are three things high school teachers should know to get started.
1. Teenage students will find you. "They will find you if you are on there, despite your best efforts," says Copper.
Copper has a private personal account and a public account just for her job.
It's easier to connect with other educators using a public account, she says, and having the secure account for her personal life allows her to have some privacy. She's not concerned with students following her public account because she only posts educational content.
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2. Hashtags are everything. Teachers mostly find each other on Instagram through hashtags, says Bible, whose Instagram handle is @bsbooklove.
The #iteachhighschool hashtag is popular, but teachers can also search for hashtags specific to their subject area. For example, she uses the #iteachenglish and #iteachela hashtags.
When she finds an awesome teacher with a lot of followers, she likes to see who that teacher is following and follow those people.
Other hashtags for teachers include #teachersfollowteachers, #teachersofinstagram and #iteachtoo, says Copper.
Teachers new to Instagram should just look through the hashtags and see what's out there -- don't feel pressure to share ideas or create a teacher page, says Staci Lamb, an English teacher at Elkton High School in Maryland and @theengagingstation on Instagram.
Teachers can communicate by commenting on posts or through direct messages, Lamb says.
"High school teachers just need to connect more," Lamb says. "Oftentimes we are so busy with grading and planning that we forget to connect with each other."
Teachers can also chat as a group on Instagram, Bible says. She recently worked with teachers in a group message to come up with holiday gift ideas for older students.
3. Instagram posts must include an image. "You can tell a whole story through one picture; you don't even need to have a lot of words," says Bible. Teachers can show what they did and what activities worked well.
Lamb reminds teachers to not post pictures of students or their work without permission.
[Get three tips for high school teachers to use social media responsibly in class.]
Bible has a teacher blog, too, where she shares more-detailed ideas, but Instagram is good for sharing little things since it's easier and faster. She mainly posts things about her classroom, but also throws in some personal and lighthearted content.
"If you don't tell your story, then it's not going to get told," she says. "You could be the most amazing teacher and doing all this stuff in the classroom, but if you don't put it out there nobody is going to know about it. Only your students will get the benefit, not a world of students."
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Alexandra Pannoni is an education digital producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.
